Head coach Dan McCarney and the ISU football team officially landed 26 recruits, including 13 from Iowa, on Wednesday.

“They’re a great bunch of young men who have great character and leadership,” McCarney said. “It’s a hell of a class, I’ll promise you that.”

McCarney was especially pleased with how recruiting went inside the state. This year marked the most Iowa players ever signed to an ISU football team in any one signing period.

“I was at the University of Iowa for 19 years and at Iowa State now for nine and this is as fine a group of Iowa kids as I’ve ever coached or recruited,” McCarney said.

One of those players, 6-foot-7, 295-pound offensive lineman Aaron Brant, is already enrolled in classes at Iowa State after graduating a semester early from Dubuque Wahlert High School with a 3.8 grade point average.

Brant, who McCarney said could play tackle or guard, is one of six offensive linemen signed Wednesday. He participated in Iowa State’s summer football camp the past two summers, and was one of the earliest verbal commitments Iowa State received.

McCarney said when he saw Brant play in his first camp, just after his sophomore year, he knew he was a great athlete.

“There was no doubt that he had Big 12 and Division I written all over him,” McCarney said. “There isn’t any place in the country Aaron Brant could go and not play.”

McCarney said Brant’s attributes are what he looks for in a recruit.

“He’s special and he’s tough,” McCarney said.

“I know the sun is out today but it’s still only about 20 degrees and he’s got sandals on, so I know he’s tough.”

Brant, who was also recruited heavily by Iowa, isn’t the only tough one.

“Two or three of them are state power-lifting champions,” McCarney said. “There are some real big, strong, physical kids.”

In all, 25 student-athletes signed Wednesday are from high schools. James Wright III, whose father played in the NFL for the Denver Broncos and Atlanta Falcons, is the lone junior college athlete to sign with Iowa State.

McCarney said that was his plan all along to recruit most of the players right out of high school.

“Once you get your program established and you start getting some good depth and some good competition going, then why not bring in four- and five-year players,” McCarney said. “And it’s not like we were shut out on a bunch of J.C. kids. We offered two scholarships and James Wright got one of the two.”

Wright, a 6-foot-3, 255-pound tight end, is enrolled at Iowa State as well, getting a head start on his conditioning for Big 12 football. His decision came down to Iowa State and Arkansas.

“I just felt like I was home here,” Wright said.

“At Arkansas, it was like everybody wasn’t in the family. Everybody here was just like one thing that you can’t break apart. That’s what really drove me here. I felt like they were being honest to me and they would get me my education and my degree.”

With last season’s starting tight end Kyle Knock graduating, Wright should challenge for a starting position next season. In fact, McCarney expects both Wright and Brant to see time on the field next season.

“I’ll be real disappointed if these two guys don’t play, and they know it,” said McCarney as he gestured to Brant and Wright.

McCarney said he tells potential recruits about several things on his visits, but he stresses some special qualities that are unique to Iowa State.

“We’ve got a great thing to sell here,” McCarney said.

“We don’t sell skyscrapers and city lights and we don’t have beaches, but we’ve got great people here at Iowa State. That’s the first thing that we sell — the academics and the people.”