As a cold breeze blows outside the Jacobson Building, men’s golf coach Andrew Tank sits in his offices reviewing potential candidates. Who has what it takes to join his team and become a Cyclone?

With this November marking the signing period for the class of 2013, Tank is focused on continuing to get the program back to a place that’s relevant.

Tank came to Iowa State in 2010 to create a championship team and the momentum is building. Last season, the ISU men’s golf team made it’s first NCAA regional appearance since 1999.

“The next step is to get to the NCAA finals,” Tank said.

In the past two years, Tank has built a team with international students at its core. Recruiting abroad has helped bring a lot of experience to the team. Scott Fernandez and Borja Virto both played with the Spanish National Team, playing across Europe before coming to Iowa State.

“I inherited Borja when I got here,” Tank said. “Borja was a key player in getting to know Scott. That connection is very vital to recruiting, whether if it’s a player on your team now or a coach.”

Fernandez said Virto first spoke to Tank on the Internet using Skype. 

“I spoke to [Tank] on Skype, and he gave me a lot of confidence [in the program],” Fernandez said.

Tank likes to focus on a player’s goals rather than only sell the program.

“He’s all in to help me reach those goals,” Fernandez said.

ISU assistant coach Patrick Datz has helped Tank in his recruiting of foreign players.

“A lot of international recruiting is through relationships you have built,” Datz said.

Junior Duncan Croudis was recruited by Tank out of Dunedin, New Zealand. A former Minnesota player under Tank’s direction, Thomas Campbell, reached out to Croudis.

“I only heard good things about Andrew Tank from my friend [Campbell],” Croudis said.

Tank has worked to develop contacts with coaches and players worldwide to expand the team’s depth.

“The international recruiting comes a lot from being a coach from Minnesota before, Brad James is from Australia,” Tank said. “He brought over a lot of international guys that we both coached.”

Brad James, former coach for Minnesota, now serves as Golf Australia’s High Performance Program Director.

James is now a key contact for Tank when navigating down under.

“Coach Tank goes down to Australia during Christmas time, usually about every other year,” Datz said. “All their tournaments are happening [at] that time.”

The season holds many opportunities to seek out and meet potential Cyclones.

“He came to Australia, sat down and set the plans for the future [with me],” said returning sophomore, Sam Daley. “Iowa State best suited me with what I wanted to do with my future.”

Future players are examined both on and off the course when recruited.

“It’s a number of factors like scores, their technique, how they swing the club, and more importantly what kind of person are they,” Datz said. “Do they fit the mold of the player were trying to bring into the program?”

Tank said, “The next step is to get to the NCAA finals.”