Iowa State welcomed one of its largest contingents of visitors of the season for Saturday’s football game against Kansas, with a number of top targets in Ames for the weekend.
One of those targets was actually found while offensive line coach Ryan Clanton was in Denver at Cherry Creek High School to see eventual 2024 commit A.J. Burton.
“He came to practice to see A.J.,” 6-foot-6, 275-pounder Soren Shinofield said. “He called me the weekend after that.”
Clanton and Iowa State were impressed enough to offer Shinofield, becoming the 2025 prospect’s second offer alongside Nebraska.
“They’ve been good,” Shinofield said. “He’s explained a lot to me about how they run the program there. They’re very focused on the players – they care about how they do in school and they have the resources to get them what they need… stuff like that.”
This is another case where its rather early in the recruiting process for the time being.
However, there is some intrigue in potentially adding a high school teammate to the offensive line room. The 2024 class already features a pair of twins in Wade and Brent Helton.
“It’s definitely a cool thing – to have a first friend when I get to Iowa State,” Shinofield said. “(The atmosphere Saturday) was crazy. There were so many tailgaters and fans. I didn’t expect to see that many people around the stadium.”
Shinofield mentioned how he perceived Iowa State’s relationships with its players during the visit, as well.
“I definitely like how they treat their players,” Shinofield said. “I’ve met all the coaches and they all seemed very nice – like they actually cared about all of the players.”
That will be something that is built in the coming weeks.
