As Bob Stitt and his staff prepared to build their third recruiting class, they made an adjustment to past recruiting philosophy, bringing top recruits to Washington-Grizzly Stadium during the season instead of inviting large groups of recruits to Missoula in January, when the stadium is devoid of the large crowds that have made it one of the FCS’ most intimidating settings.
To some in the media, it was a signal that the luster of Montana’s championship tradition had worn. But for the Grizzlies’ latest commit, a highly rated safety from Denver, that conclusion appears to be a hypothesis in need of reconsideration.
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“Winning is everything to me,” said Isiahia Banks, who committed to Montana on January 10. “That was one of the main reasons I would rather come to Montana. I know that we’re going to win and I know that we have a chance at a championship.”
Banks became the 20th player to give a verbal to Montana and just the second projected to join the Grizzlies’ defensive backfield. Recently ranked as the 37th-best FCS recruit in the nation by herosports.com, Banks is slated to join Sidney’s Michael McGinnis in the secondary as Montana awaits word from a handful of prep defensive backs.
Montana coaches will have to wait two weeks before commenting on Banks, but it appears they have earned a commitment from one of their top targets. Primarily recruited by defensive line coach Brian Hendricks, Banks was in attendance at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on opening day of the 2016 season as Montana hosted St. Francis in night game attended by 26,002 people.
Stitt said during the season that Montana’s plan to showcase the atmosphere at Washington-Grizzly was a way to show top recruits that the Grizzlies’ classification as an FCS team had little impact on what type of audience players would play in front of. Stitt mentioned that Montana received good reviews from a player with attention from a Power 5 school. Though it’s not for certain he was referencing his latest commit, it’s possible it was Banks, who had offers from Colorado among the schools that were vying for his verbal.
“The crowd and stuff at Montana was as good if not better than some of the FBS schools that were looking at me,” said Banks, who turned down offers from Air Force, Hawaii, New Mexico and Montana State. “It’s basically the same level of competition and instead of winning some bowl game I’d rather go after a championship.”
Banks, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 200 pounds, was a four-year starter at Mullen High. He was named all-league three times and all-state twice as he also received nominations to play in the Army All-American game and the Blue-Grey All-American game.
Banks played in the same secondary as Christian Cumber, a Colorado State commit who Montana was hoping to land a commitment from. Banks said that he and Cumber talked about playing together in Missoula if Cumber turned down offers from the Rams and Michigan State among other FBS schools.
Banks said he had known for at least a month that Montana was where he wanted to spend the next four to five years of his life.
“(The coaches) were just talking about how I would come in and be one of the top defensive players and that I could make a really big impact there,” Banks said. “This was kind of the school for me.”
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