Jake Hummel commits

Tre4ISU

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Uh, I guess I don't get it. By 247 our current class is ranked, what, 28th? Does this not matter? I'm serious when I ask this question, I don't want to don the rose-colored glasses. What is it you're saying, when comparing past recruiting finishes with where we are today?

Class rankings are based off a volume of points rather than an average. So, the bigger the class is, the more points you get and the higher you are. The average ranking of the players doesn't matter. We still have the worst average rating in the conference according to 247. There isn't a BCS team in the rankings below us with as many or more commits and out of the top 50, on CMU has as many or more commits.

I agree that the real comparison will be player development, that was clearly CPR's downfall. IMO the thing that to this point would put this staff above the last is that they are getting the kids they want early. CPR was piecing together his classes during the season or a lot of the time in January and February. That tells me this staff has a better idea of exactly what kind of kids they want. CPR was notorious for finishing off classes with kids that he could get, not necessarily kids that fit into a system. Another big difference is the positions this staff has recruited, they have already brought in 11 or 12 lineman, in less than two classes.

All true but the last staff had a different timeline. It was stupid and it wasn't the right way to do it, IMO, but I don't know if there's a guy in this class that the last staff couldn't have gotten just based on the caliber of a recruit they are.

I hope no one takes all of this wrong because I love what this staff is doing. We aren't going to go grab a handful of four stars. You go out, trust evaluations on guys you can get and if you like them, get them here. Then you work on the Kam White's of the world. If you get a couple of them, great, but it's going to take a lot of time to get to a point where you are pulling in numerous highly rated and recruited prospects.
 

SwirlyBird

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Cyclone Fanatic is blessed to be accompanied by all these recruiting experts. Praise be.
 

CyFy

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I love following recruiting and the thing I see is after you get past the 5 and 4* guys these rating seem to just be random. The O lineman we got from Ohio was NR and everyone was saying he wasn't that good because of it. In 3 weeks he has gone from un ranked to a 3* all because people weren't looking at him. Not only that but has a 80 composite which isn't even the lowest 3* ranking. Not because of the skill level but because they just went unnoticed for some reason.

The national guys that rate them try hard with the top 300 players and after that they are reactionary. They up a guy when they get offers. This makes a huge difference in the 3* guys. So far to me it looks like we are getting the quality 3* guys and not the guys that had a rating thrown their way because they had the size that matched the position.

Also you don't need to look any farther than the offers these kids are getting (Hummel is a bad example I know). Almost all of them have power 5 offers...that is the big change. Our receiver who nobody is talking about is on the verge of blowing up. ND has offered. Beating a team like ND for an out of state kid is all the proof you should need.
 

Tre4ISU

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I love following recruiting and the thing I see is after you get past the 5 and 4* guys these rating seem to just be random. The O lineman we got from Ohio was NR and everyone was saying he wasn't that good because of it. In 3 weeks he has gone from un ranked to a 3* all because people weren't looking at him. Not only that but has a 80 composite which isn't even the lowest 3* ranking. Not because of the skill level but because they just went unnoticed for some reason.

The national guys that rate them try hard with the top 300 players and after that they are reactionary. They up a guy when they get offers. This makes a huge difference in the 3* guys. So far to me it looks like we are getting the quality 3* guys and not the guys that had a rating thrown their way because they had the size that matched the position.

Also you don't need to look any farther than the offers these kids are getting (Hummel is a bad example I know). Almost all of them have power 5 offers...that is the big change. Our receiver who nobody is talking about is on the verge of blowing up. ND has offered. Beating a team like ND for an out of state kid is all the proof you should need.

Outside of Johnson, there aren't many P5 offers out there. Again, this is reality. It looks really similar to a Rhoads class, just six months earlier, which is great and I definitely trust these guys.

Honestly, this whole thing, to me is more about the quality of the guys we have here right now. It's not about downplaying what this staff is doing. I think there is an unprecedented amount of talent on this roster right now and even marginal improvement, to me, is a big deal. I'm just saying that the roster isn't made up of a bunch of guys no one wanted.
 

