Sep 21, 2019; Ames, IA, USA; Iowa State Cyclones head coach Matt Campbell celebrates during their game against the Louisiana Monroe Warhawks at Jack Trice Stadium. The Cyclones beat the Warhawks 72 to 20. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports
A batch of 21 new Cyclones are expected to make their commitments to Matt Campbell’s program official on Wednesday as the 2020 class’ early signing period gets underway. Iowa State’s class enters the day rated as the No. 39 class in the country and fourth-best class in the Big 12.
Stay tuned to our running blog for updates as the letters arrive in Ames.
6:43 a.m. — The sun hasn’t risen yet in central Iowa, but the National Letters of Intent have already started to stream in on the Bergstrom Football Complex fax machine (they still use those right?).
*** The first man up for the day was junior college wide receiver, Xavier Hutchinson.
The 6-foot-3, 190-pound three-star from Blinn College is considered the No. 75 JUCO player in the country by 247Composite and the No. 10 wide receiver. The Cyclones held off late pushes from Nebraska and Oklahoma plus a handful of other major programs in order to land Hutchinson’s signature.
*** Florida cornerback Michael Antoine was the next to send in his letter, sealing the deal on a recruiting battle that included in-state school Central Florida as recently as an official visit two weeks ago.
Antoine, 5-foot-11, 173-pounds, is considered the No. 125 cornerback prospect in the country 247Composite and committed to Iowa State over other offers that included the Knights, Kentucky, Louisville, Minnesota, Missouri, Pittsburgh and nearly a dozen other major programs.
*** Another prospect from the Sunshine State came next when wide receiver Aidan Bitter made his commitment to the Cyclones official.
The 6-foot-3, 173-pound three-star prospect chose the Cyclones over schools such as the Air Force Academy and Cornell. He is considered the No. 197 wide receiver in the country by Composite.
*** Next actually came the official announcement of a holdover from the 2019 class in grey shirt athlete Daeshawn Davis.
The Cleveland, Ohio, native rated as the No. 191 athlete in the country in the 2019 class chose Iowa State over Toledo, Kentucky and Bowling Green. He will join the program in January.
*** The next letter to arrival in Ames marked the first official addition to the Cyclones’ offensive line room in Milford Center, Ohio offensive tackle Sam Rengert.
Rengert is considered the No. 79 offensive tackle in the country by 247Sports. The 6-foot-7, 285-pound prospect chose Iowa State over offers from West Virginia, Rutgers, Virginia, Purdue and a handful of other schools.
7:04 a.m. — Every addition along the defensive line is important, but they’re especially important when you can beat out some solid Power 5 schools. The Cyclones did just that to land the signature of Gurnee, Ill. defensive tackle Willis Singleton.
Singleton, a 6-foot-1, 301-pound Warren Township High School product, is considered the No. 80 defensive tackle prospect in the country by 247Composite. He picked the Cyclones over Illinois, Louisville, Missouri, Washington State and several other programs.
7:10 a.m. — One of Iowa State’s top prospects in the class has made it official with Minnesota quarterback Aidan Bouman having submitted his National Letter of Intent.
Bouman, one of the most prolific prep quarterbacks in Minnesota history, the son of former NFL quarterback Todd Bouman and an early-enrollee, was the first player to commit to Iowa State’s 2020 class. He is considered the No. 24 pro-style quarterback in the country and No. 569 player overall.
7:15 a.m. — Iowa State’s first in-state prospect has been locked in with Greene County offensive tackle Tyler Miller making his commitment official.
Miller, a 6-foot-9, 274-pound early-enrollee prospect from Jefferson, was a major recruiting victory for Campbell and his staff as they landed a player from just down the road who garnered major Power 5 interest. The No. 78 offensive tackle in the country and No. 8 player in Iowa’s commitment to Iowa State came over offers from Nebraska, Minnesota, Purdue and other major programs.
7:18 a.m. — Just minutes after Miller, add another in-state offensive lineman to the list of signed Cyclones for 2020 as Ankeny Centennial offensive tackle Brady Petersen has put his signature on the dotted line.
