Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - "Assist King Caitlin Clark & The Latest on Iose Epenesa: Recruiting Updates and Record Breakers"

Starting point is 00:00:00 What's left in the class of 2025 for Iowa football recruiting, plus our first peek forward at the class of 2026, plus another monster performance from Kaitlin Clark. All today, Locked on Hawkeyes. You are Locked on Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked on Podcastkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey, welcome in.

Starting point is 00:00:34 I'm Trent Condon, and this is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We're available wherever you find podcasts, and you can also watch us on YouTube. Hit that subscribe button while you're there if you're on the podcast side of things, listening audio only wise, five-star reviews, all that helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Make every moment more. As the playoffs have finished up, sports, they just stopped sporting like we want them to.

Starting point is 00:01:01 But this summer, FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily. That's right. There's something for everyone every day, all summer long. Just visit FanDuel.com to get started. We begin today with a look at Kaitlyn Clark. We got plenty of football coming your way today. We're going to talk some recruiting with our recruiting analyst here on Lockdown. Brian Smith is going to join us as we will break down his favorite guys

Starting point is 00:01:26 in the class of 2025 that have already committed, who's still out there, including the latest on Yosei Epinesa. And we will talk a little bit about the class of 2026 and some very intriguing prospects here in the state of Iowa. We'll talk about that coming up with Brian Smith. But we begin today with a former Hawkeye, Kaitlyn Clark, and her final game before the long extended break for the Olympics.

Starting point is 00:01:52 And though we'll get to see her on Saturday night, how about this swing and a miss? If you are tuning in, and for many of you, myself included, it would be the first time ever, tuning in for a WNBA All-Star Weekend Festivities. If you're turning in Friday night, want to watch the three-point contest and see Kaitlyn Clark in that environment, be the first time ever tuning in for a WNBA All-Star Weekend festivities. If you're turning in Friday night, want to watch the three-point contest and see Kaitlyn Clark in that environment, it's not going to happen. Now, I don't know if it was Kaitlyn Clark just deciding, you know what, I'm going to

Starting point is 00:02:16 put all my efforts into the game and knowing her personality and knowing maybe the importance for her of this matchup on Saturday evening in the WNBA All-Star Game, that very well could be the case. But you have a marketable star. When you look at the top 12 games in terms of TV ratings this year, 11 of them involve Kaitlyn Clark. This is not an Angel Reese and Kaitlyn Clark thing. It's a Kaitlyn Clark situation.

Starting point is 00:02:40 She is the one that has lifted this league. And without Kaitlyn Clark, we would still have this thing buried in the back. And that's not to denigrate Meg Augustus and Kate Martin, not just Hawkeye players, but the players of the league. It's just reality. This league's been around for 25 years and people haven't cared. Not at the levels that we're seeing right now. And an opportunity like this to have Kait Caitlin Clark out there swinging a miss.

Starting point is 00:03:05 But like I said, knowing Caitlin, I think this has something to do a little bit more. So they're going up, if you don't know, against the WNBA all-star team that Caitlin's on against the Olympic team, the Olympic team that she was passed over. And we talked about the Minnesota Lynx coach and just what a pitiful, awful human being she seems to be certainly on the surface in her comments that she has made about Kaitlyn Clark and not just one time multiple times and seems to have some kind of personal vendetta against him not exactly what you want if you're a player has just a stick up her butt about Kaitlyn Clark and it's off it really

Starting point is 00:03:41 is and just some truly deplorable things that she has said about Kaitlyn Clark, and it's off. It really is. And it's just some truly deplorable things that she has said about Kaitlyn Clark. But that aside, an opportunity to go up against the team that she wants to be on, the Olympic national team, to play for a gold medal. And with injuries, it still very well could happen. She's going to have a little something here. And then we're going to have the histrionics of, for the first time ever, Kaitlyn Clark and Angel Reese are going to be teaming up, and that's going to be a storyline.

Starting point is 00:04:06 I mean, that's going to be impactful, and people are going to be talking about that. People are going to be talking about how they are as teammates. The back and forth that shouldn't be a back and forth about Rookie of the Year is one of the most baffling things that I have seen in sport.

Starting point is 00:04:20 People that know sports, people that know basketball, and how you cannot see that this isn't close. Angel Reese, nice rookie season. The double-doubles, there's something, right? There's something at the very least. You can talk about how many of those are off her own misses, and it's a bunch. You can talk about her shooting percentage, which is woeful for a post player.

