The Minnesota State-Mankato football team has landed a second recruit from Ankeny High School.
Senior place-kicker and punter Max Pelham verbally committed to the Mavericks on Friday. He joins his teammate Colin Kadolph, a running back who committed to Mankato earlier this fall.
“I looked at about seven to eight schools seriously, but I didn’t think I’d end up at Mankato until about a week or two ago,” said Pelham. “Coach Glo (associate head coach Jim Glogowski) hit me up shortly after the championship and said to send my film in. Before I knew it, I was up for an official visit and things just started falling into place.
“I loved how Mankato gave me more of a small DI feel since they have about 15,000 (students) enrolled. The staff was very accepting and made me feel valued which sometimes is hard to come by as a kicker/punter. The campus was very cool, and the team took me in with open arms,” he added.
Pelham helped the Hawks to a 10-3 record and a runner-up finish in Class 5A this season. He was named to the Class 5A all-state first team by the Iowa Print Sports Writers Association and also received all-district honorable mention.
Pelham made 61-of-63 extra points and had 38 touchbacks on 73 kickoffs. He also averaged 41.7 yards on 35 punts.
Pelham said he expects to compete in all phases of the kicking game.
“They recruited me as a dual threat,” he said. “From what I was told, they are only recruiting dual threat kicker/punters from now on.”