Round five, pick 146 - Alvin Bowen drafted by the Buffalo Bills.

Check out Buffalo Rumblings for the Bills' view of Ace.

QB: Austen Arnaud (So.)
RB: Alexander Robinson (So.)
TE: Derrick Catlett (Jr.)
WR: Marquis Hamilton (Jr.)
WR: RJ Sumrall (Sr.)
WR: Sedrick Johnson (Fr.)

So, we went ahead and picked Doug Dedrick as our left tackle for Who's Your Starter. Problem is, he was our starting right tackle during the Spring Game. So, with a total lack of other stuff to write about, I figured I'd redo this again with the two deeps from the Spring Game, plus Haughton.

Hulbert: 6-7, 287, So.
Baysinger: 6-3, 316, So.
Haughton: 6-4, 323, Fr.

We had heard reports that Hulbert had pressed Dedrick in practice, and apparently he did well enough to earn a starting spot in the spring game. Baysinger is one of the top redshirt freshmen on the team, and will probably be Dedrick's eventual replacement. Haughton is a guy that was recruited heavily, but had some school issues.

So, who's your pick? The hard charging sophomore that seems to be impressing the coaches? The scout team standout? Or the highly touted recruit with a Big 12 body as a freshman?

I'm not really expecting any Staters to go today. I've seen mock drafts with Rubin as high as the San Francisco pick in the second round, but smart money has him going around the fourth round. The other potential draftees include Todd Blythe (5-7th round) and Alvin Bowen (5-7 round). I'll go out on a limb and say one of them gets picked. Stuff I've been reading has a destination like Buffalo for Blythe and Indianapolis for Bowen. Don't see Bret Meyer getting picked up.

Anyways, I thought I'd also use this space to post a couple of YouTube videos from the Spring Game.

Postings will be light over the next two weeks (actually until May 9) as I'm coming up on the send of the semester with tests and reading and whatnot. I'll chime in if ISU lands a commitment or anything super duper awesome like that, but I figured I would let y'all know and give you a heads up as to why I won't be around a ton for the time being.

Of course, I could just be lazy and not study at all. We'll see how that goes...

Got back just a little bit ago from the spring game. It was a cold, dreary day, and it took forever for things to get started. As you'll see in later pictures, the field is in horrible shape. The team went through their pregame routine before a little bit of practice, and a half of scrimmaging. Then, at "halftime", the team went through stretches before finishing up. Here's some observations.

Both Arnaud and Bates looked out of sorts and constantly missed receivers, though both seemed to improve as the spring game progressed. Arnaud looked good on one designed run, but we didn't get to see Bates unleash. Not the greatest day for either.

Alexander Robinson looked ok, as did Jason Harris. Bo Williams had some of the most impressive runs of the day, but also botched a reverse. Rickey Thompson Jr. received a lot of carries late.

The wide receivers looked really out of sorts. Didn't seem like they were going full speed. No one was that impressive catching the ball.

The starting offensive line, starting at right tackle, was Hulbert, Osemele, Knapp, Lamaak and Dedrick. Quite a bit different that we expected. Alex Alvarez seemed to be the #2 center, which doesn't seem all that good for Brandon Johnson.

The defensive line seemed to be playing decently, though, where I was, it was tough to get a good look. Jesse Smith and Derec Schmidgall looked pretty good in the LB corps.

Chris Singleton had the hit of the day on defense, lighting up a receiver. He and Allen Bell were the ones running at corner. Brandon Hunley got a lot of time at safety.

We didn't kick at all. When we practiced punts, Alex Sandvig was the one back deep, and he muffed quite a few punts.

All in all, it wasn't the most entertaining experience. I hope this was a sign of the defense improving, but Arnaud and Bates didn't look good at all. Still, it was nice to get out there and see some action. I've got some photos, so here goes. My camera truly sucks, so excuse the blurriness.

Wide view.

Another wide view.

North suite renovation.

South suite renovation.

Visitors at the Jake.

Brandtner

Huddling at the beginning of practice

Warmups

A nice huddle.

Arnaud and Bates

Scrimmage

Bo Williams

Arnaud under center

Future Cyclone Jeremiah Schwartz

Arnaud and Williams

Chiz

Tomorrow all of us Iowa Staters can get our temporary football fix until the last Thursday in August. Tomorrow is the culmination of the spring practice period. While it is not expected to be in an actual game format, the coaching staff will use a system to keep score to determine a winner. Last year's heroes were Meyer, Sumrall and Derec Schmidgall. Here's some questions that should and could be addressed:

What's the offensive line looking like? There's been rumblings ever since last year that we've had some hidden gems redshirting on the line in Trey Baysinger and Kelechi Osemele. Do they come out with the ones over guys like Reggie Stephens?

Who do we throw to after Sumrall and Hamilton? Sedrick Johnson isn't here yet. Is Euseph Messiah or Wallace Franklin the next man on the totem pole?

What's with this two QB system? We haven't really gotten to see Bates in a real quarterback role, and if the coaches continue to allow contact, it could be fun to watch Bates scamper all over the field.

Is Colin Franklin adjusting that quickly? He was one of the guys who might have grown the most in his redshirt year. Will he get time at H-Back or a more natural tight end position?

How does Bo Williams look? Pure curiosity here.

