Lots of young men and women from Omaha cross the river and ride the hills to attend school in Ames, Iowa. But few of them are high school prospects like Phillip Bates. The Omaha North grad turned down Nebraska, Oklahoma and Ohio to become a Cyclone.

He attributes the move in large part to the motivational power of Gene Chizik, Iowa State’s first year head coach.

“Coach Chizik came to my house and I bought into his system that we can do great things. I still believe that. When he came I was pretty excited.”

“I bought into what coach Chizik was saying. A lot of other guys will buy in too. It’s going to be something special. His history says it all. He can change things. I’m pretty excited about what we have going.”

That history he’s mentioning is Chizik’s experience at Texas and Auburn. He won a national championship with the Longhorns in 2005. And Auburn was undefeated and ranked No. 2 in both major polls in 2004 when Chizik won the Frank Broyles Award, honoring the nation’s top assistant coach.

In short, Iowa State has a big time prospect at head coach. The kind of man talented kids from Omaha want to play for.

Bates, a true freshman already has one career-defining moment to his credit. His 38-yard, fourth-quarter reception against Iowa sealed the 15-13 victory over the in-state rival.

Bates’ father played at Nebraska and wil be on hand today in Lincoln to watch his son compete.

[via The Cedar Rapids Gazette]