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Big 12 Recruiting: National Signing Day 2016 winners and losers

By Nicholas Ian Allen

Feb 3, 2016; Aldine, TX, USA; Jeffrey McCulloch announces that he will be attending the University of Texas to play football at Benjamin Davis High School. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 3, 2016; Aldine, TX, USA; Jeffrey McCulloch announces that he will be attending the University of Texas to play football at Benjamin Davis High School. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports /
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Dec 1, 2015; Ames, IA, USA; against the Iowa State Cyclones new head football coach Matt Campbell address the fans at James H. Hilton Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 1, 2015; Ames, IA, USA; against the Iowa State Cyclones new head football coach Matt Campbell address the fans at James H. Hilton Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports /

Winner: Iowa State Cyclones

It’s extremely difficult for a head coach hired roughly two months prior to National Signing Day to pull together a quality class. It’s even more difficult when you’re coming off a disappointing 3-9 season and have one of the least prestigious program histories in your conference, as well as the least fertile recruiting soil in the league.

However, new Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell has made a huge impact in a short period of time in Ames and helped the Cyclones close strong on Signing Day.

Iowa State signed the No. 52 class in the nation and the eighth-best group of players in the Big 12, according to 247Sports. While those figures aren’t likely to propel the Cyclones into the conference title race in the near future, it’s a step in the right direction. In fact, it’s the best finish overall since 2006 and the highest league ranking since 2001.

The number of players certainly helped, as Iowa State signed a 29-player class that ranks among the biggest in the nation. Of them, 26 players are rated as three-star prospects, including No. 32 offensive tackle Sean Foster, No. 25 tight end Chase Allen and No. 45 athlete Deshaunte Jones. The Cyclones also signed seven total JUCO players, four of which are already enrolled and will go through spring practice.

The cherry on top, Iowa State picked up a big-time quarterback in Georgia transfer Jacob Park, who was a U.S. Army All-American as a high school prospect in South Carolina and signed with the Bulldogs in 2014 as a Top 100 player and the No. 5 pro-style QB in the 2014 class.

Next: Oklahoma State

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