by Bill Seals
Although he lived more than four hours away from Ames, a Class of 2018 running back from the state of Minnesota made it to a pair of games during the season and a summer camp earlier this year.
Sartell (Minn.) standout junior John Schmidt has been on the Cyclones’ radar since shining during one of the Saturday Night Lights camps in June and was a presence during the fall. He hopes it will eventually get him an offer from the coaching staff.
“My recruitment has gone great so far,” said Schmidt. “I’m getting a lot of interest. As far as Iowa State goes, you never want to say who your number one is, but they’re definitely up there and in the top-three of schools I’d like to go to. I’ve gotten some recruiting letters from Coach Campbell and had a visit up there a few weeks ago. I’ve taken two game-day visits to Iowa State this fall and those were the most fun I’ve had this football season. There wasn’t anything more I could have asked for.”
The 5-foot-9, 185-pound Schmidt said he enjoys everything about the university from his three visits in the past several months.
“I absolutely love Iowa State,” he said. “I love the campus and have some friends that go there. As far as football goes, it’s a beautiful complex, I think Jack Trice Stadium is top five in the entire country and the fan base is crazy. I’m very excited about Coach Campbell. I think in the next couple years, Iowa State is going to be in the top 25. They’ve got something going there.”
The prep running back went out of his way to praise the work Campbell is doing with the ISU program.
“After their camp, I don’t know how many kids were there overall but there were four of us that Coach Campbell invited up to his office,” Schmidt said. “I was lucky enough to be one of them. Right away, I told my mom that I liked this guy and would like to know him more.
“He’s a great role model and has incredible character. I noticed during the pre-game, he goes over to every single player and shakes their hand, pats them on the back and tells them to have a good game. He’s a players-first kind of coach, which I really like.”
Schmidt said he’s also developed a relationship with Lou Ayeni, who could be his future position coach at I-State.
“I’m looking for a school that’s a family with a really passionate head coach that believes in his players,” Schmidt said. “Another big thing for me is the running backs coach and Coach Ayeni is a Minnesota guy like myself. He trained with the trainer that I’m with. We’ve connected really well and I like him a lot. There are so many positives about Iowa State.”
In addition to ISU, Schmidt said he’s gotten interest from Big 10 programs in the region like Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin.
His recruitment could pick up even more steam once he makes the move next month from Sartell, a city just north of St. Cloud, to West Des Moines Dowling Catholic. The Maroons are the four-time defending Class 4A state champions. Cyclone Class of 2017 linebacker commit Jake Hummel starred there and a pair of juniors, offensive lineman Zach Ross and defensive end John Waggoner, have offers.
“I will be down there on January 4th,” Schmidt said. “Iowa State said that the recruiting process is going to change with me, just because I’ll be so close to them. It’s only 45 minutes away from Iowa State, so it will be easy to get there. I’ll be able communicate and meet those coaches more with unofficial visits. Plus, at Dowling Catholic I’ll be going against physical and fast competition so I’ll get a good gauge on where I stand.”
Although he lived more than four hours away from Ames, a Class of 2018 running back from the state of Minnesota made it to a pair of games during the season and a summer camp earlier this year.
Sartell (Minn.) standout junior John Schmidt has been on the Cyclones’ radar since shining during one of the Saturday Night Lights camps in June and was a presence during the fall. He hopes it will eventually get him an offer from the coaching staff.
“My recruitment has gone great so far,” said Schmidt. “I’m getting a lot of interest. As far as Iowa State goes, you never want to say who your number one is, but they’re definitely up there and in the top-three of schools I’d like to go to. I’ve gotten some recruiting letters from Coach Campbell and had a visit up there a few weeks ago. I’ve taken two game-day visits to Iowa State this fall and those were the most fun I’ve had this football season. There wasn’t anything more I could have asked for.”
The 5-foot-9, 185-pound Schmidt said he enjoys everything about the university from his three visits in the past several months.
“I absolutely love Iowa State,” he said. “I love the campus and have some friends that go there. As far as football goes, it’s a beautiful complex, I think Jack Trice Stadium is top five in the entire country and the fan base is crazy. I’m very excited about Coach Campbell. I think in the next couple years, Iowa State is going to be in the top 25. They’ve got something going there.”
The prep running back went out of his way to praise the work Campbell is doing with the ISU program.
“After their camp, I don’t know how many kids were there overall but there were four of us that Coach Campbell invited up to his office,” Schmidt said. “I was lucky enough to be one of them. Right away, I told my mom that I liked this guy and would like to know him more.
“He’s a great role model and has incredible character. I noticed during the pre-game, he goes over to every single player and shakes their hand, pats them on the back and tells them to have a good game. He’s a players-first kind of coach, which I really like.”
Schmidt said he’s also developed a relationship with Lou Ayeni, who could be his future position coach at I-State.
“I’m looking for a school that’s a family with a really passionate head coach that believes in his players,” Schmidt said. “Another big thing for me is the running backs coach and Coach Ayeni is a Minnesota guy like myself. He trained with the trainer that I’m with. We’ve connected really well and I like him a lot. There are so many positives about Iowa State.”
In addition to ISU, Schmidt said he’s gotten interest from Big 10 programs in the region like Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin.
His recruitment could pick up even more steam once he makes the move next month from Sartell, a city just north of St. Cloud, to West Des Moines Dowling Catholic. The Maroons are the four-time defending Class 4A state champions. Cyclone Class of 2017 linebacker commit Jake Hummel starred there and a pair of juniors, offensive lineman Zach Ross and defensive end John Waggoner, have offers.
“I will be down there on January 4th,” Schmidt said. “Iowa State said that the recruiting process is going to change with me, just because I’ll be so close to them. It’s only 45 minutes away from Iowa State, so it will be easy to get there. I’ll be able communicate and meet those coaches more with unofficial visits. Plus, at Dowling Catholic I’ll be going against physical and fast competition so I’ll get a good gauge on where I stand.”
