Iowa State Cyclones Flip Another Commitment from Washington State Cougars

The Iowa State Cyclones continue to thrive at flipping recruits from the Washington State Cougars.

Iowa State football coach Jimmy Rogers speaks during a timeout in the first half in the Iowa State and Iowa men’s basketball Cy-Hawk series at Hilton coliseum on Dec. 11, 2025, in Ames, Iowa. | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

With the new year right around the corner for the Iowa State Cyclones, the team will be focused on getting their roster put together for 2026 and beyond in the coming weeks.

Since taking over as the head coach for the Cyclones, Jimmy Rogers has been hard at work trying to retain talent, bring in recruits, and get ready for what will undoubtedly be a wild transfer portal for the program. 

Even though he might not have had a ton of success trying to retain some of the star players for the team, that was always going to be a bit of a long shot. However, bringing in recruits and building this team through the transfer portal will be challenging on short notice, but certainly possible. 

That appears to be the plan of action for the program, and Rogers is off to a good early start. He was able to have a strong recruiting class prior to leaving the Washington State Cougars, and that class is starting to follow him to Iowa State. Recently, the new head coach was able to flip his 11th recruit to the program.  

Former Washington State Cougars commit Savion Barthelemy recently announced that he will be flipping to Iowa State and following Rogers to the program. 

Cyclones Continue to Build Recruiting Class Back Up

i have decommited from washington state first off i want to say thank you to the entire community and the coaches for give me the opportunity to play along side there program but im also here to say that i will be committing to IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY @On3sports @CoachBibbs52

— Savion Barthelemy 3⭐️ DT/DE/TE 2026 (@Savion_91) December 29, 2025

Over the last couple of days, the coaching staff for Iowa State has been extremely busy, and they have done a nice job starting to rebuild what was a strong recruiting class not too long ago. This is an excellent sign for Rogers and the Cyclones going forward, and the program will be adding some talent from states that they generally haven’t recruited in much. 

Barthelemy is coming from Louisiana, where he was ranked as the 53rd-best player from the state in the 2026 class. Furthermore, at his position on the defensive line, he is ranked 178th according to Rivals Industry Ranking. 

The talented three-star defensive lineman is the third player at the position to commit to the program, and that is a good thing, with depth needed along the line. Rogers is going to be transitioning the team to a four-man front, and bodies will be required along the front. 

Defense has undoubtedly been a focal point of Rogers’ plan of attack so far, and the Cyclones will clearly be a defensive-minded team in 2026 based on the talent that has come in so far. While getting the recruiting class strengthened is significant long-term, the team must prepare to add impact talent in the transfer portal.