Mister commits to ISU, despite dad's B1G love

Explosive high school running back Tommy Mister's dad is a big Big Ten fan.

How big?

“He loves any team in the Big Ten,” said Mister, a Rivals.com 3-star recruit, who nonetheless wholeheartedly committed Wednesday to Iowa State's class of 2014. “That's why I was kind of shaky, because he was, ‘I love the Big Ten,' but my mom, she loves what I love, so if I said I wanted to go play for North Dakota State or something, she'd be all for it.”

No offense to the Bison.

But prized recruit Allen Lazard of Urbandale isn't committed to them.

He's repping for the Cyclones - and helped convince Mister that Ames would be the place to be, despite late, strong pushes from Big Ten schools such as Michigan State and Wisconsin.

“He was just telling me Iowa State would love to have me and me and him could do big things together, come in and play early,” said Mister, who transferred to St. Rita of Cascia high school last season and is the 44th-best running back recruit in his class according to Rivals. “He was just talking about how he'd love to be my teammate and just really wanted me to come down to Ames and play with him. So it was kind of, like, shaky, I didn't know what to do.”

Then, the number came up.

Numero Cinco.

Five.

The one Mister wants.

The one Lazard, one of the class of 2014's top receivers, also wears.

“A couple weeks ago I saw him tweet, ‘I'm getting number five at Iowa State,” Mister said. “That's the number I”m going to be wearing - he's been wearing it his whole life. So I shot him a text: ‘Hey, Allen, what number are you wearing at Iowa State?' He said, ‘Five.' I was like, ‘Uh, would you mind if I get that number?' Then he said - this is the thing that got me - ‘If a number is the deciding factor of whether or not you're going to play football with me at Iowa State next year, then you can have that number. I really don't care. It's just a number.'”

Deal sealed.

If not yet signed and delivered.

“You can ask any athlete, and a number means a lot,” Mister said. “So that meant a lot to me when he said he'd do anything he could to get me down to Iowa State with him, so he played a big part in me committing.”

As for dad, love of son's exploits will trump conference allegiance.

Eventually.

“My dad, he was a little shaky on it at first, but he's going to grow to love the place when he sees me scoring touchdowns,” said Mister, who also fielded offers from Notre Dame and Illinois, among others. “He's going to start to fall in love with it.”