IAStubborn

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247 Ave rating

2017-83.43
2015-82.17
2014-82.49
2013-82.2

So yeah, it's better but we probably should act like they've drastically changed the talent level being brought in (according to rankings) at this point. They also haven't taken any flyers yet and I promise you they will. I know I'll be called a Debbie Downer for this but the reality is that their recruiting is as good as their evaluation and right now, it's impossible to know how good they are at that. At those rating points, it's all about evaluation. Prospects rated in that 78-88 range aren't sure things and it's about finding the ones who are actually going to contribute.

This staff has done everything right and expecting more would be asinine at this point, but at the same time, reality is that they are a little bit better based off rankings and even offers.

Well numerous nationalrecruiting experts have said Campbell and his staff are known as among the best evaluators.
 

IAStubborn

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Class rankings are based off a volume of points rather than an average. So, the bigger the class is, the more points you get and the higher you are. The average ranking of the players doesn't matter. We still have the worst average rating in the conference according to 247. There isn't a BCS team in the rankings below us with as many or more commits and out of the top 50, on CMU has as many or more commits.



All true but the last staff had a different timeline. It was stupid and it wasn't the right way to do it, IMO, but I don't know if there's a guy in this class that the last staff couldn't have gotten just based on the caliber of a recruit they are.

I hope no one takes all of this wrong because I love what this staff is doing. We aren't going to go grab a handful of four stars. You go out, trust evaluations on guys you can get and if you like them, get them here. Then you work on the Kam White's of the world. If you get a couple of them, great, but it's going to take a lot of time to get to a point where you are pulling in numerous highly rated and recruited prospects.

Not accurate to say it's pure volume. You only get full value for your top rated recruit each subsequent receives a diminishing percentage value
 

CyFy

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Outside of Johnson, there aren't many P5 offers out there. Again, this is reality. It looks really similar to a Rhoads class, just six months earlier, which is great and I definitely trust these guys.
Honestly, this whole thing, to me is more about the quality of the guys we have here right now. It's not about downplaying what this staff is doing. I think there is an unprecedented amount of talent on this roster right now and even marginal improvement, to me, is a big deal. I'm just saying that the roster isn't made up of a bunch of guys no one wanted.

about 5 of the guys have at least 1 power 5. I would also guess that will grow since it is still really early. A lot of the big time schools will come after these guys when they miss on other guys. Vance would probably have a stack of offers as well if he was in better standing academically.

I agree we have a lot of talent at the starting positions. It is at the 2 deeps where things start to look worse. In the past we have had to wait to get these kind of recruits which made it hard to fill in the other spots. We sometime seemed to just take bodies. With getting them to commit this early the coaching staff is making it easier to adjust who and how hard they are going after guys for the remainder of the year.

I also base a lot of my comments on the film. These guys look the part on the film. I honestly think one of the guys with the most potential is the lowest ranked guy in the class. The film shows far more than * ratings ever will.
 

Frak

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It always comes down to evaluation. Period. If this staff evaluates better than the previous staff, we will see better results. But reality is that Campbell recruiting at Toledo had similar talent to Rhoads in Year 6. There's no question about that. So just the fact that he's recruiting with P5 resources and facilities means that he should up our talent level. That might not be enough to win in the Big 12 at a high level, but it's obvious that ISU is getting more talent in.

Also, they're not going to take commitments from kids that aren't some of their top choices at this point, so once again it comes down to evaluation.
 

Stormin

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Looks like the recruits we are getting are rated just a bit higher. Plus, we have 9 commitments and it is not even May 1. That is pretty impressive. According to Rivals we do not have a player with a Rivals Rating lower than a 5.5. Under CPR we had lots of recruits with a 5.4 rating and less. The upgrade in recruiting is noticeable.
 

BeachAve

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That would be a top 5 time for this years linebacker class at the combine. I tend to not pay attention to high school kids 40 times. I'm just not seeing it on film.

who cares. ISU loses way too many central and western Iowa kids to u of Iowa and other schools. We need all we can get
 

CyInDFW

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I hope no one takes all of this wrong because I love what this staff is doing. We aren't going to go grab a handful of four stars. You go out, trust evaluations on guys you can get and if you like them, get them here. Then you work on the Kam White's of the world. If you get a couple of them, great, but it's going to take a lot of time to get to a point where you are pulling in numerous highly rated and recruited prospects.

