Iowa State wide receiver commit Brett Eskildsen was originally committed to play out his college career at Northwestern.
Once the program made a coaching change, Eskildsen almost immediately knew where he wanted to go.
“After coach Fitzgerald was fired, I opened my recruitment back up and got the offer from Iowa State,” Eskildsen said. “Growing up, Iowa State was my dream school. My mom went there, and my family’s from Iowa. I already had Iowa State in mind, but Iowa State just checks the boxes for I feel like any recruit, especially mine. I committed right after I got the offer – or pretty quickly.”
The three-star receiver grew up cheering on the Cyclones and knew that he’d end up in Ames after getting offered.
“For sure. It’s said at, I feel like, every program – but when I visited Iowa State prior to my commitment, it’s something that you can tell that they have,” Eskildsen said. “It’s just the camaraderie. It’s one family there and that was a huge part of my commitment.”
Eskildsen is rated as the No. 146 prospect out of Texas by 247Sports’ composite scale.
The 6-foot-2, 190-pound signee-to be was impressed with the family atmosphere he saw firsthand on a pair of visits to Ames.
“They have such a family bond there,” Eskildsen said. “Everyone in that building is such great people. Coach Pauley, Campbell, Scheelhaase and coach Kempt – they were like the biggest people in my recruitment from the coaching standpoint – even my host in Andrew Keller on my recruiting visit. Everyone just really cares and I think that’s huge.
Eskildsen held an extensive offer sheet that, along with Iowa State, included Kansas State, Northwestern, Tulane, UTSA, Tulsa, Texas State, North Texas, Western Michigan, Air Force, Army, Navy, Colgate, Dartmouth, Grambling State, Harvard, Yale and Holy Cross.
“A lot of the D1 programs will (show you the) the facilities, the stadium, the weight room – and that’s all nice, but it comes down to the people you’re going to be with for the next four years, all day every day.”
