ISU signs 5 football transfers

AMES — Matt Campbell's mission to assemble his first recruiting class at Iowa State didn't start once he was formally introduced as the new coach.

It started hours after the interview process when he made the decision he would join the Cyclones.

'We called some of the guys on our staff in terms of who was coming with us immediately and really hit the ground running late that Saturday night before I even got to Ames,' Campbell said. 'I think what happened today was a fruit of that labor a little bit and obviously we've still got a long way to go in the recruiting process.'

Iowa State signed five mid-year junior college transfers as a part of its 2016 class. Oge Udeogu, Clifford Fernandez, Karson Green, D'Andre Payne and Thadd Daniels all signed letters of intent. Fernandez — a 6-foot-5, 250-pound junior tight end from Southwest Mississippi CC — was the lone verbal commitment to former coach Paul Rhoads.

Campbell called his first 2 1/2 weeks officially on the job a whirlwind, but felt the mid-year signees were the building blocks to the foundation of the first class — which will be completed on signing day in February.

'I think we felt like five was the magic number today and we hit it because those were the guys we really evaluated and we circled,' Campbell said. ' ... I thought it was a great win for our staff today in terms of what we were looking for from a junior college standpoint.'

Udeogu (6-4, 310-pound junior/City College of San Francisco) and Green (6-5, 295-pound junior/Northeastern Oklahoma A&M) provide depth on the offensive line while Payne (5-10, 190-pound sophomore/Arizona Western CC), Daniels (6-2, 200-pound junior/Cerritos CC) bolster the secondary.

Campbell said he still needs to look deeper at the ISU roster to know whether the junior college transfers will all play right away in the fall. But he knows the 15 spring practices will be invaluable for all five and he will put them in the mix.

Iowa State lost three starters on its offensive line to graduation and one starter — plus two reserves — in the secondary. Payne, who played in eight games at Tennessee before transferring to Arizona Western where he red-shirted, has the versatility to play safety along with Daniels, who verbally committed Monday night.

'I think Thadd's ability to play safety and corner really are what make him such a multidimensional threat in this whole,' Campbell said. 'He was really probably target number one in terms of trying to get him and be a part of our program.'

WARREN, TUCKER NAB AP ALL-BIG 12 HONORS

Freshman running back Mike Warren was named the Associated Press Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, it was announced Wednesday. Demond Tucker was a second-team selection at defensive tackle.

Warren also was named Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year by league coaches last week after leading all NCAA freshman rushers with 1,339 yards this season.

'I told Michael you go from a little of being the hunter to being the hunted,' Campbell said. 'Any time you have success, especially early in your career, it's easy to sometimes rest on your laurels and say, 'Well that just happens.' I think the elite players, the great players, they're hungry for more.'

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