I agree but also...the ability to get these guys now allows the staff to go out and work a little more on those 4 star guys. They won't get a lot of them, but even a couple will help. Success on the field is what Iowa State needs to get the higher rated kids. A great recruiting staff, coupled with wins would make the difference.
 

ILikeCy

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I agree but also...the ability to get these guys now allows the staff to go out and work a little more on those 4 star guys. They won't get a lot of them, but even a couple will help. Success on the field is what Iowa State needs to get the higher rated kids. A great recruiting staff, coupled with wins would make the difference.
That's what I love about these early commits. Now the staff can put more of their energy and focus on a smaller number of remaining spots to fill. We all know how much these kids want to "feel the love". So now it becomes a little easier for the staff to show the love to their top targets, since several spots are already done.
 

Cydkar

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It always comes down to evaluation. Period. If this staff evaluates better than the previous staff, we will see better results. But reality is that Campbell recruiting at Toledo had similar talent to Rhoads in Year 6. There's no question about that. So just the fact that he's recruiting with P5 resources and facilities means that he should up our talent level. That might not be enough to win in the Big 12 at a high level, but it's obvious that ISU is getting more talent in.

Also, they're not going to take commitments from kids that aren't some of their top choices at this point, so once again it comes down to evaluation.

This. Everything I've heard is that our staff is good at it. Time will tell.
 

LLCoolCY

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That's what I love about these early commits. Now the staff can put more of their energy and focus on a smaller number of remaining spots to fill. We all know how much these kids want to "feel the love". So now it becomes a little easier for the staff to show the love to their top targets, since several spots are already done.

Potential recruits can also the direction of the program is trending up with a talent infusion. They can be part of the class that turned the fortunes for ISU FB and play early in their careers. Easier to gain the attention of "4 star" to see a number of recruits choosing ISU over other P5 teams, especially if they are familiar with the commitments from camps, location and recruiting services.
 

Beyerball

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I love following recruiting and the thing I see is after you get past the 5 and 4* guys these rating seem to just be random. The O lineman we got from Ohio was NR and everyone was saying he wasn't that good because of it. In 3 weeks he has gone from un ranked to a 3* all because people weren't looking at him. Not only that but has a 80 composite which isn't even the lowest 3* ranking. Not because of the skill level but because they just went unnoticed for some reason.

The national guys that rate them try hard with the top 300 players and after that they are reactionary. They up a guy when they get offers. This makes a huge difference in the 3* guys. So far to me it looks like we are getting the quality 3* guys and not the guys that had a rating thrown their way because they had the size that matched the position.

Also you don't need to look any farther than the offers these kids are getting (Hummel is a bad example I know). Almost all of them have power 5 offers...that is the big change. Our receiver who nobody is talking about is on the verge of blowing up. ND has offered. Beating a team like ND for an out of state kid is all the proof you should need.


This completely...without a doubt this. Cyfy is right in the money here...recruiting experts spend 99% of their time evaluating top 300 kids and that's it. What is a bigger evaluation for us is who else wants them. What is also deceptive is sometimes we get kids from Iowa who other schools haven't evaluated but will later and offer or the kid commits early without seeing or visiting other schools...
 

Stormin

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That's what I love about these early commits. Now the staff can put more of their energy and focus on a smaller number of remaining spots to fill. We all know how much these kids want to "feel the love". So now it becomes a little easier for the staff to show the love to their top targets, since several spots are already done.

Exactly. We fill the base needs with some good solid recruits and target them. Then we only have so many spots to fill. The pressure then is on the recruit a little more to give a commitment. Because there is a possibility another target could take that offer. IMO, Campbell and the rest of the stuff work their tails off recruiting. CPR and his staff just weren't at this level of intensity in recruiting. I never got the impression that Rhoads really recruited all that much. He didn't use social media like Campbell and this staff does. Wally didn't really recruit much it seemed. And it all came down to just a few guys doing all the recruiting. On Campbell's staff they ALL recruit. And they seem to love it. Their enthusiasm and their vision for the future is contagious. Hopefully, Coach Matt Campbell and staff do great things at Iowa State. And I just get the impression that Coach Campbell and his staff actually love Iowa State already and that is one of the reasons that they are so successful in getting recruits. They are selling our facilities and also the support and love from Cyclone Nation, along with everything else, to these recruits.