RECRUITING: Campbell hosts first camp as head coach (a recap)

AMES — The inagural on-campus camp season of Matt Campbell’s tenure at Iowa State got rolling on Saturday afternoon at the Bergstrom Football Complex. Close to 200 prospects from eight different states plus the District of Columbia made their way to Ames, including a pair of in-state offensive linemen that already hold Iowa State offers.

Creston’s Trevor Downing and Dowling Catholic’s Zach Ross, both prospects in the class of 2018, were both in attendance to be further evaluated by the ISU coaching staff. 

Ross, at 6-foot-4-inches, 290-pounds, projects as an offensive guard at the next level while Downing, 6-foot-4-inches, 270-pounds, is listed as a tackle by the major recruiting services.

During the camp, athletes first went through a series of measurements before warming up to run their 40-yard dashes on the indoor field. They moved outside to the practice field to start working on individual drills before moving into Jack Trice Stadium to cap off the night.

A couple of other prospects with offers to their names were in attendance.

*** One included Trinity Valley Community College defensive tackle Tyrell Thompson. The 6-foot-4-inch, 290-pound prospect originally signed with Houston after playing last season at Blinn College in Texas. He holds offers from Colorado, Colorado State and Oklahoma State but an Iowa State offer could be in the cards down the road.

*** Iowa City West wide receiver Oliver Martin holds offers from a handful of smaller FBS schools, but is yet to get offers from either of the in-state schools. The 6-foot, 185-pound prospect in the class of 2017 has offers from Western Michigan, Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan.

He is planning to camp at Iowa on Sunday.

A couple more names to watch out of the weekend:

*** A 6-foot-4-inch, 230-pound defensive tackle David Porter (2017). 

*** A 6-foot,180-pound wide receiver Nathan Page (2018). 

Both kids came to Ames from Little Rock, Ark. and play for the same high school, Joe T. Robinson.

Porter already holds an offer from Iowa State, as well as from Kansas State, Louisiana Tech, Memphis and Louisiana-Monroe. Page has drawn interest from Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn and a host of other Power 5 schools.

The next Saturday Night Lights camp is scheduled for June 18, but it is the June 25 date that people should circle. That’s when multiple current 2017 commits, plus some of the staff’s top targets in the class, are scheduled to be in Ames.