Wisconsin defender commits to Cyclones
Iowa State has picked up its first verbal commitment for the Class of 2018 in Waukesha (Wisc.) North defensive athlete Will McDonald.
The 6-foot-5, 200-pound McDonald unofficially visited ISU last weekend as part of a Cyclone junior day event - along with his high school head coach Matt Harris.
"He fell in love with the place," Coach Harris said about McDonald. "He loves what they are all about and the direction of the program. I could tell talking on the way home what he was going to do. Then he talked to me last night after his basketball game and said he'd been talking with his parents and he knew what he wanted to do. He called them this afternoon after school to commit."
McDonald had scholarship offers from Iowa State and New Mexico and was receiving interest from Wisconsin, Iowa and Northern Illinois. He played his first year of high school football in 2016, racking up 10 1/2 sacks. Coach Harris said McDonald's potential is hard to quantify.
"The surface is just getting scratched with Will," Coach Harris explained. "Day one of practice when he came out there with us, he was the most incredible athlete I'd seen in a long time. His wingspan has got to be close to 6-10. The Iowa State coaches were surprised he's only 6-5 because of long he is and plays. His length is incredible."
Although Coach Harris expects McDonald to receive increasing recruiting interest into his senior year, he likes ISU's chances of holding on to the commitment.
"He loves Iowa State, I could just tell he was enamored," Harris said. "The support there is genuine and real. I think it's the right distance from home and the right size community for him. He's a quiet kid, almost shy, and you're not going to see him selling himself. If he did, he'd probably have more offers, and he's probably going to get some. But it's just how he operates to be low key. Once you get to know him, he's an amazing kid with a great personality."
McDonald is the first current verbal commitment in Iowa State's 2018 recruiting class.