The Cyclones were the lone Power 5 offer for the No. 9 player from the state of Iowa, but the 6-foot-5, 270-pound prospect completely shut down his recruitment upon announcing his commitment to the program despite receiving interest from Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas State and many more major conference schools.
7:23 a.m. — Another of the program’s longest-running commitments has finally made it official with Central Decatur linebacker Cole Pedersen submitting his National Letter of Intent.
Pedersen is regarded as a four-star prospect, the No. 30 linebacker nationally and the No. 4 player from Iowa by 247Sports. He committed to Iowa State in July 2018 and never once wavered from that commitment with the Cyclones finishing as his only publicly known offer.
7:26 a.m. — Iowa State’s second player from Minnesota is on-board with linebacker Hunter Zenzen officially signed to the program.
Zenzen, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound Barnesville, Minn. native, is considered the No. 11 prospect from Minnesota and No. 105 outside linebacker in the class. He chose Iowa State over North Dakota State, South Dakota and North Dakota.
7:30 a.m. — The Cyclones have landed their big fish. West Sioux quarterback Hunter Dekkers, the program’s highest-rated signee for 2020, has made it official.
Dekkers, a 6-foot-2, 223-pound four-star prospect, is considered the No. 12 dual-threat quarterback in the country and No. 224 player overall. He burst onto the scene over the summer after standout showings at multiple The Opening camps and then, ultimately, at the Elite 11 Finals in Dallas.
Dekkers finished his career at West Sioux with multiple all-time state passing records and chose Iowa State over Kansas State, Purdue, Indiana and others.
7:34 a.m. — Matt Campbell has made his affinity for long, rangy defensive backs clear since his arrival in Ames and the program’s newest signee, Mason Chambers, certainly fits that bill.
The 6-foot, 190-pound three-star prospect from Schertz, Texas chose Iowa State over 17 other offers, including Texas Tech, Princeton, Army, Navy and Air Force. He is considered the No. 82 safety in the country.
8:28 a.m. — Iowa State is tasked with replacing one of the top long snappers in the country with Steve Wirtel’s graduation and Matt Campbell’s took the first step in that process by signing one of the 2020’s top long snapping prospects in Koby Hathcock.
Hathcock is considered the No. 3 long snapper in the country by 247Composite and was a long-running standout at Kohl’s Kicking camps throughout the country.
8:45 a.m. — The top pass-catcher in Iowa State’s class has sent in his National Letter of Intent with Daniel Jackson making his commitment to Iowa State official.
The Adidas All-American from Cibolo, Texas is considered the No. 99 wide receiver prospect in the country and No. 609 player overall. The 6-foot-1, 209-pound three-star prospect chose Iowa State over offers from USC, Arizona State, Arizona, Arkansas, Baylor, TCU, Utah and nearly 20 other schools.
11:15 a.m. — Only two players are left to sign to Iowa State’s 2020 recruiting class after a pair of recent additions were made official, as well as, the second of two grey shirts from last year’s class.
*** The most notable of those three most recent additions is JUCO defensive tackle, Latrell Bankston.
Bankston was a first-team NJCAA All-American and was the Kansas junior college defensive player of the year this season after recording 63 tackles, 22 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks. Rated as the No. 12 JUCO player in the country 247, Bankston was a major piece to this class as the staff looks to fill the shoes left behind by Ray Lima and Jamahl Johnson’s graduation. Bankston, who will arrive in January, figures to make an immediate impact upon joining the program.
*** Florida linebacker Ar’Quel Smith sending in his National Letter of Intent leaves just one true 2020 prospect left to sign on Wednesday.
Smith is considered the No. 122 outside linebacker in the country by 247Composite. He chose Iowa State over offers from Kansas, Florida Atlantic, Liberty and others.
*** D’Shayne James has officially been announced to be joining the program in January after taking the fall semester off during a grey shirt transition.
James, who was a teammate of Brock Purdy at Perry High School in Arizona, was a three-star recruit considered the No. 164 wide receiver in the 2019 recruiting class. A leg injury slowed the 6-foot-2, 200-pounder’s recruitment out of high school, but the time off hopefully gave him an opportunity to get back to full strength in order to join the program next month.
