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The Cyclones started off the 2014 recruiting class with a bang as they reeled in Urbandale wide receiver Allen Lazard. The news was broken by Lazard himself on Twitter.
Today i took a big step in life and that was to commit to play football at Iowa State. Couldn't be happier.#cyclONEnation #PacktheJack
— Allen Lazard (@AllenLazard) December 4, 2012
Lazard is a 6'4, 190 pound receiver who Rivals currently has as a 4 star and national Top 250 recruit. He currently holds additional offers from Iowa and Nebraska, but is drawing strong interest from LSU, Oregon, Michigan, Ohio State, and Notre Dame, among others. While more detailed 2014 rankings aren't out yet, all indications are that Allen will be the number one recruit in Iowa and a top 10 wide receiver nationally at worst. Rivals Midwest recruiting analyst Josh Helmholdt was very liberal with his praise.
Allen Lazard to #IowaState biggest pickup in the Midwest so far in 2014. Just a monster, monster week for the #Cyclones bit.ly/TEpkbV
— Josh Helmholdt (@JoshHelmholdt) December 4, 2012
A lot of teams waited to offer Lazard and will regret it. I've seen many of the top WRs in the class, he's best I've seen so far in 2014
— Josh Helmholdt (@JoshHelmholdt) December 4, 2012
Paul Rhoads and lead recruiter Shane Burnham's efforts were certainly helped by the fact that Lazard's father Kevin played for Iowa State, and his brother Anthony is currently a walkon for the Cyclones. Time will tell if the Cyclones can hold onto the commitment until signing day for 2014, but reports from several outlets suggest that he's not a huge fan of the recruiting process and will be fairly low key with additional suitors.
With the addition of 2013's top Iowa recruit Jake Campos earlier this week, and rumors abound of other switches to come, it's certainly been a great week on the recruiting trail for the Iowa State coaching staff.