Cyclones lose scholarship QB Bouman to transfer portal

With his 2020 classmate Hunter Dekkers poised to become Iowa State's starting quarterback following Brock Purdy's four-year run, reserve Aidan Bouman has added his name to the transfer portal.

The 6-foot-6, 250-pound redshirt sophomore joined the program in January of 2020, nearly four months ahead of Dekkers who arrived in Ames following a successful high school baseball career. However, the signal caller was never able to gain traction in the Cyclones' depth chart.

A three-star prospect with a 5.6 Rivals rating coming out of Buffalo (Minn.) High School, he became head coach Matt Campbell's first commitment of the 2020 class when he announced his decision in June of 2018. Bouman was the sixth-ranked prospect in Minnesota.

Likely expediting Bouman's departure were the spring additions of four-star freshman Rocco Becht and Iowa Western walk-on Nate Glantz, a former JUCO All-American. The Cyclones also saw much-improved play from walk-on Ashton Cook, who joined the program last year and redshirted. Cook and Becht shared second-team reps during last Friday's open practice at Ames High School.

Bouman's transfer leaves Iowa State with just two scholarship quarterbacks. That could mean either Glantz or Cook could be elevated from preferred walk-on status at the end of spring ball.

Iowa State is also making a strong play for Ankeny (Iowa) junior JJ Kohl, who is a four-star prospect with a 5.8 Rivals rating and also has Power-5 offers from Boston College, Florida State, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Missouri, Nebraska, Penn State, Pittsburgh and Wisconsin.

The strong-armed quarterback visited Ames twice last week for spring practices and said he could announce a decision later this month.