On Wednesday, a 14-month recruiting soap opera (that in reality really wasn’t much of a soap opera if you think about it) came to an end when Allen Lazard finally signed on the dotted line with Iowa State.
UPDATE: On Tuesday, a somewhat similar story (considering that it is such a high-profile recruit) is supposed to conclude. On Tuesday, Iowa State’s top target in its 2014 recruiting class, Rashad Vaughn of Findlay Prep in Las Vegas, tweeted that he would announce his decision on Saturday. This announcement has now been pushed back to Tuesday.
It is down to Vaughn’s five finalists: Iowa State, UNLV, North Carolina, Kentucky and Kansas. Recruiting pundits around the country believe that Vaughn, who Rivals.com ranks as the seventh best prospect in the country, will ultimately choose between the Cyclones and the Runnin’ Rebels.
However, the whole situation is a bit bizarre. It was on Tuesday morning that Vaughn tweeted that his announcement was coming on Saturday (months earlier than expected), yet nobody knows when exactly or how this revelation is going to be made.
For four days, I have tried to figure that out (I want to make sure that our sever has enough juice cause you know, you guys tend to explode when stuff like this goes down, good or bad) and have had no luck whatsoever. To the dozens of you who have sent me PM’s or tweets asking about the timing of Vaughn’s decision, I appreciate your notes but the simple answer is, I don’t know.
Through my eyes (and ears), it looks like Vaughn will play his college ball at UNLV. But take that for what it is worth. Nobody in the Vaughn camp is talking and sources here in central Iowa don’t know a thing.
Yesterday afternoon, national recruiting writer Jerry Meyer from 247 Sports tweeted the following: Changed my #Crystalball pick for Rashad Vaughn (#9/#12) to #UNLV based on what I’m hearing.
Hours later, Vaughn tweeted this: Trust me, Nobody knows anything.
I trust Vaughn more than Jerry Meyer. After all, it is his decision to make.
What exactly did that tweet from Vaughn mean though? The verbiage used over the last four days (not by Vaughn, but others) has clearly leaded people to believe that he will end up in Vegas. Was Vaughn hinting at a surprise commitment somewhere else?
That could be the case, and if it is, I’d guess it is Iowa State, but I don’t know. I just don’t know.
Heck, I don’t even know when everybody will know exactly what Vaughn knows. The announcement is supposed to come tomorrow but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if it doesn’t.
Confused?
Yeah, me too.
I will keep you all updated as much as possible tomorrow as to when this decision will be made, that’s if a decision comes at all.
What’s it all mean?
If Iowa State snags Vaughn, a McDonald’s All-American, it would obviously be a major coup for the program. After two straight NCAA tournament’s (soon to be three) and a consistent national ranking this season, Fred Hoiberg and the Cyclones have proven themselves to be legit on the court. But signing a McDonald’s All-American would legitimize Iowa State on the recruiting trail in a way that this staff has never experienced before.
As Iowa State’s assistant football coach Shane Burnham told me on Wednesday, “When you see a guy with a pretty girl, a supermodel, you think about that guy, that there is something to him. I think that’s the same thing in recruiting. When you land a supermodel, then people think, ‘There must be something there.”’
Now that is some insightful talk right there, and as funny as the quote reads, I truly mean that.
What if Iowa State doesn’t get Vaughn? Well, let me be the first to tell you that it is NOT the end of the world. Not at all. Most coaches would kill for Iowa State’s young nucleus of Georges Niang, Monte Morris, Matt Thomas, Naz Long and Clayton Custer.
The success of this current season will pay dividends on the trail this summer. With reinforcements like Jameel McKay and Abdel Nadir waiting in the wings, Iowa State will be just fine next season and has a chance to be even better than they are right now.
Regardless of what goes down on Saturday, Iowa State will play an actual basketball game at 3 p.m. vs. TCU, so that should be fun.
