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Iowa State announces 2023 football recruiting class
AMES, Iowa – Iowa State head football coach Matt Campbell announced the addition of 21 early signees from the high school ranks, as well as two four-year transfer student-athletes and 13 preferred walk-ons during the 2023 early signing period on Wednesday.
The high school class ranks 35th nationally according to Rivals, the second-highest ranking ever by the outlet, and features 10 offensive players and 11 defensive players joining Iowa State from 10 different states.
“We are very excited about this outstanding group of young men that will be joining our program,” Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell said. “This class is excited about joining this University and is a group that we believe will impact our program positively in many ways over the course of the next five years. It is important to our program to recruit high-character young men that take great pride in their academics and in playing the game of football. This class embraces our values and we look forward to the future with them.”
With a priority on recruiting players that come from winning programs, Campbell and his staff signed eight players that have competed in state championship games and another six that reached the quarterfinals in their high school careers.
The class features seven signees from the State of Iowa, including four-star quarterback and Cyclone legacy JJ Kohl. The Ankeny, Iowa, native, is the second-highest ranked recruit in the internet rankings era according to 247sports.com. Kohl, whose father Jamie was a kicker for the Cyclones in the 90s, is the ninth-ranked quarterback in Rivals rankings after passing for 42 touchdowns the last two seasons at Ankeny High School.
Kohl’s senior year teammate Jamison Patton, a three-star safety and a top-50 athlete nationally by Rivals, is the highest-rated defensive player in the class.
Another Iowan, Southeast Polk’s Abu Sama III was the Des Moines Register’s All-Iowa Player of the Year after helping the Rams to their second consecutive Class 5A title. Sama was the talk of the state after breaking the title game record with 372 rushing yards and six touchdowns. He rushed for 1,408 yards and 28 touchdowns as a senior.
The Cyclones added two four-year college transfers in this class. Former four-star running back Arlen Harris Jr. (Stanford), who joins the Cyclones as a redshirt freshman transfer, and redshirt sophomore linebacker Zach Lovett (Missouri).
The spring Signing Day will be February 1.
