Clapper chooses Cyclones

Baxter senior lineman Will Clapper had plenty of high-level college football options to choose from.

In the end, Clapper couldn’t turn down his favorite team.

Clapper announced his commitment to Iowa State this past weekend, turning down FCS scholarship offers from South Dakota and South Dakota State, a JUCO offer from powerhouse Iowa Western and a few Division II schools to play for the Cyclones.

Clapper will start his career at Iowa State as a preferred walk-on and will play on the offensive line.

The Baxter senior made several trips to Jack Trice Stadium for games on unofficial visits. He had the same preferred walk-on opportunity at Iowa and visited Kinnick Stadium in middle of September.

He made trips to Northern Iowa and Western Illinois and got an in-home visit by South Dakota coaches recently.

Clapper will join a Cyclone recruiting class that includes 20 scholarship players who signed their LOIs in the early signing period Wednesday.

Four scholarship offensive linemen will join the program this fall.

The Cyclones’ signees give the program the 43rd ranked class in the country so far, according to 24/7 Sports. Iowa State has the fifth best class in the Big 12 Conference, trailing Oklahoma, Texas, TCU and Baylor.

The top recruit of the class is four-star running back Jirehl Brock, who chose the Cyclones over offers from Minnesota, Northwestern, Illinois and Cincinnati.

Three-star running back Breece Hall chose the Cyclones over Baylor, Kansas and Kansas State.

The Cyclones also got Bettendorf wide receiver Darien Porter, who had offers from Nebraska and Minnesota. They also signed dual-threat three-star quarterback Easton Dean, who also had an offer from Iowa.

Iowa State won a recruiting battle with Oregon, Minnesota and Missouri for three-star offensive tackle Grant Treiber and also beat out Colorado and Arizona State for the services of three-star tight end Skyler Loving-Black.

The Hawkeyes fared pretty well, too, ranking 38th so far, according to the same 24/7 service. Iowa is ninth in the Big Ten, and 10 Big Ten Conference schools rank in the top 40.

Iowa signed six instate players, while Iowa State signed three. Both lost out on the state’s No. 1 prospect in Max Duggan of Council Bluffs Lewis Central. He is headed to TCU.

But the Hawkeyes got the next best three players in offensive tackles Ezra Miller, Tyler Endres and Cedar Falls linebacker Jack Campbell.

Miller and Endres are both four-star players who stand 6-foot-6 and weigh more than 300 pounds. Miller is from Ridge View High School and Endres played for Norwalk.

The Hawkeyes class of 20 players is highlighted by Miller, Endres and four-star linebacker Jestin Jacobs, who stuck with the Hawkeyes despite a late offer from instate school Ohio State.

Three-star running back Tyler Goodson got a late offer from Michigan and three-star quarterback Alex Padilla received a late offer from Georgia, but both players stuck with their Hawkeye pledges.

Iowa also got athlete Daraun McKinney to flip from Northern Illinois and linebacker Yahweh Jeudy flipped from Kansas State to Iowa yesterday.

They signed three three-star tight ends from Illinois, highlighted by Logan Lee, who picked Iowa over offers from Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State and Minnesota.

Tight end Josiah Miamen also picked Iowa over an offer from Michigan.

Contact Troy Hyde
at thyde@newtondailynews.com