Cyclones seek height in defensive backs
Comments (...)AMES (AP) — Born three months premature, Cliff Stokes usually was the smallest kid in his class as a youngster.
Then he started growing and now he represents Iowa State’s new focus in recruiting defensive backs, a player with the height needed to take on the tall receivers the Cyclones face in the Big 12 Conference.
The 6-foot, 180-pounder out of Trinity Valley Community College in Texas was among the 21 recruits who signed with Iowa State on Wednesday, a group that included five defensive backs.
“I think I can bring the height the coaches are looking for,” said Stokes, who’s from Tallahassee, Fla. “I’m just here to work and get the job done.”
The fact that he’s playing football at all is something for Stokes to celebrate. He weighed only 3 pounds, 6 ounces at birth and it was touch and go for a while. At one point, the doctors feared he wouldn’t live.
“But the Lord gave me a better opportunity and I’m here now,” Stokes said.
Stokes had major college offers out of high school, but didn’t score high enough on his ACT, so he walked on at Trinity Valley. He learned about Iowa State when the Cyclones recruited one his teammates, wide receiver Chris Young, who played at ISU last season.
When Stokes agreed to a visit, he showed up the night Iowa State upset No. 2 Oklahoma State last November.
He accepted coach Paul Rhoads’ scholarship offer the next week.
“I’d never been a part of anything like that,” Stokes said. “Just the environment and hearing coach Rhoads speak and the players coming together, they were all in. I embraced it and wanted to be a part of it.”
Four of the five defensive backs who signed are at least 6 feet tall, while the other is 5-10. Iowa State often has played cornerbacks who were 5-8 or 5-9. One of the starters last year, Jeremy Reeves, is 5-7.
“We’ve got to get more length at that position and we’ve addressed that with this class,” Rhoads said. “It was a priority. A defensive back with long levers can affect the play of an offense and their receivers, and we’ve got that with this group of players.”
Iowa State also signed five defensive linemen and place-kicker Cole Netten of Ankeny. Iowa State’s two kickers last season, Grant Mahoney and Zach Guyer were seniors, so the job appears to be Netten’s to lose.
Netten went 11-for-14 on field goals last season, including a 47-yarder.
One of the defensive backs who signed, Luke Knott of Lee’s Summit, Mo., is the brother of all-Big 12 linebacker Jake Knott, who’ll be a senior in the fall. Another, Damein Lawry of Dallas, played high school football for coach Elize Barnett, whose brother Duke is the father of ISU quarterback Jared Barnett.
“Damein was on a trip with coach Barnett to Lubbock, Texas, to take in the Texas Tech Red Raiders because he sort of like their brand of football,” Rhoads said. “He left Lubbock, Texas, liking the Cyclone brand of football.”
That was the night Iowa State routed Tech 41-7.
Rhoads said the 10-year, $20 million contract he signed in mid-December will help in recruiting because it shows stability in the program. He said he can be honest when parents asks if he’ll be at Iowa State until their son graduates.
“I never as an assistant coach, a coordinator, a head coach looked them in the eye and told them with absolute certainty, yes,” Rhoads said. “Because chances are, it would be a lie. I think this long-term commitment by the university shows where we’re at in the direction we want to take this program.”
Iowa State’s class is generally ranked near the bottom of the Big 12, but Rhoads shrugged that off.
“We’re trying to recruit the right guys that fit our philosophy and our program,” he said. “We’re not caught up in stars or golden apples or whatever they attach to a player.”
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