Iowa St. a Favorite for Receiver Finney

(This article originally appeared at iowastate.rivals.com.)

Gene Chizik has Iowa State a nose ahead of the pack in the derby to earn the services of an Illinois wide receiver. Kevin Finney from Lake Forest (Ill.) is drawing interest from a host of upper midwest schools, including Iowa State, Indiana, Miami Univ., Purdue, Illinois and Michigan State. According to Finney, Iowa State is a co-leader along with Miami but the race is far from over.

"They've got all new coaches, and they're going to come out and compete in the Big 12, and that's real enticing to me," Finney said. "The level of the schools they play, and the tradition of both them and their opponents is a big turn on."

The Chicagoland prospect visited Iowa State over VEISHA weekend, and was impressed, not just by Chizik's Cyclones, but with the town of Ames.

"It was a good weekend, there was a big parade that thousands of people were at," said Finney. "The town really supports the team. Coach Chizik rode down the street in the parade, and it was just awesome."

"I've always seen myself kind of wanting a smaller, quieter town, and the whole place seemed really homey. I like that."

One decision that could impact Finney's recruitment is exactly how the Cyclones plan to use his talents. The 6-foot-7, 200 pound WR thinks his greatest potential for growth may be at TE. Miami is the only school to explicitly tell Finney that he may see time at that position, although the fact that his point of contact on the ISU coaching staff has been TE Coach Scott Fountain may indicate the Cyclones have a similar desire.

Another factor that may enter the equation is Finney's lifelong allegiance to Michigan State. While he says he "doesn't so much bleed green and white anymore", both parents are MSU alums and a sister currently attends school in East Lansing. He will visit sometime later this summer.

Finney says he'll attend several camps this summer, including those at Michigan, Miami, Ball State, Illinois and Purdue.