Football: ISU?s new football facility played role in landing early enrollees

Back when the new Iowa State football facility was just concrete and steel beams, Cyclone coach Paul Rhoads showed it to Aaron Wimberly.

Rhoads brought Wimberly into a large, unfinished room. He asked the running back what he thought it was.

Wimberly assumed it was the indoor football practice facility.

?We were standing in the current weight room,? Rhoads said.

Wimberly is now going through offseason workouts in the space. He?s one of four early enrollees from the 2013 recruiting class already on campus.

And the new $20 million facility, which ISU moved into in November, played a role why each became a Cyclone.

?I could really picture what it was,? Wimberly said. ?When I came on my visit it was actually what he said it was and I liked it.?

Wimberly, from Iowa Western Community College, plans to play right away. He rushed for 1,125 yards and 13 touchdowns, while earning All-American honors, this past season.

The 5-foot-11 scatback figures to contribute in the backfield, the slot and possibly as a returner. But he knows it won?t happen if he doesn?t make the most of this winter and spring, where he?ll do all of his work in the new football facility.

?It?s more than you could ask for,? Wimberly said.

The 155,000 square foot facility, which was built into the current indoor practice facility, is equipped with everything a football team would need to succeed.

There are video rooms to review tape. There is a state of the art athletic training and rehab center.

But the crown jewel is the 11,000 square foot weight room.

It played a role in why Arizona Western Community College tight end E.J. Bibbs is on campus.

?That weight room is awesome,? Bibbs said. ?You go in there and take a peak at it. It gets your eyes a little bit.?

Bibbs, who was a second-team All-American in 2012, stuck with ISU despite a late recruiting push from Oklahoma. Like Wimberly, he hopes to make an impact this fall.

A month into his ISU career, Bibbs is trying to adjust to the Cyclone workout program.

?It?s kind of tough,? Bibbs said, ?but you get through it and it?s all mental. You got to get used to it.?

Offensive lineman Shawn Curtis expects to spend plenty of time in the weight room. Even though Rivals.com rates him as the third-best prospect in ISU?s 2013 class, Curtis knows most linemen redshirt right away.

Curtis, from Orlando, Fla., is 6-foot-5, 270-pounds. Rhoads expects him to top the 300-pound mark. Curtis arrived a semester early to get a jump start on adding some weight.

?I want to gain as much muscle mass as I can and be as fast as I can by spring time,? Curtis said.

The entire facility might come in the handiest for Orlando, Fla. linebacker Alton Meeks. The freshman spent more time in high school as a quarterback than a linebacker.

He can watch film with defensive coordinator Wally Burnham to learn the position. He can head out to the indoor field with fellow linebackers to get versed in his technique.

In the short time he?s been around the 6-foot-3, 240-pound Meeks has already learned that his days as a quarterback will help him out on defense.

?I was with (linebacker) Jeremiah George,? Meeks said, ?he was talking about something and I was like I understand why you do that because (it was the counter to what you would try) on offense.?

Source: http://amestrib.com/sections/sports/isu-cyclones/football-isu%E2%80%99s-new-football-facility-played-role-landing-early

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