Much of the Cyclone staff’s focus at the quarterback position in the 2025 class has centered around an in-state recruit for several months now and the connection between player and program grew even stronger during a Saturday stop.
Algona junior Alex Manske, who visited three times for games during this past season, headed back south to Ames for a busy junior day experience.
“We started off by getting there and talking to the coaches,” said Manske. “Coach (Matt) Campbell talked in front of us eight recruits. After that, we split up and me and a few others went to a weight room talk, nutrition talk, ate lunch and talked to more coaches, and then went to the game. We talked to more coaches there.
“We came back after the game and did a photo shoot with a bunch of people. We went to see the dorms where I’d be living if I went there. I came back and talked to Coach Nate Scheelhaase and Coach Campbell. I spent about 30 minutes with each of those two. It was a really good time.”
The 6-foot-3, 210-pound quarterback, who has a 5.6 Rivals Rating and is #4 overall in the 2025 in-state rankings, completed 101-of-167 passes for 1,787 yards and 17 touchdowns to three interceptions. He ranked second on the Bulldogs in rushing with 714 yards and 12 more scores on 128 carries.
Manske sparked Algona to a 6-4 record in 2023 and return to the state playoffs. In addition to Iowa State, he has P4 offers from Iowa, Kansas State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Pittsburgh, and Wisconsin.
This being his eighth reported unofficial visit to Iowa State, Manske said he’s already been over many aspects of the program but wanted to get into some of the finer details on Saturday.
“I know my mom had a question about how (Scheelhaase) develops quarterbacks,” The Algona signal caller said. “She wanted to see what his philosophy was on that, so he went over what he wants in a quarterback and what he wants a quarterback to do to succeed.
“We’ve already gone through their offense, our stuff, and all that. Part of the last step was seeing how he develops quarterbacks and what he wants in a quarterback, what makes a quarterback successful in his eyes. It was really good.”
The high school junior said another highlight was getting some more one-on-one time with the leader of the Cyclones’ program.
“He’s always been straight up about everything,” Manske said. “He’s never pressured me on anything. He just talks with me and always says how proud of me he is and how he believes I can lead this program one day together with him. How he doesn’t want anyone but me to lead this program one day. How he sees me being a part of the program’s future. He talks about what he thinks I can do here. We’ve had some really great conversations over the time we’ve gotten to know each other.”
With as many as four schools, Iowa State, Texas A&M, Kansas State, and Nebraska, currently sitting in a good spot, Manske said his latest trip to Ames only strengthened his opinion Campbell’s program.
“Getting to see them and talking to everyone again, I’ve been there plenty of times, but just hearing over and over what they think I can do and how they think that I can lead and build this class, hearing that makes them higher on my list,” he said. “It solidifies them as a top school for me.”