Starting point is 00:04:42 But all that aside, Angel Reese is not even close in consideration for rookie of the year. Now, we're not going to see Kaitlyn Clark win MVP in her rookie campaign. However, looking at the betting odds at FanDuel, I think it should be a little bit closer than it is. She is still a long shot at FanDuel, and Asia Wilson is the runaway favorite. Asia Wilson's an incredible player, best player in the league. However, the Aces are not having a great season. They were banged up at the beginning of the year, got right, but they've been inconsistent even as they've got healthier throughout the course of the season. And speaking of health, certainly hope that Kate Martin is able to bounce back in

Starting point is 00:05:21 a big-time way and come off that injury, that ankle injury, and bounce back and be ready to go after we get through this Olympic break and talk about a break there, getting a month off, basically, to get her right and get her back healthy for the stretch run for the WNBA. Last night, Kaitlyn Clark, it's what we have seen at Iowa. 24 points, 19 assists, six rebounds in the game. Again, didn't shoot a great from the outside, just two and nine from three. I think that's going to improve.

Starting point is 00:05:51 We've talked about in the past, getting a little bit stronger, adding that physicality to her game. Those are going to be components that are just going to improve throughout her career. But watching it, there was a clip that I reposted on the Locked On Iowa account on Twitter, and watching those, yeah, the behind the back that I reposted on the Lockdown Iowa account on Twitter. And watching those, yeah, the behind the back, that's going to get the highlights. But just the precision and the understanding of the game.

Starting point is 00:06:13 And that's what sets Kaitlyn Clark apart from so many other players, is that she knows the game at an incredible level. Her basketball IQ is through the roof. Late turnover, it's going to happen. When you handle the ball as much as she does, when you're looking to set people up, absolutely turnovers are going to happen. You want to see that number dissipate.

Starting point is 00:06:34 You want to see it get lower. And it will because we're talking about Kaitlyn Clark. She's going to have this thing figured out in a big-time way. Looking forward to Saturday night and the WNBA All-Star Game as they face off against the Olympic national team. Big TV for that one as well. That'll be on ABC 730 on Saturday evening. And have a feeling that is going to get a pretty big television number with that.

Starting point is 00:06:59 We're talking football as we continue here. Locked on Hawkeyes, the class of 2025. Though it's not done, recruiting has changed. It has evolved. It looks a whole lot different than it used to. One of the reasons is because of the transfer portal and the ability to keep scholarships open. There's also talk about something we've talked about in the past

Starting point is 00:07:19 that walk-ons are going away in football. And the way that Iowa builds their program, this is going to be a whole lot different. Now, they're not going to maintain the 85 scholarship limit if this comes to pass. Likely going to go to 105 scholarships that are available to be given out. However, that try-hard kid from your small hometown, are those opportunities still going to be there?

Starting point is 00:07:40 That's going to be tough to see. It has been the lifeblood in many aspects of Iowa football, and not just the guys that walk on and the try-hard guys. We know about the success stories, the Dallas Clarks, and on and on and on. We've played that game before, but there's more that goes into it. There's a whole lot more that is there, and you need those kind of people, I believe, inside your program, and certainly a program like Iowa, in order to make it work.

Starting point is 00:08:04 We'll have more about that going forward, but let's talk some recruiting. We'll look at the class of 2025. Brian Smith, his favorite commits of this class. We'll also talk about some of the uncommitted guys, including Yosei Epinesa. What's the latest on that front? Sounds like Utah, Miami, heavily involved. One of the recruiting sites has Miami right now as the runaway favorite to get his services. We'll talk about that.

Starting point is 00:08:27 Terrence Smith, the wide receiver out of Chicagoland area, need wide receivers, obviously, in this class, and that's going to be a big component as well. We'll talk with Brian Smith of football recruiting and a look at the class of 2026. We'll do that as we continue. This is Locked on Hawkeyes. Today's episode of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast is brought to you by FanDuel.

Starting point is 00:08:52 You guys know it. You ladies know it. I love sports. I love them so much. I never want them to stop. But the playoffs have finished up in NHL and the NBA. We just have fewer games. All the sports just aren't sporting like I want them to.

Starting point is 00:09:07 But FanDuel lets me keep the sports going whenever I want. All I have to do is open the app and dream up bets anytime I'm in the mood. This summer, FanDuel is hooking up all customers. That's right. New and existing customers with a boost or a bonus daily. That's right. There's something for everyone every day all summer long. A boost or a bonus daily. That's right. There's something for everyone every day, all summer long,

Starting point is 00:09:26 a boost or a bonus each and every day. Head over to FanDuel.com and start making the most out of your summer. Maybe you're taking a look at college football. They got game of the year lines out there for Iowa. A couple of the games, including the Cy Hawk game in week two against the Cyclones.

