Ok, so I will be the first to admit that I am NOT a recruiting expert at all. Actually, I typically do not follow it that much because it's really heartbreaking.
These 17 and 18 year olds are trying to make tough decisions as they decide where to play ball and where to get an education. It's a big deal, and I'm sure it can be hard. It's because of the nature of high school kids, that it's just tough to know where they will end up. Until they sign that Letter of Intent (LOI), it's anyone's guess. Yes there are "soft" verbals, "strong" verbals, etc., but minds can change and we see and hear about it all the time.
With that said, with all of the downtime there has been in Cyclone Nation, it's tough not to at least take a PEAK at prospects for the 2010 class. Right???
So, as reported here a couple of weeks ago, we got a verbal commitment from QB Jared Barnett out of Garland, Texas.
So who are some of our top targets?
- Matt Hoch, DE out of Harlan, IA. Rivals has him as a 3 star, and ESPN has him in their top 150 watch prospects. Iowa and Missouri appear to be the front runners (BOO!), while ISU, K-State, and Stanford have all offered as well. It's really no secret that ISU needs some help on the line on both sides of the ball. It'd be nice to land one of the top instate recruits. I realize there's a lot of talent outside of Iowa, but landing a couple legit Iowa prospects is what a State University should do, in my opinion
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Kevin Johnson, WR out of Houston, TX. Rivals lists him as a 3 star, and ESPN has him graded a 78 overall. He's 6'2, 190, runs a 4.4 40, and has a 33 inch vertical. Baylor, Oklahoma State, Arizona, Kansas, and ISU appear to be the leading candidates. Apparently, he's also gotten offers from Arkansas, Illinois, Minnesota, Northwestern, Syracuse, Utah, Vanderbilt, Rice, and SMU. Obviously if you're getting that much attention, you're talented. You really can't have too many explosive skill position players, and this would be a huge get.
- Jacoby Walker, QB out of Houston, TX. Rivals has him as a 3 star, and ESPN grades him as a 74. He's a dual threat QB. I'm not exactly sure where we stand with him since we signed a QB in this class. I'd assume we'd be looking at other positions, but honestly I do not know.
- Nick Mizaur, RB/S out of Omaha, NE. ESPN has him graded as a 73, while Rivals has him unrated right now. He's 5'11, 194lbs. He runs a 4.5 40, and can bench 315lbs. Apparently he hasn't been offered by anyone yet, but he's interested in Nebraska, ISU, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, and Boston College. Perhaps there are more, but we will see. From reading his profile, he sounds like a physical, hard-hitting back, and could also be a big-hitting safety.
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Eric Williams, ATH out of Tallahassee, FL. ESPN graded him a 73 and Rivals doesn't have him rated right now. He's 5'9 and 180lbs. He seems possibly fit best at WR or RB. He sounds like one of those guys you'd want to run screens to and give him a chance to make defenders miss. He's looking at USF, UCF, East Carolina, Middle Tennessee State.
- Brandon Speth, ATH out of League City, TX. ESPN has him as a 72 and Rivals has him unrrated. His bio has him listed as a LB. Being 5'9 and 177lbs, he seems a little bit small, but he runs a 4.46 40. He could be a good coverage LB as he may have the speed to go sideline to sideline. He's apparently considering ISU, Houston, SMU, Boise State, and Colorado State. If he can tackle, then I don't care too much about his size. Our LBs got burned in a lot of ways, and we could use some speed in this area
- Michael Dennis, OT out of Carey, OH. He's 6'7, 260lbs, and can bench 330lbs. He's received offers from ISU, Indiana, Maryland, Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Miami-OH, Ohio, and Toledo. He seems to have the physical attributes, and you can never have too many Offensive Linemen.
- Chris Lucido, S out of Omaha, NE. He's 5'11 and 180lbs. Nebraska, Kansas, K-State, Iowa, and ISU all seem to be in the running at this point.
It's certainley an interesting mix of players. To me, it seems pretty standard, as we're looking to get a little bit of everything. Let's be honest here. We have some talent guys, but majority of the Big 12 has more than us. In my opinion, you keep just trying to get the best players you can regardless of position. It's on the coaching staff to get the best players they can, and also make the pieces fit.
We need players that can control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. You can never have too many explosive skilled position players
Here's a list of some of the Iowa prospects looking at ISU:
- Alex Recker, S from Johnston, IA. ESPN has him rated a 67. He's looking at ISU, North Dakota, and UNI. It sounds like the big thing he needs to work on is his size. It sounds like he's a good roamer.
- Cody Ahrendt, DB from Sioux City, IA. He's 6'0 and 192 lbs. He's apparently considering Iowa, ISU, and Nebraska.
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James Kohler, OT from Ames, IA. He's 6'7 and 240lbs. He's looking at ISU, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Kansas State.
- Austin Krick, DE from Clinton, IA. He's 6'1 and 210lbs. He's looking at ISU, UNI, and Drake
- Zach McCabe, QB from Sioux City, IA. He's 6'4 and 189lbs. He's looking at Iowa, USF, Northern Illinois, Indiana State, and, ISU.
- Brandon Scherff, OT from Denison, IA. He's 6'5 and 280lbs. He's looking at Iowa, Nebraska, ISU, and Missouri
With the local guys, there seems to be a wide range of schools. I do not know what the prospects are for these guys. With linemen, I'd figure they can be developed as their bodies continue to grow, so ratings don't matter as much. I'd like with some of the skill positions they would, as you can improve speed, but you can't teach speed. This coming fall, if any of these guys look to be strongly considering ISU, I may check them out in a game and do a write-up on here.
There are many other prospects listed as well, but perhaps we'll discuss at a later time. We probably won't have the inside scoop on the recruiting trail, but if we hear something, we'll post it here, along with our 2 cents.