When prospective Iowa State football players come to ISU to scout the university’s facilities, they are placed in the hands of 30 Cyclone student recruiters. It is up to those recruiters (while following NCAA regulations) to sell ISU to those highly touted high school prospects on Ames and what ISU has to offer.

“We basically promote ISU. We have to be ready to answer any questions about Iowa State, whether it’s a question about parties on campus or questions about the classrooms. We have to know about the football coaches, too. We have to know who the offensive coordinators are and basically about all the coaches so we can tell them how great they are,” says Charlene Blue, who is a junior Cyclone football recruiter.

“Everything we do is on campus. We don’t pick them up and take them to parties or anything. If we see them at a party then of course we can talk to them, but we’re not an escort service,” Blue said.

So how does a student who is interested in recruiting become a recruiter?

“There aren’t really any requirements. You just have to promote ISU. I knew somebody who has done it (recruiting) before. I got into it with her. I guess you have to know somebody. I’m not sure, but I think most of the recruiters got into it by knowing someone else who has recruited,” said Cammie Engel, who is also a student recruiter.

But the old method of acquiring a position as a Cyclone football recruiter has changed. This year marks the first year that ISU Head Football Coach Dan McCarney and the other coaches have organized their own recruiting staff.

“You have to apply at the Jacobsen building and write an essay about what you are willing to get out of recruiting. Then we review those essays and choose the applicants. This is the first year we’ve done it this way,” Blue said. “We took everyone this year, but in the future it may not be like that. There may be an interview process.”

Student recruiters will meet once a week on Tuesday nights for an hour and will arrive at Cyclone Stadium around 3:00 p.m. on Saturdays to show prospects around the stadium.

While the student recruiters do not get paid, there are benefits for the time put in.

“We get reserved seats for the games and we get to meet a lot of people. It’s really neat to see a player go on to do something great and you know you helped to recruit him,” Blue said.

While most of the Cyclone student football recruiters are women, Engel says that the positions are wide open for men as well.

“I don’t know why most of the recruiters are women. I think it’s been like that for a long time. I guess men are uninformed about it. I really don’t know.

“They are more than welcome to be a recruiter. Those positions are definitely open for anyone,” Engel said.