While Iowa State had emerged as the choice for a mid-year high school signee out of the Georgia high school ranks, the decision process wasn't without some last-minute intrigue as a national powerhouse got in the running.

Watkinsville Oconee County's Zeb Noland signed with the Cyclones on Monday after a week of deliberations with his father, who also happens to be his head coach. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Noland will join the program in January and be eligible to participate in spring ball.

"(Last) Monday night I sat down with my dad and talked to him about it," said Noland. "Something was weighing heavy on my heart that I needed to sit down and think about it and figure out what was best for me. We talked all week about it, I prayed about it all week and he was the only one in my family that knew. I knew that I could trust him and I did.

"I don't know what it really is, but something was in my heart telling me what I needed to do. I'm not going to turn down the opportunity if that's where I'm going to be the happiest and that's where my heart wants to be."

Noland cited his comfort with ISU's new head coach as a big reason for his decision.

"I'm very relieved," Noland said. "I'm blessed. I believe that I know Coach Campbell a little better than anybody that's an Iowa State fan right now, because I had a great relationship with him when he was at Toledo. He was my first offer back this spring and I've carried that relationship all the way up to when I committed today. The bond that started between me and him I feel is special. I'm very excited to carry that relationship on and be a Cyclone with him."

While the Cyclones had become Noland's choice by the end of last week, the emergence of Alabama at the 11th hour made things interesting.

"This week, Coach (Jeremy) Pruitt at Alabama got in touch with me," Noland said. "I had known him when he was at Georgia. They were very interested, had watched my film and kind of flirted around with me. They didn't know I was a mid-year guy. This really started happening Friday night, and I told them I thought I had my mind made up and they had until Monday morning. They respected that and this morning they let me know that they just weren't ready to pull the trigger. I was fine with that.

"In a way, that kind of convinced me that I was meant to play in the Power-5. I felt if the number one program in the country was halfway interested or even watched my film, that I deserved to play in the Power-5 and wanted to make that decision. It was a reassuring that that's what I needed to do and flip to the Cyclones."

Ready to take Noland in January and get him enrolled in second semester classes, I-State's coaches were excited at the news the quarterback shared with them on Monday afternoon.

"I knew today was their last day in the office before the Christmas break, so when I called Coach Campbell he was really excited and they all were excited. Of course you saw the tweets. They wanted me when they were at Toledo and when they got to Iowa State they pressed really hard for me. They were relieved on their end and really fired up. One of the coaches said this was a great Christmas gift."

Although Noland has yet to watch one second of a Campbell-led offense at ISU, the signal-caller said he was sold on how good of a fit it would be by spending time with Toledo quarterback Phillip Ely during a visit earlier this year.

"I visited Toledo twice when they were there," Noland said. "One time I went with my family and the next time I went on an unofficial by myself, just to see what it was all about. I spent a weekend with Phillip Ely and we talked a lot about the offense. I met with the coaches and I feel like that the offense is a good fit for me.

"It's technically not a pro-style, but there are some things they've got that they haven't been able to do. Knowing what he was going to do and watching how successful he was this season on offense, gives me a lot of confidence I can go to (Iowa State) and be successful. To me, it resembles a lot of what the other teams in the Big 12 do, and I think we can be successful doing it."

Noland also sounds like a recruit who has done his homework on his future school and is ready to accept the challenge of building ISU into a Big 12 power.

"I helped rebuild a high school program with my dad and I'm not afraid of doing that at the next level," he said. "I know in the history of Iowa State there haven't been many coaches that won a lot of games, but I'm not afraid of that. I believe in (Campbell), he believes in me and I think we can do something special. I hate to lose and am going to do my very best to win football games."

Noland passed for 1,627 yards and 17 touchdowns while leading his team to a 9-3 record and Region 8-AAA championship this fall as a senior.