by Bill Seals
A top wide receiver on Iowa State’s 2020 wish list took an unofficial visit last week and said he was blown away by a number of facets of his stop in Ames.
6-foot-4, 205-pound Tommy Christakos from Scottsdale (Ariz.) said he was treated to an in-depth look into the I-State football program.
“We started bright and early and me and my family sat in on a team meeting at 7 in the morning,” said Christakos. “They talked about practice for the week. Then, we moved into the wide receivers meeting with Coach (Nate) Scheelhaase and the players for an hour.
“Afterwards, I got a fantastic tour of the campus showing not only the football facilities but also the academics. They were all really nice. I had some good conversations with Coach Scheelhaase and Coach (Matt) Campbell. I got the message pretty early that I’m one of their top guys and I love being wanted by a big-time football program. They gave me an incredible tour. It was just me on campus and no other recruits in that day.”
In addition to the one he’s got on the table from ISU, Christakos has Power-5 offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Purdue and Utah. He’s also highly considering Ivy League program Princeton.
Christakos said he came away most impressed by how the Cyclones are developing football players.
“Definitely the weight room (was the biggest surprise to me),” he said. “I didn’t really have any expectations going into the visit, since I didn’t know a whole lot about Iowa State, but the weight room blew me away. I have seen a lot of different facilities across the country and that one was second to none. The stadium was also awesome. All of their facilities can compare to the top football programs in the country.”
ISU will be moving on this season after the early departure of veteran wide receiver Hakeem Butler for the NFL Draft. Although Christakos won’t be playing college ball until 2020, the coaching staff is targeting him to play a similar role in the offense.
“Coach Scheelhaase put together an incredible montage, comparing me to Hakeem,” Christakos said. “He would have a clip from my Hudl of me going on a go route and Moss-ing a defender or two and the next play would be Hakeem doing the same thing. There were four or five clips like that. It was showing me Hakeem doing the same thing in my offense that he did in their offense.”
A long conversation with Campbell helped wind up Christakos’ first-ever visit to Iowa State.
“We met towards the end of the day and he is an amazing guy,” Christakos said. “We walked in and were treated with the utmost respect. I felt like the player-to-coach relationship was already great. We talked about the culture at Iowa State, how he is rebuilding the program and how he came in when it wasn’t too great. He’s really revived the program and done amazing things. I could see why any player in the country would want to play for that man.”
The wide receiver recruit also leveled with the leader of the Cyclone program on where he currently is in the recruiting process.
“I told him that I wouldn’t be coming out there if I didn’t have high interest,” Christakos said. “All of my expectations were blown away. I’ll be doing some heavy evaluating with my family about the opportunities in front of me. I’m sure I can’t go wrong, because I’m blessed. Iowa State is definitely up there.”
Next up for Christakos is a pair of official visits to Princeton next weekend and Cal at the end of May. Christakos said he wants to make a commitment prior to his senior season.
The 6-foot-4, 205-pound Christakos is a three-star prospect with a 5.6 Rivals rating. He's considered the 17th overall recruit in Arizona and 81st wide receiver nationally in the 2020 class.
A top wide receiver on Iowa State’s 2020 wish list took an unofficial visit last week and said he was blown away by a number of facets of his stop in Ames.
6-foot-4, 205-pound Tommy Christakos from Scottsdale (Ariz.) said he was treated to an in-depth look into the I-State football program.
“We started bright and early and me and my family sat in on a team meeting at 7 in the morning,” said Christakos. “They talked about practice for the week. Then, we moved into the wide receivers meeting with Coach (Nate) Scheelhaase and the players for an hour.
“Afterwards, I got a fantastic tour of the campus showing not only the football facilities but also the academics. They were all really nice. I had some good conversations with Coach Scheelhaase and Coach (Matt) Campbell. I got the message pretty early that I’m one of their top guys and I love being wanted by a big-time football program. They gave me an incredible tour. It was just me on campus and no other recruits in that day.”
In addition to the one he’s got on the table from ISU, Christakos has Power-5 offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Purdue and Utah. He’s also highly considering Ivy League program Princeton.
Christakos said he came away most impressed by how the Cyclones are developing football players.
“Definitely the weight room (was the biggest surprise to me),” he said. “I didn’t really have any expectations going into the visit, since I didn’t know a whole lot about Iowa State, but the weight room blew me away. I have seen a lot of different facilities across the country and that one was second to none. The stadium was also awesome. All of their facilities can compare to the top football programs in the country.”
ISU will be moving on this season after the early departure of veteran wide receiver Hakeem Butler for the NFL Draft. Although Christakos won’t be playing college ball until 2020, the coaching staff is targeting him to play a similar role in the offense.
“Coach Scheelhaase put together an incredible montage, comparing me to Hakeem,” Christakos said. “He would have a clip from my Hudl of me going on a go route and Moss-ing a defender or two and the next play would be Hakeem doing the same thing. There were four or five clips like that. It was showing me Hakeem doing the same thing in my offense that he did in their offense.”
A long conversation with Campbell helped wind up Christakos’ first-ever visit to Iowa State.
“We met towards the end of the day and he is an amazing guy,” Christakos said. “We walked in and were treated with the utmost respect. I felt like the player-to-coach relationship was already great. We talked about the culture at Iowa State, how he is rebuilding the program and how he came in when it wasn’t too great. He’s really revived the program and done amazing things. I could see why any player in the country would want to play for that man.”
The wide receiver recruit also leveled with the leader of the Cyclone program on where he currently is in the recruiting process.
“I told him that I wouldn’t be coming out there if I didn’t have high interest,” Christakos said. “All of my expectations were blown away. I’ll be doing some heavy evaluating with my family about the opportunities in front of me. I’m sure I can’t go wrong, because I’m blessed. Iowa State is definitely up there.”
Next up for Christakos is a pair of official visits to Princeton next weekend and Cal at the end of May. Christakos said he wants to make a commitment prior to his senior season.
The 6-foot-4, 205-pound Christakos is a three-star prospect with a 5.6 Rivals rating. He's considered the 17th overall recruit in Arizona and 81st wide receiver nationally in the 2020 class.
