Harlan linebacker Will McLaughlin commits to Iowa State over Iowa, Kansas State

Iowa State football landed a significant in-state target over the weekend.

Harlan linebacker Will McLaughlin, a three-star prospect who was down to Iowa State, Iowa and Kansas State, announced his commitment to the Cyclones via Twitter on Saturday. He is Iowa State's fourth 2022 recruit and its third linebacker in the class.

“With everything that (head) coach (Matt) Campbell is doing there, it's pretty special and I just really wanted to be a part of that,” McLaughlin told the Register after committing.

With McLaughlin's commitment, the Cyclones have now landed both of the state's top two linebackers. Sergeant Bluff-Luton's Jacob Imming, who committed to Iowa State over Iowa and Nebraska in January, is No. 6 in the Register's in-state 2022 recruiting rankings; McLaughlin is No. 7. The Hawkeyes have recently done well with the state's top linebackers, from Cedar Falls' Jack Campbell in 2019 to Urbandale's Jaden Harrell in 2021. So this is a bit of a reversal of a recent trend.

MORE: Why Jacob Imming picked Iowa State over Iowa and Nebraska

Landing McLaughlin also means Matt Campbell and the Cyclones have arguably gone 3-for-3 in their current priority 2022 linebacker targets, as three-star Kansas City prospect Carson Willich, who was just as high-level a target as Imming and McLaughlin, committed to Iowa State over Kansas State, Northwestern and Vanderbilt on Friday.

“I was just really excited about Iowa State and Carson Willich committing so I wanted to commit today,” McLaughlin said.

A 6-foot-3, 220-pound prospect, McLaughlin amassed 70 tackles, four solo sacks, 12.5 solo tackles for loss and a fumble recovery last fall for Harlan, earning All-Iowa Class 3A First Team honors. He also caught 16 passes for 190 yards at tight end.

Iowa State offered McLaughlin back in November 2019 and had recruited him hard ever since. Iowa offered in May 2020 and really started to make a hard push this past winter and spring, making this recruitment a whole lot more interesting. McLaughlin had scheduled three official visits to Iowa State, Iowa and Kansas State in June. 

Matthew Bain covers recruiting, Drake basketball and pretty much anything else under the sports sun for the Des Moines Register and USA TODAY Network.  Contact him at mbain@dmreg.com and follow him on Twitter @MatthewBain_.