NDSU landed one of its top targets for the Class of 2015 on Friday in Hawley tight end Ben Ellefson. Ellefson is huge, 6’4, 225 pounds, he’s been a constant on our First Down Friday highlight shows over the last two falls. Ellefson got plenty of attention starting this time last year when he was named MVP of NDSU’s Junior Camp. He also had some major offers as well; Wyoming, Air Force and New Mexico all had offered from the Mountain West, along with SDSU and Fordham out of the FCS. Ellefson told me it was down to Wyoming and NDSU, but the proximity to home was one of the biggest factors that decided things for him.

Hawley head coach Peder Naatz shared an interesting story with me on Ellefson’s recruiting process on Dizzo’s Den on Friday night; he said that former offensive coordinator Brent Vigen would routinely come to Hawley games for the last 15 years; just to see if there was any talent worth looking at and he told Naatz, “he didn’t want to just show up with some flashy clothes and be a big shot, because there was a big-time recruit”, that philosophy impressed not only the Hawley staff but the Ellefson family, Craig Bohl and company had put in their homework on this guy, so it says a lot that Ellefson chose NDSU over the Cowboys. You can listen to my interview with Ben below, also some video highlights accompany it as well. Ellefson becomes the 3rd verbal for the Class of 2015; joining Jake Brinkman from Iowa and Derek Tuszka from Warner, South Dakota.