A day of addition was also one of ongoing subtraction for Iowa State.
In announcing and discussing his 2015 recruiting class, Paul Rhoads also confirmed that DeVondrick Nealy is one of a handful of players no longer with the football program. The ISU head coach stated that Nealy left voluntarily a couple of weeks ago, although some of the departures have been non-voluntary.
“We are a blue-collar football program that has no excuses and no explanations,” Rhoads said. “There have been a number of dismissals and departures from our program for failing to meet these high standards and expectations.”
Nealy was third on the team in rushing in 2014 with 271 yards, and was expected to head into at least summer camp as the starting running back. No reason was given for his departure.
The Cyclones did add a pair of running backs on signing day, Sheldon Croney and Joshua Thomas, at least one of whom may be forced into immediate service due to the lack of depth at the position.
In addition to Nealy’s departure, Rhoads also announced that redshirt junior wide receiver Tad Ecby and redshirt freshman wide receiver Chase Onken were no longer on the team. Ecby caught eight passes (10th on the team) for 237 yards (fifth) in 2014, one year after finishing fourth on the team in receptions (22) and receiving yards (233). Onken didn’t play in any games during his time in Ames.
The trio of departures brings to eight the number of Cyclones who have either been dismissed, left voluntarily or transferred since January. Among those was one of ISU’s top returning receivers and a starting defensive back.