How Iowa State landed one of the top wide receivers in the nation

AMES, Ia. — College football teams across the nation were drawn to Joseph Scates because of his size, speed and overall athleticism.

But some of those teams were scared off when they really looked into Scates and saw some of his troubles in the classroom.

Not Iowa State coach Matt Campbell and certainly not wide receivers coach/special teams coordinator Bryan Gasser, who landed his commitment late last month.

“A lot of people, a lot of schools kind of gave up on me,” Scates said. “Coach Gasser and coach Campbell — they told me they weren’t going to give up on me and they were going to help me get to college and help me get to where I needed to be.”

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Scates, a star wide receiver from Dunbar High School in Ohio, is Iowa State’s highest-rated 2018 recruit and, according to 247Sports Composite, the highest rated player in Campbell’s tenure. Rivals ranks him as a four-star recruit and lists him as the 136th-best recruit in the 2018 class.

And it’s easy to see why.

He’s listed at 6-foot-3, 180-pounds and boasts a 40-yard dash time of 4.5 seconds. Scates also has a 32-inch vertical. He used all those attributes to catch 37 passes for 966 yards and 20 touchdowns in 12 games during his senior season.

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Scates’ success caught the attention of college coaches everywhere, with a long list of programs offering him scholarships. Cincinnati was the first when he was a sophomore. Others would follow including Alabama and Ohio State. But Iowa State, the fourth school to offer him, always stood out to Scates. The Cyclones’ early interest in him helped, but so did an early message from Gasser, who promised to help Scates regardless of his decision.

“Coach Gasser kind of told me, ‘I understand you’re going to get big offers and I don’t mind you looking into those schools, but I want to be here for you no matter what — just so I can help better you as a young man, not even as a football player,'” Scates recalled.

Gasser lived up to those words. Scates, who was attracting interest from schools across the nation for his play on the field, was losing interest from some of them due to his struggles of it in the classroom. He said a lot of schools looked at his grades and his GPA, which sank to 1.9, and decided to look elsewhere.

Scates’ mom, Jaunida Hurt, said some schools even offered to help put a plan in place to help him raise his grades so he could get into their college. Gasser and Iowa State were the only to follow through on the offer.

“None were as consistent and as passionate about getting Joe where he needed to be academically like the coaches at Iowa State,” Hurt said.

It started with some words of wisdom from Gasser, who talked to Scates about the importance of getting good grades. Scates said Gasser told him his athletic abilities would only take him so far. Without a school to get into, those skills couldn’t be utilized.

Gasser wanted to make sure that the message was getting through to Scates. So Gasser got weekly progress reports on Scates’ performance in the classroom and routinely checked in on the star wide receiver, his high school coach and even the school principal to see how things were going in the classroom.

College coaches often invest a ton of time into a recruit they really like. But Dunbar coach Darran Powell said he hasn't seen that many college coaches go that far out of their way to help a student who is struggling in the classroom.

“It’s very rare,” Powell said. “But I’ve been doing the recruiting thing for a long time. When someone’s really invested in you — that really wants you — they’ll show you that they actually care. And I definitely believe Gasser and Iowa State did that.”

It was evident to Scates as Iowa State kept coming after him, even when a lot of teams backed off.

“They just stuck with me,” Scates said. “They showed me a lot of support and care and love.”

Things ended up working out for Scates and Iowa State. Scates, who said he didn’t always take school seriously early on in high school, made it a priority. He became one of the first to his classes and moved his seat to the front of the room. Scates’ GPA rose to 2.5.

His mom had been preaching many of the same messages Gasser had. But hearing it from someone else helped it click for Scates.

“With the push of the coaches from Iowa State, I think it just kind of registered a little bit better,” Hurt said.

It helped. Scates put himself in a position to finally get into college with a strong start to his senior year. And Iowa State's patience in him paid off with the Cyclones landing Scates' commitment in January. He’ll sign his letter of intent to play for Iowa State on Wednesday.

“That showed me that it’s bigger than football,” Scates said. “To be honest, Iowa State was the only school that actually invested a lot of time and care and love towards me.”

The commitment level could pay off for the Cyclones who are getting a talented wide receiver many teams saw potential in on the field but didn’t have faith in off of it.

“Dynamic player,” Powell said. “He’s very athletic. He’s one of those guys that can’t do anything bad with the football in his hands. He can go up and get it, he has great routes, great hands, he’s physical enough to go across the middle and his explosiveness is unmatched. He’s not afraid to block either.”

Powell credits Scates’ turnaround in the classroom due to Gasser.

“He actually knew that someone cared more than just football,” Powell said. “He took the initiative to make sure that he didn’t want to disappoint coach Gasser.”

Had Scates not gotten that push from Gasser, he believes he would be headed for a junior college next season. His mom feels like he’s in good hands in Ames.

“In my heart, I know that Joe won’t slack at Iowa State,” Hurt said. “I don’t believe coach will let him. I don’t even think Joe will allow himself to slack in college. But that’s what Joe needs. He needs somebody that shows him that they believe in him and helps him believe in himself.”