by Bill Seals
Iowa State has had a presence at one of the best football programs in the Denver (Colo.) suburbs in recent years and hopes to pluck an offensive lineman out of there in the 2020 class.
Greenwood Village Cherry Creek prospect Carson Lee said the Cyclones started showing interest shortly after his sophomore season.
“The first time I ever met one of the coaches was back in December,” said Lee. “Coach (Alex) Golesh came down to watch our quarterback Alex Padilla throw for a while, and he ended up offering our linebacker/tight end Alec Pell that day.
“I got to say hello and introduce myself, because I can’t do much since I’m a 2020 recruit. He came back during our basketball season and watched me practice a little bit. All I know is they went back up and watched my film. Coach (Tom) Manning, who was there at the time, said to offer me.”
The 6-foot-3, 290-pound Lee said the ISU coaches believe he checked a number of boxes during their evaluation.
“Coach Golesh told me that he and Coach Manning loved the way I finished when they watched my film,” Lee said. “I was putting people on the ground nearly every play. They love my aggressiveness. I remember Coach Golesh asking me if I enjoyed killing the person across from me. We talked about that for a while.
“They also love how I’ve got a 3.68 GPA right now and I take my academics seriously. They’ve also talked to my coach about my weightlifting and said I’m one of the strongest sophomores they’ve ever seen.”
Lee said he has heard positive things about the I-State program from Pell and 2018 recruit Dimitri Stanley.
“I’ve got a lot of feedback from Alec Pell, who has gone up there a couple times,” Lee said. “Dimitri Stanley also went up there. They said the facilities are just amazing and some of the best they’ve ever seen. They absolutely loved it. I can’t wait to get out to the campus to experience it for myself.”
After not being able to make the trip to Ames recently, Lee hopes to do so in the coming months.
“I was going to go out for the spring game and that got canceled,” he said. “They still wanted me to go up for the indoor scrimmage, but all the roads from Colorado to Iowa were closed. I wasn’t able to make it up. My coach has said he’s still talking to them and they still want me to come up this summer for a camp or unofficial visit so I can visit the campus and see how I like it.”
Until he makes it to Ames, Lee said he’ll rely heavily on social media to follow the goings on.
“I see a lot of the stuff Coach Golesh and Coach Campbell post on Twitter,” he said. “I always watch that and see how they construct practice and run drills. It seems very intense. It looks like they definitely know what their goal is. I watched a video of Coach Campbell’s speech after the TCU win and he was talking about the grind and how you’ve got to follow it and eventually it will love you back. That is so true.”
ISU is the first and only offer for Lee, who said Oklahoma State, Oregon, Colorado, Colorado State, Duke and LSU have been showing interest as of late.
Iowa State has had a presence at one of the best football programs in the Denver (Colo.) suburbs in recent years and hopes to pluck an offensive lineman out of there in the 2020 class.
Greenwood Village Cherry Creek prospect Carson Lee said the Cyclones started showing interest shortly after his sophomore season.
“The first time I ever met one of the coaches was back in December,” said Lee. “Coach (Alex) Golesh came down to watch our quarterback Alex Padilla throw for a while, and he ended up offering our linebacker/tight end Alec Pell that day.
“I got to say hello and introduce myself, because I can’t do much since I’m a 2020 recruit. He came back during our basketball season and watched me practice a little bit. All I know is they went back up and watched my film. Coach (Tom) Manning, who was there at the time, said to offer me.”
The 6-foot-3, 290-pound Lee said the ISU coaches believe he checked a number of boxes during their evaluation.
“Coach Golesh told me that he and Coach Manning loved the way I finished when they watched my film,” Lee said. “I was putting people on the ground nearly every play. They love my aggressiveness. I remember Coach Golesh asking me if I enjoyed killing the person across from me. We talked about that for a while.
“They also love how I’ve got a 3.68 GPA right now and I take my academics seriously. They’ve also talked to my coach about my weightlifting and said I’m one of the strongest sophomores they’ve ever seen.”
Lee said he has heard positive things about the I-State program from Pell and 2018 recruit Dimitri Stanley.
“I’ve got a lot of feedback from Alec Pell, who has gone up there a couple times,” Lee said. “Dimitri Stanley also went up there. They said the facilities are just amazing and some of the best they’ve ever seen. They absolutely loved it. I can’t wait to get out to the campus to experience it for myself.”
After not being able to make the trip to Ames recently, Lee hopes to do so in the coming months.
“I was going to go out for the spring game and that got canceled,” he said. “They still wanted me to go up for the indoor scrimmage, but all the roads from Colorado to Iowa were closed. I wasn’t able to make it up. My coach has said he’s still talking to them and they still want me to come up this summer for a camp or unofficial visit so I can visit the campus and see how I like it.”
Until he makes it to Ames, Lee said he’ll rely heavily on social media to follow the goings on.
“I see a lot of the stuff Coach Golesh and Coach Campbell post on Twitter,” he said. “I always watch that and see how they construct practice and run drills. It seems very intense. It looks like they definitely know what their goal is. I watched a video of Coach Campbell’s speech after the TCU win and he was talking about the grind and how you’ve got to follow it and eventually it will love you back. That is so true.”
ISU is the first and only offer for Lee, who said Oklahoma State, Oregon, Colorado, Colorado State, Duke and LSU have been showing interest as of late.
