Cyclone Football: Expecting class of 22 recruits to sign letters

AMES - Iowa State is adding 22 players to its football roster, 19 of them today on national recruit signing day.

Coach Paul Rhoads already has three on campus who have signed letters of intent, including two teammates from City College of San Francisco. One of them - Steele Jantz - is expected to compete for the starting quarterback spot when spring practice begins next month.

Jantz led his team to an 11-1 record and the California state community college title game while throwing for 3,075 yards and 24 touchdowns. He also rushed for 601 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Three-year starter Austen Arnaud is out of eligibility, leaving junior Jerome Tiller and Jantz as the top contenders for the job. Jantz missed most of his senior season at Nevada Union (Calif.) High School with a leg injury.

He walked on at Hawaii in 2008 and transferred to CCSF the following year. Jantz has two years of eligibility remaining.

Receiver Aaron Horne will join his teammate Jantz at ISU. Another California junior college player, center Sam Tautolo, is enrolled and fills an immediate need since the Cyclones' top three centers from 2010 are gone.

Mt. San Antonio (Calif.) Community College tight end Ernst Brun is the fourth transfer in this class. Brun's team beat Jantz and Horne's CCSF team in the championship game last fall.

The rest of the class includes five players from Iowa high schools and a combined 10 from the talent-rich states of Texas (six) and Florida (four).

BGM linebacker Jevohn Miller is one of the in-state signees, all of whom play different positions.

Cherokee's Brock Dagel is an offensive lineman, Jamison Lalk of Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln is a tight end, Iowa Falls' Devin Lemke is a defensive end, and Mount Pleasant's Darian Cotton is being recruited as an athlete without a set position.

ISU will have two players with the same name in this class: Quarterback Sam Richardson is a 6-1, 185-pound quarterback from Winter Park, Fla. And defensive back Sam Richardson is a 5-7, 160-pound cornerback form League City, Texas.