ISU football coach Dan McCarney was very optimistic about the day’s news when he appeared in front of the media yesterday afternoon.

That sentence could have described the situation at the Jacobsen Building for each of the past four years McCarney has been at the helm.

However, this day was special. It was the announcement of the Cyclone recruiting class for 2000, and it appears McCarney has a reason for his boundless enthusiasm.

Leading a class of 25 were two big-name recruits, JaMaine Billups, a running back from Omaha, Neb., and Tyson Smith, a linebacker from Des Moines.

Billups was secured despite a late push from Nebraska, while Smith was recruited heavily by schools such as Iowa and Michigan.

“Mike Grant, one of our top assistants, was the one mainly involved with Billups. He built a real strong relationship over the phone with him and kept telling me that we had a real strong chance, and he made his decision early and stuck to it, and we are absolutely thrilled to have him here,” McCarney said.

The man that really drew rave reviews, however, was Smith. The 6-4, 210 pound linebacker was rated by many experts as one of the three best players in Iowa.

McCarney, for one, is sold on him.

“In my 25 years of coaching at Iowa, Wisconsin and Iowa State, I have never seen a player as productive on the football field as Tyson Smith. He is a phenomenal player, really a complete athlete. I have never been more impressed with anyone, I’ll guarantee that,” McCarney said.

As far as playing time immediately next year, the coach says he isn’t sure who will be ready.

“It’s really hard to judge at this point. Ability wise, I think Smith is ready, but he might not be strong enough. But you never really know. Last year at this time, we didn’t think Chris Whitaker would be ready to go, and he started five games,” McCarney said.

However, he expects many of the eight junior college players he signed to be able to come in and contribute for the team.

Included among these are three mammoth offensive lineman. T.J. Woods, a 6-5, 300 pound tackle from Citrus Community College in California, says he looks forward to playing immediately.

“I’m really excited about it. The Big 12 is the best conference in the nation, I think. You really get a chance to measure yourself against the best teams in the nation. I’m going to be able to play against a lot of guys that are going to be playing on Sundays,” Woods said.

With current offensive lineman Josh Rank, Ben Beaudet and Marcel Howard questionable for next year and beyond with concussion problems, McCarney knew that this was an area that needed to be shored up.

“We recruited as if those guys were not going to be back playing for our football team, and I think we absolutely would be able to field a competitive line if they can’t come back and play,” McCarney said.

Along with Woods, Kerry Carlson (6-5, 305-pounds) and the gargantuan Lorenzo White (6-5, 340-pounds) are both junior college transfers who expect to compete for playing time.

A major area of need was linebacker, and certainly the Cyclones did all they could to make this an area of strength for next season and beyond.

Iowa State signed a total of five linebacker’s, including two from the junior college ranks.

Tyrone Tucker and Justin Eilers are expected to contribute immediately next year, while California native Brent Nash and Cedar Rapids standout Brett Kellogg will be asked to help down the line.

“We really felt that we addressed our needs very well. We were a little thin at linebacker, so we hit that area hard. John Skladany (defensive coordinator and linebackers coach) was instrumental in getting those guys here. They are really going to help a lot on special teams with their speed,” McCarney said.

Tucker says he has enjoyed his experience at Iowa State so far.

“I’ve really been accepted with open arms, and everyone’s been great. I’ve been in the sun so long, though, that I’m a little out of my element,” said Tucker, a native of Miami.

Another area that was addressed was that of kicker. Tony Yelk, a native of Arlington, Wis., was given a scholarship after McCarney was tipped off by his father-in-law.

“He’s from Wisconsin, and he kept sending me clippings about this kid, and Wisconsin’s got a real good kicker from California, so they weren’t looking at him. So I decided we should check into it, and we got him down here, looked at some tapes and offered,” McCarney said.

Yelk is someone that is expected to compete for a job.

“Absolutely he’s going to be expected to compete. We have some guys on this campus who have potential, but I wasn’t satisfied a bit with our kicking game this year, especially the kicker,” McCarney said.

Another area that got a lot of attention was defensive back. The Cyclones signed four players, all freshman, in an attempt to build some depth for the future.

Overall, McCarney was very pleased with the class.

“Last year, we closed the gap immensely. We had some tough losses against schools like Kansas State, Texas and Colorado, and while nobody here was happy with coming up short, we realize that’s part of the process,” McCarney said.

Skladany also mentioned there would be a new addition to the linebacking corps besides the new recruits.

“Derrick Walker will be playing there a little bit. He’s got the size, and he’s a great athlete. He can run, and does a lot of things,” Skladany said.

Iowa State starts off next season with four winnable games. After opening up with home games against Ohio and UNLV, the Cyclones travel to Iowa and Baylor.

McCarney thinks that with more classes like this one, the Cyclones will be in solid contention for postseason play every year.

“We have great facilities, and a great atmosphere here. We can’t really sell the weather or tradition, but what we can sell is the future,” McCarney said.