Gene Chizik’s first recruiting class at Iowa State went a long way to shoring up problem areas that had already surfaced for next season’s ISU football team.

The Cyclones – sorely lacking on both the offensive and defensive lines – received 14 commitments in the trenches.

Five of the recruits – four offensive line and one defensive line – played at a junior college last season, meaning Chizik expects them to be able to contribute immediately.

“As far as these people we’re bringing in, the junior college ones are the ones, obviously, you would think have the best chance to contribute,” Chizik said.

Iowa State lost four offensive linemen to graduation – from a line that wasn’t overly dominant to begin with.

Doug Dedrick, a lineman from Scottsdale, Ariz., knows this is his chance to make an immediate impact.

“I only have two years to play, so that was huge in my decision,” Dedrick said. “Other schools were losing two, maybe three guys [from their offensive line]. That was probably the biggest base for my decision.”

In all, Chizik signed eight offensive line recruits and six players on the defensive line.

Perhaps the biggest victory for the Cyclones was the commitment of running back Jamicah Bass.

Bass led El Camino Community College to a California state championship and is ranked the No. 2 junior college back in the nation.

“We knew when he came out of high school what a great player he was, but he went out to junior college and they won a state championship in large part to his contributions,” Chizik said.

Bass was originally committed to Iowa State under Dan McCarney but switched to Oregon State after the season. Chizik, however, swooped in and convinced Bass to return to the Cyclones.

“He was pretty solid to Oregon State but we got him some counseling and then he ended up [switching back],” Chizik joked.

Iowa State struggled running the football last season, ranking 10th in the Big 12 in that category, averaging only 101 yards on the ground. With the graduation of Stevie Hicks and questions surrounding the often injured Jason Scales, the Cyclones needed help quickly at that position.

Although Bass and the offensive line recruits will have an immediate impact on the field, Chizik sees linebacker Curtiz Mathis as the steal of this class.

Mathis, a Harvey, Ill., native, was highly recruited, choosing Iowa State over Iowa, Arizona State, Michigan State, Indiana and Purdue.

“He’s a steal, an absolute steal,” Chizik said. “He can play all three [linebacker] positions,” Chizik said.

Mathis is an example of the type of defensive player Chizik is trying to recruit – one with tons of speed.

“When we sign linebackers, the first thing that has to happen is they have to be able to run, they have to have great speed,” Chizik said.

“If you do not have great speed at that position, then we don’t feel like we can recruit you to be successful in this league.”

Recruiting class spearheaded by 11 JUCO transfers

By Brett McIntyre

Daily Staff Writer

Wednesday was a satisfying day for rookie ISU football coach Gene Chizik.

At long last, his frantic scramble to put together 2007’s recruiting class for the Cyclones came to fruition.

After barely two months of trying to touch base and perform damage control with recruits from the previous administration and fill out his coaching staff – while at the same time fill out the rest of the class with his own men – the Cyclones’ 25 recruits are now signed, sealed and delivered.

“Where we started from this year with the time frame we had to work in, I think my staff and I are very excited about the mixture of guys we’re bringing in here for our football program,” Chizik said.

Not only did Chizik have to come in and decide which positions needed the most attention before he could hit the recruiting trail, he also had to find players that hadn’t made up their minds with just weeks until signing day.

“Obviously when you start recruiting in the 11th hour, as late as we are, the good players that are out there somebody’s been recruiting,” Chizik said. “With the timing being so late, anybody we thought was a good player we weren’t going to give up on. We were just going to lay everything out there about the program and the university so they could make a decision.”

Chizik’s class of 25 players was split right down the middle with 13 offensive recruits and 12 on the defensive side of the ball. The offensive and defensive lines saw the most attention with eight of the recruits on the O-line and six on the D-line.

The class also had 11 junior college transfers, most of them on the lines.

“Four of our signees are already here and enrolled,” Chizik said. “All four are on the offensive line. I felt that I had to address a need on the offensive line and that was a priority.”

The four early-enrollment players that will be able to participate in spring drills and practice with the team this semester are sophomores Alex Alvarez and Joe McMahon, along with juniors Joe Blaes and Doug Dedrick. Chizik faced an even greater time crunch to get the four eligible for early enrollment.

“If you put the dates together, we were here in early December and they had to sign by Dec. 21 [to early enroll],” Chizik said. “We were on a scramble.”

Eleven is typically a high amount of junior college transfers for any school to accept in one season. Chizik said it was necessary this year to fill holes, but certainly won’t be routine.

“The bottom line is you don’t ever take a junior college recruit unless you think they can come in and play and help you,” Chizik said.

Chizik believes it’s likely the transfers will help. McMahon, a center coming off an All-American season at Joliet Junior College in Illinois, was another of Chizik’s last minute recruits who nearly committed to Illinois before Iowa State caught a little luck and landed the lineman.

“Illinois had another math class they wanted for me to get in early and I couldn’t get it in time, so I was able to come here,” McMahon said. “I had actually come here when I was with Joliet in the spring. We had a game in Sumner, Iowa, and I liked it a lot here and so that’s why I came here.”

Alvarez was a recruit Chizik said “flew under the radar” and could turn out to be a steal for Iowa State with three years of eligibility left.

Alvarez said he hadn’t heard from anyone and was planning on playing another year at Kilgore College in Texas until Chizik called.

“In high school, my junior year we had a bad year and I had some knee problems,” Alvarez said. “I came out my senior year just trying to work my behind off, but nobody really recruited me until Kigore, my junior college, called and that’s where I went for a semester. I thought I would just play there one more year before Coach Chizik called.”

With the recruiting class for 2007 set, the focus of the fans will shift to spring practice; for Chizik, the cycle has already started over again.

“Obviously next year will be easier for us because we will have recruited the [next year’s] guys starting now,” Chizik said. “We’re always going to recruit this state and start in this state. We’ve already had meetings for recruits for next year. We know right now what we’re going for in this state.”