How ISU combats one of its biggest recruiting battles - getting recruits on campus

[Harry]

I found this article interesting because Iowa State has arguably a tougher sell in terms of location.  They do have the Big 12 but they haven't won many games.  I feel like getting a prospect on campus at UNT is the biggest challenge we face.  Dickey used to lament this as did Dodge.  If we can get them in Denton, we have a chance to show them that our history and some of the perceptions are inaccurate.

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A man heads out fishing. He doesn’t bring bait or a pole. When he gets to a known catfish hole, he steps in the water and shoves his hands in trying to grab a fish.

Josh Coleman sat mesmerized as the Iowa State coaching staff relayed the story. The art of noodling hit home with the avid fisherman as a thought popped into his head.

I have to meet the Cyclones that do this. That’s pretty amazing.

It’s in that moment that ISU reeled in Coleman, a 250-pound defensive tackle from Jacksonville, Fla. Sixty-one percent of ISU signees under coach Paul Rhoads are from California, Florida or Texas. The challenge is getting those athletes on campus, shrinking the distance between their homes and the university.

ISU’s central recruiting philosophy is to get a player in town. The coaches will use anything they can — a fishing story, recruiting near locations with cheap flights, identifying specific players that will fit in around Ames — to hear the four words they were after from Coleman.

I want to visit.

“You’ve got to get them here,” defensive backs coach Maurice Linguist said. “That’s the biggest thing. If you took all the logos off of every school and you just saw the facilities for what they are, Iowa State could hold its own with a lot of places. When they see it with their own eyes, that is when they start listening to you.”

- See more at: http://amestrib.com/sports/football-how-isu-combats-one-its-biggest-recruiting-battles-getting-recruits-campus#sthash.1FXfwz1l.dpuf

A man heads out fishing. He doesn’t bring bait or a pole. When he gets to a known catfish hole, he steps in the water and shoves his hands in trying to grab a fish.

Josh Coleman sat mesmerized as the Iowa State coaching staff relayed the story. The art of noodling hit home with the avid fisherman as a thought popped into his head.

I have to meet the Cyclones that do this. That’s pretty amazing.

It’s in that moment that ISU reeled in Coleman, a 250-pound defensive tackle from Jacksonville, Fla. Sixty-one percent of ISU signees under coach Paul Rhoads are from California, Florida or Texas. The challenge is getting those athletes on campus, shrinking the distance between their homes and the university.

ISU’s central recruiting philosophy is to get a player in town. The coaches will use anything they can — a fishing story, recruiting near locations with cheap flights, identifying specific players that will fit in around Ames — to hear the four words they were after from Coleman.

I want to visit.

“You’ve got to get them here,” defensive backs coach Maurice Linguist said. “That’s the biggest thing. If you took all the logos off of every school and you just saw the facilities for what they are, Iowa State could hold its own with a lot of places. When they see it with their own eyes, that is when they start listening to you.”

- See more at: http://amestrib.com/sports/football-how-isu-combats-one-its-biggest-recruiting-battles-getting-recruits-campus#sthash.1FXfwz1l.dpuf

 

By Bobby La Gesse
Sports Editor
rlagesse@amestrib.com

A man heads out fishing. He doesn’t bring bait or a pole. When he gets to a known catfish hole, he steps in the water and shoves his hands in trying to grab a fish.

Josh Coleman sat mesmerized as the Iowa State coaching staff relayed the story. The art of noodling hit home with the avid fisherman as a thought popped into his head.

I have to meet the Cyclones that do this. That’s pretty amazing.

It’s in that moment that ISU reeled in Coleman, a 250-pound defensive tackle from Jacksonville, Fla. Sixty-one percent of ISU signees under coach Paul Rhoads are from California, Florida or Texas. The challenge is getting those athletes on campus, shrinking the distance between their homes and the university.

ISU’s central recruiting philosophy is to get a player in town. The coaches will use anything they can — a fishing story, recruiting near locations with cheap flights, identifying specific players that will fit in around Ames — to hear the four words they were after from Coleman.

