From West Chicago Study Buddies to North Dakota State Anchors
Kelton McCaslin and Nathan Hayes arrived at North Dakota State together in June 2022 after growing up nearly a decade apart from their roots in West Chicago, Illinois, InForum reported. What began as a freshman study hall partnership at St. Charles East High School evolved into a dual-player journey anchoring the Bison football program. McCaslin knew early on after meeting Hayes that he was bound for future stardom, though he did not share the same opinion of his own football prospects, stating, I didn’t think I was going to play college football until going into my senior year,
and adding, I always thought Hayes would, but I didn’t know my chances.
Hayes recalled that their relationship began because We were study buddies in study hall freshman year, so that’s where that relationship came from,
before McCaslin joined their friend group early in their sophomore year. McCaslin was immediately impressed by Hayes, remembering how We were both bigger than the other kids, and we were wondering when are we going to be moved up,
and describing how he saw Hayes throw a ball off his knee from the 60-yard line into the end zone. That was unbelievable.
The Recruiting Pipeline to Fargo
The friendship solidified during sophomore year through shared classes and sports. McCaslin’s father, Brad McCaslin, previously served as a college assistant coach at Nebraska Omaha and other programs, maintaining connections across the Upper Midwest. Brad directed both players to attend NDSU’s annual high school camp in June. Hayes noted that Kelton’s dad knew all about NDSU, so he was a big advocate for this is the place you guys want to be,
and recalled that We started getting talked to by NDSU right around the same time.
McCaslin mentioned that they were Not trying to push each other in any direction,
leaving decisions to each other until realizing they were heading to the same place.
After impressing then-head coach Matt Entz and quarterback coach Randy Hedberg during the camp, McCaslin secured his scholarship offer first. McCaslin committed on July 1, 2021, and Hayes followed just over a week later after receiving his offer, calling McCaslin immediately before making his commitment official. McCaslin has not let Hayes forget who got the offer first, while Hayes joked, I like to tell him that they offered him, to try and help get me,
adding, But he did really well at camp and it showed a lot. He deserved that offer.
Hayes recalled calling McCaslin and telling him, let’s do this,
to which McCaslin was super excited.
Campus Arrival and On-Field Development
The pair headed west to campus in June 2022. McCaslin broke through on the field first, scoring his first collegiate touchdown on a fumble recovery during the 2023 playoffs against Drake. Following a serious knee injury during fall camp in 2024, McCaslin recovered to anchor a Bison defense ranked second nationally in scoring defense during his fifth year, recording four sacks and six tackles for loss in the Mountain West.
Hayes spent his first three seasons sitting behind quarterbacks Cam Miller and Cole Payton before stepping into the starting quarterback role. McCaslin noted that Hayes handled the wait precisely as expected, taking advantage of his opportunity when it arrived. Reflecting on their journey, Hayes stated, This is a dream come true for us,
adding, Right when we became friends in high school, that’s something we always talked about. We probably wouldn’t have believed that we would end up in the same spot and playing some really high-level football. But that’s where we always wanted to go. We worked really hard for it.
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