RECRUITING: Iowa State to host pair of 2024 priority targets

Jan 15, 2022; Ames, Iowa, USA; Iowa State Cyclones head coach T. J. Otzelberger talks to the official during their game against the Texas Longhorns at James H. Hilton Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports

Iowa State men’s basketball will host a pair of priority targets in the 2024 recruiting cycle for the last home football weekend of the year.

Four-star center JT Rock and four-star guard Nick Janowski are expected to be in Ames for official visits the weekend of Nov. 18 for Iowa State’s home finale football game against Texas Tech on Saturday then the Cyclones will host Milwaukee at Hilton Coliseum on Sunday, a source close to the program told Cyclone Fanatic.

Rock, a 7-foot Sioux Falls native, is considered one of the top centers in the 2024 recruiting cycle, currently rated as the No. 10 center in the class, No. 60 player overall and No. 1 player in South Dakota by 247Sports.

He also holds offers from Creighton, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Purdue, West Virginia, Wisconsin and South Dakota State. Iowa State was the first school to offer Rock in October of last year after he took an unofficial visit to Ames.

Janowski made his way squarely onto Iowa State’s radar while starring alongside 2023 Cyclone signee Milan Momcilovic for Pewaukee High School in Wisconsin. The 6-foot-3 combo guard is considered the No. 89 player in the class, No. 10 combo guard and No. 2 player in Wisconsin.

Iowa State was one of three schools to offer Janowski on Oct. 8, 2021, and he currently holds seven other offers from Georgia Tech, USC, Iowa, Marquette, Nebraska, Virginia Tech and Wisconsin.

T.J. Otzelberger and his staff capitalized after the Cyclones’ breakout 2021-22 season by signing the highest-rated class in program history on Wednesday, ranking sixth nationally and headlined by five-star Waukee power forward Omaha Biliew.

The Cyclones opened their season with a win over UIPUI on Monday and will square off with North Carolina A&T this Sunday at Hilton Coliseum.

Jared Stansbury

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Jared a native of Clarinda, Iowa, started as the Cyclone Fanatic intern in August 2013, primarily working as a videographer until starting on the women’s basketball beat prior to the 2014-15 season. Upon earning his Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from Iowa State in May 2016, Jared was hired as the site’s full-time staff writer, taking over as the primary day-to-day reporter on football and men’s basketball. He was elevated to the position of managing editor in January 2020. He is a regular contributor on 1460 KXNO in Des Moines and makes regular guest appearances on radio stations across the Midwest. Jared resides in Ankeny with his four-year-old puggle, Lolo.

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