I want to visit.

“You’ve got to get them here,” defensive backs coach Maurice Linguist said. “That’s the biggest thing. If you took all the logos off of every school and you just saw the facilities for what they are, Iowa State could hold its own with a lot of places. When they see it with their own eyes, that is when they start listening to you.”

• • •

Wanting to recruit in California, Florida or Texas isn’t revolutionary. It’s a staple of programs across the country. Rhoads did it as a Cyclone assistant in the 1990s.

Rhoads believed it was a key part to ISU’s glory years under Dan McCarney. Rhoads believed it would be a key part to his success upon getting hired in December 2008.

But those who grow up in the south hear about the ACC or the SEC. The Big 12, let alone ISU, can be an afterthought. There are similar issues with California and for non-Big 12 teams in Texas.

There are an abundance of schools within driving distance for a player and his family in those areas. It’s common for ISU coaches to run into Florida players who never left the area. A Midwestern state half a country away might as well be a foreign land, even if it may be a short flight away. Parents can hesitate sending their babies so far from home.

Why take the time to visit ISU with so many other options nearby? It’s a question, regardless if it’s asked or not, that must be overcome.

“They have to fly over a lot of schools and a lot of people that are closer to them that can get their hands on them to get them here,” ISU defensive tackles coach Shane Burnham said.

- See more at: http://amestrib.com/sports/football-how-isu-combats-one-its-biggest-recruiting-battles-getting-recruits-campus#sthash.1FXfwz1l.dpuf

 

By Bobby La Gesse
Sports Editor
rlagesse@amestrib.com

A man heads out fishing. He doesn’t bring bait or a pole. When he gets to a known catfish hole, he steps in the water and shoves his hands in trying to grab a fish.

Josh Coleman sat mesmerized as the Iowa State coaching staff relayed the story. The art of noodling hit home with the avid fisherman as a thought popped into his head.

I have to meet the Cyclones that do this. That’s pretty amazing.

It’s in that moment that ISU reeled in Coleman, a 250-pound defensive tackle from Jacksonville, Fla. Sixty-one percent of ISU signees under coach Paul Rhoads are from California, Florida or Texas. The challenge is getting those athletes on campus, shrinking the distance between their homes and the university.

ISU’s central recruiting philosophy is to get a player in town. The coaches will use anything they can — a fishing story, recruiting near locations with cheap flights, identifying specific players that will fit in around Ames — to hear the four words they were after from Coleman.

I want to visit.

“You’ve got to get them here,” defensive backs coach Maurice Linguist said. “That’s the biggest thing. If you took all the logos off of every school and you just saw the facilities for what they are, Iowa State could hold its own with a lot of places. When they see it with their own eyes, that is when they start listening to you.”

• • •

Wanting to recruit in California, Florida or Texas isn’t revolutionary. It’s a staple of programs across the country. Rhoads did it as a Cyclone assistant in the 1990s.

Rhoads believed it was a key part to ISU’s glory years under Dan McCarney. Rhoads believed it would be a key part to his success upon getting hired in December 2008.

But those who grow up in the south hear about the ACC or the SEC. The Big 12, let alone ISU, can be an afterthought. There are similar issues with California and for non-Big 12 teams in Texas.

There are an abundance of schools within driving distance for a player and his family in those areas. It’s common for ISU coaches to run into Florida players who never left the area. A Midwestern state half a country away might as well be a foreign land, even if it may be a short flight away. Parents can hesitate sending their babies so far from home.

Why take the time to visit ISU with so many other options nearby? It’s a question, regardless if it’s asked or not, that must be overcome.

“They have to fly over a lot of schools and a lot of people that are closer to them that can get their hands on them to get them here,” ISU defensive tackles coach Shane Burnham said.

- See more at: http://amestrib.com/sports/football-how-isu-combats-one-its-biggest-recruiting-battles-getting-recruits-campus#sthash.1FXfwz1l.dpuf