Iowa State Cyclones Flip Talented Three-Star Safety from Washington State Cougars

The Iowa State Cyclones have successfully flipped another recruit from the Washington State Cougars

Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

While the transfer portal has understandably received most of the attention for the Iowa State Cyclones of late, the team is also still in the process of bringing in some recruits. 

Following the loss of Matt Campbell, the Cyclones not only had a lot of their roster announce their intention to go to the transfer portal but recruits also decommitted from the program. With a strong recruiting class being key for the future success of a program, new head coach Jimmy Rogers has been working hard to rebuild that as well. 

Just like Campbell has been able to grab players and recruits from Iowa State, Rogers has been able to do the same with the Washington State Cougars. So far, he has been quite successful in bringing over both players in the portal and also flipping recruits. 

Recently, three-star safety Matthew McClain announced that he has committed to the Cyclones and will be joining what is becoming a strong recruiting class all of a sudden. 

McClain Another Great Flip

#COMMITTED #whatGODhas4U @CycloneFB @ISURogers3 @PeteMenage @andy_lucas98 @247recruiting @Rivals @On3sports pic.twitter.com/5AI6KDIAXM

— Matthew McClain (@matthewmcclain_) January 7, 2026

Before coming over to the Cyclones, Rogers had a pretty well-ranked recruiting class for the Cougars, and it is encouraging to see him being able to bring over so much talent from it. McClain is the latest addition, and he has a ton of potential at the safety position. 

According to Rivals Industry Ranking, he is a three-star prospect and was ranked as a Top 200 recruit from the state of Texas. Also, he was ranked in the Top 150 among safeties. This is a solid addition for the program and Rogers’ ability to recruit well in the state of Texas is something to monitor going forward. 

Rogers and defensive coordinator Jesse Bobbit are doing a really nice job of rebuilding the defensive unit, and this is going to be an area of the team that they will be focused on. The Cyclones’ identity certainly appears to be defensive-minded. In both the portal and flipping recruits, they have had a lot of success on that side of the ball. 

Overall, while there is still time to flip recruits and improve in the portal, Rogers has done a really nice job so far. He said from the start that he would be comfortable building a team in the portal, and that is what he is doing so far. However, the success in flipping recruits will make things easier for him next year as he begins to build the program in his vision.