by Bill Seals
A defensive back prospect who would move from cornerback to safety in Ames took his first visit of any kind to Iowa State this past Saturday.
Minneapolis (Minn.) Minnehaha Academy junior Craig McDonald took in the Oklahoma game with his parents, packing in a lot into one day.
“I went to the football game first,” said McDonald. “I didn’t get there real early because me and my parents left pretty early. The atmosphere at the football game was super good. The crowd was good. After that, we went on a visit around the facility and campus a little bit. That was super nice.
“We didn’t go into the locker room, but went to the practice fields, weight room, my position group meeting room and the training rooms. When we went around campus, we looked at the community center and the common area. We drove around and saw where some of the classes are for certain majors.”
The 6-foot-2, 185-pound McDonald is a three-star prospect with a 5.6 Rivals rating. The fifth-ranked prospect overall in Minnesota for 2020, he also has an offer from Iowa.
Watching the Cyclones play against a highly-rated team in Jack Trice Stadium, the overall experience was rated as a positive by McDonald.
“I thought the student section was super good and they kept going the entire time,” he said. “Coach (Colby) Kratch said the atmosphere is like that every game and not just against Oklahoma. That gets your motivated. They definitely had a chance to win.
“The defense made some mistakes, but that just shows how I could help them in that respect. I’m going to play safety and I like how they use the three safeties on the field at the same time. Some of them will come down and others will be over the top.”
Getting on campus for the first time showed McDonald just how much of a presence that I-State plans to be in his recruitment.
“I now feel like they’re even more sincere,” he said. “I thought they were sincere already, but they showed me that they’re much more interested to have me talk to the head coach, my position coach and recruiter. They all talked to my parents. They all feel like I could help them.”
McDonald said he anticipates taking another visit to Iowa State later this fall or during the winter. He is also planning game day visits to Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Iowa and Purdue.
A defensive back prospect who would move from cornerback to safety in Ames took his first visit of any kind to Iowa State this past Saturday.
Minneapolis (Minn.) Minnehaha Academy junior Craig McDonald took in the Oklahoma game with his parents, packing in a lot into one day.
“I went to the football game first,” said McDonald. “I didn’t get there real early because me and my parents left pretty early. The atmosphere at the football game was super good. The crowd was good. After that, we went on a visit around the facility and campus a little bit. That was super nice.
“We didn’t go into the locker room, but went to the practice fields, weight room, my position group meeting room and the training rooms. When we went around campus, we looked at the community center and the common area. We drove around and saw where some of the classes are for certain majors.”
The 6-foot-2, 185-pound McDonald is a three-star prospect with a 5.6 Rivals rating. The fifth-ranked prospect overall in Minnesota for 2020, he also has an offer from Iowa.
Watching the Cyclones play against a highly-rated team in Jack Trice Stadium, the overall experience was rated as a positive by McDonald.
“I thought the student section was super good and they kept going the entire time,” he said. “Coach (Colby) Kratch said the atmosphere is like that every game and not just against Oklahoma. That gets your motivated. They definitely had a chance to win.
“The defense made some mistakes, but that just shows how I could help them in that respect. I’m going to play safety and I like how they use the three safeties on the field at the same time. Some of them will come down and others will be over the top.”
Getting on campus for the first time showed McDonald just how much of a presence that I-State plans to be in his recruitment.
“I now feel like they’re even more sincere,” he said. “I thought they were sincere already, but they showed me that they’re much more interested to have me talk to the head coach, my position coach and recruiter. They all talked to my parents. They all feel like I could help them.”
McDonald said he anticipates taking another visit to Iowa State later this fall or during the winter. He is also planning game day visits to Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Iowa and Purdue.
