Matt Campbell on Verge of Making Iowa State Cyclones History on Signing Day

This year's signing day looks like it is going to be a historic one for the Iowa State Cyclones.

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The Iowa State Cyclones went into signing day this year with 22 players committed to the Class of 2026.

Thus far, they were able to avoid any funny business with players in the class, all sending in the paperwork to officially sign with the school. Everything has gone according to plan thus far, with 22 players signing a letter of intent with Iowa State.

That includes EDGE defender Elijah Reeder, who received a scholarship offer from the Cyclones a few days ago. They are the only Power Conference school to make him an offer, and he jumped at the opportunity to join the program.

With the 22 players signed, Iowa State’s Class of 2026 is currently ranked No. 48 at 247Sports and in the composite rankings.

Matt Campbell on verge of landing his best recruiting class yet

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Should that ranking hold, it would be the highest-ranked class that head coach Matt Campbell has ever had with the program. As Alec Busse of Cyclone Alert, part of the 247Sports Network, shared, the previous high for the Cyclones under their head coach was No. 49 for the Class of 2020.

Iowa State has announced the signing of every prospect I expect to sign with the Cyclones today. Matt Campbell appears to be on the verge of signing his highest-ranked class at Iowa State.

THE CLASS: https://t.co/PjzSzDNdsG

CLASS RANKING BY YEAR: https://t.co/0nd0TzyYkW pic.twitter.com/6VJ3yxKkcn

— Alec Busse (@alec_busse) December 3, 2025

This would be only the third time that he has had a class ranked No. 50 or better. It is certainly a testament to the work Campbell and his staff do because they do not have the NIL money to spend that some of their peers possess.

That became evident when wide receiver Milan Parris, a three-star wide receiver when he committed to Iowa State, started receiving attention from other Power Conference schools.

He turned into a four-star player, and big schools started calling. Eventually, he decommitted from the Cyclones and committed to the Miami (FL) Hurricanes.

Cyclones waiting on Kaprice Keith to make decision on Signing Day

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The only player whom Iowa State is waiting on right now in the Class of 2026 is athlete Kaprice Keith. He has been committed to Iowa State for over a year, but it is widely believed that he will be signing elsewhere on Wednesday.

Rumors have swirled that he will join the Kansas State Wildcats. A two-way player, he originally committed to the Cyclones, intending to play defensive back. But the Wildcats want him to play wide receiver, his preferred position.

He took a visit to The Little Apple recently, and all signs are pointing to Kansas State being his choice.

This is a situation that Campbell and his staff have been preparing for. They were proactive, landing a commitment from safety Tayten Duncan.

The Mustang, Oklahoma, native was previously committed to the Army Black Knights. But once he reopened his commitment, Iowa State jumped into the mix and landed him as insurance against Keith’s defection.