Three-star EDGE Ryan Paulsen: Iowa State visit 'changed my view' before Illinois trip
It’s setting up to be a two-horse race for an in-state prospect who took his first official visit to Iowa State this past weekend and will arrive on a Big 10 campus in a few days.
Central Dewitt rising senior EDGE Ryan Paulsen recapped a busy few days in Ames, as he evaluated a program that’s ascended in his mix since extending an offer during the spring.
“It was a great weekend,” said the three-star recruit. “Starting off, we had a great dinner and I got to sit with the d-linemen and the d-line coaches. It was kind of just like an introduction day on Thursday night.
“On Friday, we got into a lot of meetings and do a position meeting with Coach (Jalon) Bibbs. We had a meeting on mental strength, which was great and pretty unique. You don’t see that a lot of programs like the one (Director of Strength and Conditioning) Chris (Campbell) has and I thought that was great.
“We went out and did paint ball and did a lot of fun stuff. We ate a lot of good food. One thing about the coaching staff I realized was it’s very homey and you can tell it’s family-oriented. All the coaches had their wives and kids running around and that was pretty cool to see. I think it’d be a great fit for me. I think the coaches definitely want me to be there. On Saturday morning, I had a meeting with head coach Jimmy Rogers, got to know he and the GM and talked about stuff.”
In addition to Iowa State, Paulsen has earned Power-4 offers from Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Missouri, West Virginia, Kansas and Northwestern.
This past season, Paulsen recorded 39.5 tackles, 17 tackles-for-loss, five sacks and one forced fumble.
Although he was in Ames for a one-day visit earlier this year, Paulsen said the official gave him an even deeper understanding of Rogers’ program.
“I feel like a lot of people kind of have that skepticism towards the program, with the coach being new and having a lot of transfers there, but I can say for sure that they’ve really got it going well and the players interact,” the in-state prospect said. “I liked how the players interact with each other, but also the coaches. It changed my view on it. I think it’d be a great fit.”
A meeting with Rogers and General Manager Ricky Ciccone wrapped up Paulsen’s official visit, as the EDGE recruit said he leveled with the two on where he was in his process.
“I went in there and they gave me a great deal,” he said. “I really appreciate that. I told them that I want to at least hit this Illinois OV to check out at least two spots. Me and my family have talked about that.
“I don’t want to be too blown away by one school and just commit based off that. I want to see at least two schools and then really sit down and make a decision. I’ll probably have a decision made by next Monday.”
