Historically, national signing day has been one of the craziest days of the year for college football programs across the country. That all changed last year when the NCAA instituted its new early signing period in December, pushing the insanity up several months.
Iowa State signed 18 players during the early signing period and will sign at least one more on Wednesday in the form of four-star Ohio wide receiver Joseph Scates, who committed following an official visit to Ames two weeks ago.
The Cyclones’ number of additions to the 2018 class could increase to two if three-star Arizona quarterback Brock Purdy picks Iowa State over Texas A&M in a ceremony at his school at 11 a.m. on Wednesday. You can view Purdy’s signing day ceremony right here.
Purdy, who is considered the No. 36 pro-style quarterback in the country, emerged as the Cyclones’ top target down the stretch in January after being offered on Jan. 11. The offer was followed up several days later by an in-home visit from Matt Campbell and an official visit to Ames the weekend of Jan. 16.
Following his official visit, Purdy’s recruitment blew up, most notably with an offer from defending national champion Alabama. The 6-foot-1, 197-pound prospect took an official visit to Tuscaloosa the weekend of Jan. 26, but has since eliminated the Crimson Tide from his college considerations.
That leaves only the Aggies, which received a visit from Purdy this past weekend, and the Cyclones standing for one of the most hotly-pursued signal-callers of the late period. As of this writing, Iowa State is trending with 89 percent of the picks in the 247 Crystal Ball.
The only other possibility for the Cyclones making additions on Wednesday would be a commitment from one of the graduate transfer defensive backs who has officially visited Ames in the past two weeks, Illinois transfer Pat Nelson or Rice transfer J.T. Ibe. Although, neither of those players is expected to have their next college destination decided by Wednesday.
At the end of the day, Wednesday should be the quietest national signing day for Iowa State in quite some time — if not ever.
