Cyclones land major commitment in OL Ramos

On the eve of National Signing Day I for 2018 college football recruiting, Iowa State landed its biggest commitment in the class to date.

Glendale (Ariz.) Deer Valley offensive lineman Joey Ramos announced his commitment to the Cyclones on local television in Phoenix on Tuesday. The 6-foot-5, 285-pound Ramos, a high three-star prospect according to Rivals.com, was originally offered by the Cyclones over a year ago. The long relationship paid off for ISU on Tuesday.

Ramos claimed a long list of Power 5 offers, including nearby Arizona State and in-state Arizona. He was also offered by other Pac 12 programs Cal, Oregon, UCLA, Utah, Washington and Washington State plus Midwest Power 5 programs Kansas State and Nebraska.

Three of I-State's 2018 verbal commitments have 5.7 Rivals Ratings, the highest three-star number. The other two are defensive back Jaeveyon Morton and wide receiver Sean Shaw.

According to Ramos during his televised announcement, he fell in love with Iowa State as a school and committed on that basis, along with building a good relationship with the coaching staff. One of his primary recruiters was his future position coach at ISU, offensive line coach Tom Manning.

Ramos took his official visit to Ames earlier this month and rated the trip a "10 out of 10" afterwards. Iowa State coaches also made two visits to see Ramos in Arizona during the recent contact period.

Ramos is the 19th known verbal commitment in Iowa State 2018 recruiting class and almost all of them are expected to sign on Wednesday, the first day of the new early signing period for Division I FBS football.