by Paul Clark
Zach Ross' aggressive play as a sophomore on a West Des Moines (Iowa) Dowling Catholic state championship team impressed Iowa State’s coaching staff enough that he has collected one of the Cyclones’ early 2018 scholarship offers.
The 6-foot-4, 290-pound Ross received his ISU offer this past weekend while on an unofficial visit to Ames to take in an I-State spring practice session.
“Coach Campbell called me into his office and we talked and he offered me the scholarship,” Ross explained. “I was kind of surprised, I thought they would wait. Actually I was really surprised it happened now. They said they liked how physical I was on the field.”
Ross and his Maroon teammates rolled to Iowa’s Class 4A state championship last season, including a 41-10 victory over Cedar Rapids Kennedy in the title game. Ross played offensive guard for Dowling. He said the Iowa State coaching staff has not talked with him about a specific position on the line if he decides to become a Cyclone.
Ross said he has grown up cheering for both Iowa and Iowa State with only recruiting contact from I-State so far. He has summer camp plans that include appearances at ISU, along with Iowa, Nebraska, Notre Dame and maybe Wisconsin.
ISU began recruiting Ross in earnest in late January or early February, he said, leading to the early April offer coming about two months later. He said the main message that Cyclone coaches have been delivering to him is that they are going to win more games in the future than they have been.
Zach Ross' aggressive play as a sophomore on a West Des Moines (Iowa) Dowling Catholic state championship team impressed Iowa State’s coaching staff enough that he has collected one of the Cyclones’ early 2018 scholarship offers.
The 6-foot-4, 290-pound Ross received his ISU offer this past weekend while on an unofficial visit to Ames to take in an I-State spring practice session.
“Coach Campbell called me into his office and we talked and he offered me the scholarship,” Ross explained. “I was kind of surprised, I thought they would wait. Actually I was really surprised it happened now. They said they liked how physical I was on the field.”
Ross and his Maroon teammates rolled to Iowa’s Class 4A state championship last season, including a 41-10 victory over Cedar Rapids Kennedy in the title game. Ross played offensive guard for Dowling. He said the Iowa State coaching staff has not talked with him about a specific position on the line if he decides to become a Cyclone.
Ross said he has grown up cheering for both Iowa and Iowa State with only recruiting contact from I-State so far. He has summer camp plans that include appearances at ISU, along with Iowa, Nebraska, Notre Dame and maybe Wisconsin.
ISU began recruiting Ross in earnest in late January or early February, he said, leading to the early April offer coming about two months later. He said the main message that Cyclone coaches have been delivering to him is that they are going to win more games in the future than they have been.
