Sure, here it is.
ISU knows Beau is Big 12 caliber</font>
<no><h1>ISU knows Beau is Big 12 caliber</h1></no>
There is no doubting Norman (Okla.) North running back
Beau Blankenship's
production on the football field, but the 5-foot-8, 207-pound back has
had to overcome concerns about his size. One school he will no longer
have to prove anything to, though, is Iowa State.
Blankenship
already held an offer from Air Force and has been receiving interest
from several schools throughout the country. On Thursday the state of
Oklahoma's No. 29 prospect added his second offer of the process from
Iowa State.
"They called my coach that morning and my coach knew that morning, but
they told him not to tell me," Blankenship said. "Then, after they were
done with their meeting they had me call Coach (Gene) Chizik and Coach
Chizik told me.
"It feels great and awesome to have that
happen. When it came I was just ecstatic. I kind of saw it coming
because I went up there and they were talking to me a lot. I went up
there for a one-day camp. I was talking to some of the people around
there and they love Iowa State football."
Following his visit to
Ames for the summer camp, Blankenship had his eye on Iowa State and now
that the offer has come it has fulfilled one of his greatest desires in
this recruiting process.
"That was actually the school I wanted
to offer more than anybody because I felt like I fit in real good up
there," Blankenship said. "The coaches were real nice, they treated me
like family and I just loved it. The coaches are really good friends
with my coaches and they remind me a lot of them in the way they act.
Then the campus, everything about it reminds me a lot of Norman."
The
offer has put Iowa State at the top of Blankenship's list, but he is
not yet ready to make a decision. He plans to let this offer sink in a
while.
"I don't have any timetable," Blankenship said. "Whenever
I feel like God has led me to the school I need to go to, that's when
I'll commit, but the rest of this summer I am just going to keep
working out. I took a visit to Oregon also and I'm going to wait and
see what happens there too."
In his last two seasons as a
varsity starter at running back Blankenship has racked up a spectacular
3,797 yards and 42 touchdowns on 618 carries. He runs the 40-yard dash
in 4.47, bench presses 375 pounds and squats 570. Those numbers should
keep Blankenship at the tailback spot in college and he said every
school recruiting him, including Iowa State, is doing so as a tailback.
"(Chizik)
told me I play with a lot of heart and a bunch of people may say I'm
too short and too small, but I have that determination," Blankenship
said. "He told me they run it a lot and he just wants me to be part of
the family."