Who's starting on the interior of the defensive line? Kurtis Taylor and Rashawn Parker are pretty good locks at the ends. Mike Tate, Nate Frere, Chris Weir, Austin Alburtis, Bailey Johnson and Jerrod Black are all contenders to see meaningful time.

Who's going to get time at the outside backer position? Jesse Smith is the only entrenched linebacker. Josh Raven and Fred Garrin seem to lead the pack early.

Who's kicking? Will we see any hot foot-on-ball action?

If I get lucky, I'll try and take pictures tomorrow. The playing surface itself looks like crap, but it is scheduled to be replaced. Should be a little cool tomorrow, but hopefully we can avoid some showers and get an advance look on this fall.

QB: Austen Arnaud (So.)
RB: Alexander Robinson (So.)
TE: Derrick Catlett (Jr.)
WR: Marquis Hamilton (Jr.)
WR: RJ Sumrall (Sr.)
WR: Sedrick Johnson (Fr.)

OK, we have our first new guy in the Who's Your Starter lineups in the form of Sedrick Johnson. Johnson is ISU's top incoming recruit this year, and there's been some scuttlebutt flying around that he'll see the field. If he's as good as advertised, he's certainly got a chance to start.

We now get to the part of this experiment that's gonna be a little tougher - the offensive line. ISU returns four of their starters on the line, and the tackle position included two of the nicest surprises in Doug Dedrick and Ben Lamaak.

We've got two returners that should be expected to contend for the spot in Dedrick and Matt Hulbert. Adrin Haughton appears to be the lone line recruit that may press for playing time. Here's the vitals.

Dedrick: 6-4, 282, Sr.
Hulbert: 6-7, 287, So.
Haughton: 6-4, 323, Fr.

Dedrick was one of the more undersized tackles in the conference, but did a relatively good job. Hulbert has been reportedly pressing Dedrick in practice, however, and has been getting reps with the first team. The coaches have been saying ever since Haughton signed that he could be in the mix to play right away, and he brings considerable size to the table.

So, who's your pick? The senior with a full year of starting experience? The hard charging backup that seems to be impressing the coaches? Or the highly touted recruit with a Big 12 body as a freshman?

So, after all was said and done yesterday, Iowa State had brought three new basketball players into the fold, according to various sources. These included high schooler LA Pomlee, Marquette transfer Scott Cristopherson and JUCO Jamie (Notorious VDB) Vanderbeken.

In bringing in Pomlee and Vanderbeken, Greg McDermott and staff addressed the most pressing need for 2008 - the total lack of depth at the four and the five. Pomlee, regarded as a medium-risk/high reward sort of project, could give ISU some rebounding punch that ISU will lose in regards to Rahshon Clark. Pomlee averaged 15 and 10 during his senior year at Davenport Central High, while leading the conference in field goal percentage and rebounding.

VDB was a bit of an upset for McDermott, pulling him in over schools like UConn. The 6-10 center prospect is currently at Tyler JC in Texas and originally had committed to Iowa out of high school in Canada. He'll immediately compete with Alex Thompson for the starting center position.

Cristopherson, like Pomlee and VDB, was a three-star recruit coming out of high school. A sharpshooter, he struggled to find minutes during Crean's final year at Marquette. He'll sit out the coming season.

Overall, we had about as productive of a spring recruiting period as could be hoped. Pomlee may have been a backup plan for Jimmy Butler, VDB's Tyler teammate, but VDB will be more likely to address our big man needs. Cristopherson will be another shooter (can't have too many of those) when he is eligible to play in 09-10.

It's never good when a team has to resort to the spring signing period, but, again, it seems like we did relatively well with addressing our biggest needs. 2008 recruiting should be wrapped up (with a class of 6 + 1 transfer + Lucca becoming eligible). And we'll see tons of new faces this fall. Time to focus on 09 recruiting for the one or two scholarships that we'll have available for that class.

That damn Facebook strikes again.

If so, this would be an important pickup for ISU over the likes of Marquette and UConn, and would strengthen our front line a bit more for next season.

I'll try and keep updated with any possible confirmation from CycloneReport or any place else.

Greg McDermott picked up his fifth commitment for the 2008 class today, as Davenport Central big man LA Pomlee has decided to come to Ames.

Scout Profile
Rivals Profile

The addition of Pomlee doesn't necessarily look good in regards to the prospects of picking up Jamie Vanderbeken, but still, Pomlee should be a solid add. Plagued with injuries (and some attitude problems), Pomlee is the ultimate big man project for Greg McDermott. He's undeniably talented.

Pomlee will likely get minutes with the thin frountcourt next year, and it'll be interesting to see if we can harness his talent. He picked ISU over Wisconsin and West Virginia, so big schools have been interested in the big guy.

QB: Austen Arnaud (So.)
RB: Alexander Robinson (So.)
TE: Derrick Catlett (Jr.)
WR: Marquis Hamilton (Jr.)
WR: RJ Sumrall (Sr.)

Okey doke, so I don't think I need to rehash everything for the third installment of the wide receiver set. I'm going to list the top contenders as well as an "others box", in case people think a guy like Alex Sandvig isn't getting enough love.

Per UNLV's website.

An 8 PM start should make those that want to enjoy Vegas happy.

All of those lucky Iowans receiving "The Mtn." on their 400 sport channel dish sets will be able to watch the game. Hopefully, Mediacom can swing something so that the rest of us can watch as well.