Starting point is 00:09:41 That is up there on FanDuel. Make a bet for them to win the Big Ten, to make the college football playoff. Heck, go crazy. You can bet on the Hawkeyes to make the national championship. They have it all at FanDuel. FanDuel is the official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball. Trent Conant back with you once again on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast.

Starting point is 00:10:06 As always, thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. So we're talking some recruiting today, and Brian Smith is going to join us momentarily. We'll take a look at everything that is happening in the world of Hawkeye football. A time period now where things start to slow down. We're going through the final weeks before we get to August camp. And this team, with the expectations that they have, recruiting takes a little bit of a backseat. It's a big deal in June. The way that Iowa has things set up, the way that they

Starting point is 00:10:35 go each and every year, really looking for that final weekend, bringing in a bunch of guys that have already committed, and also bringing in the guys that they wanted. They've been highly successful over the last three or four years of really nabbing those top level targets, the guys at the top that are going to be the ones that they want. And they did it again this year, a recruiting class that doesn't wow you, but that's not Iowa football, right? I mean, it's not anything that overall you look at and say this is going to be year after year a top 25 class it just isn't currently the rank 41st in the country they were

Starting point is 00:11:12 29th a big 10 ranked 12th member out of 18 teams so that is a component to this is from on three and different recruiting sites have different kind of ways of doing things. And you look at 24-7, their composite is a little bit different. You've got the composite rankings. You've got all kinds of things. And everybody's involved. You've got rivals still out there and on and on and on and on. There's a lot to it.

Starting point is 00:11:41 But as we look at this class of 2025, many people believe that Thomas Meyer is the headliner. The kid from Clear Lake had some big-time offers. He's a tight end. Tight ends work at Iowa. One thing that I want to kind of get the perspective though today from Brian is when you look a little bit deeper down in the class and you look at a guy like the quarterback commit, Jimmy Sullivan. Committed before Tim Lester took over the job. Committed before we saw Tim Lester took over the job. Committed before we saw Tim Lester take over, Brian Ferenc leave. Yep, stay committed.

Starting point is 00:12:09 And that doesn't always happen, and certainly at the quarterback position. So get his thoughts on him. We've talked about some of the recent commitments we'll get about that, but then also what's out there. And I mentioned Yosei Epinesa. And Yosei is a guy that obviously has the bloodlines. Dad played at Iowa. Older brother played at Iowa.

Starting point is 00:12:27 Iowa laid out all the stops for him in order to get him committed, get him ready to go. It was something that overall they couldn't have done more. I don't believe. At least as it pertains to the recruiting visit, the way that they've recruited him, the way that they've known him throughout the years. People knew Yose as a youngster.

Starting point is 00:12:50 No, he was making his way to the football facility. He was there when AJ was playing. And he knows the program at an incredibly high level. But recruiting today is so much different than it was just six, seven years ago when AJ was a prospect. And yes, there were shady dealings. Yes, there were under the table kind of wink at and not agreements that happen to recruits across the country. Iowa doesn't operate in the same space that those programs once did.

Starting point is 00:13:14 But now with NIL, it's different. And when you're talking about having, well, for many people can be life changing money. Hundreds of thousands of dollars, maybe millions of dollars to play college football. There are no sure things. For every sure thing, you can point a million different directions, the way that it went awry, the way that it didn't work. And because of that, you have to change the way that you think, the way that you think about yourself. The NFL is not there for everybody. Even the top-level prospects have a good chance,

Starting point is 00:13:49 but it doesn't happen every single time. And when you have an ability, like a Yosei Epinesa, to put in the bank as an 18-, 19-, 20-year-old kid, when you have an ability to put that much money in your account, you have to think about it. Now, that's not to say that I was sitting this one out, that I was not doing everything possible in order to get his services. We mentioned what they've done laying out the recruiting part. They did that incredibly well from everything that we've heard. They've sold the program. They've shown what defensive linemen do

Starting point is 00:14:24 at the University of Iowa. And I think that's a huge selling point. It's also Iowa. The glitz and the glamour and everything else that we see, it's just a lot different than what we're used to. And when you look at a place like Miami, they can sell the glitz, the glamour, and a whole lot more money. You also look at a program like Utah.

Starting point is 00:14:47 And for a guy that grew up in Edwardsville, downstate Illinois, on the other side of the river from St. Louis, an opportunity to play with a lot of guys like you, Polynesian background, and hearing Epi, his dad, talk about his background, talking about those kind of things, that's impactful. That's something that matters. In Utah, I believe it's 25 players on their roster,

Starting point is 00:15:18 something like that, that have Polynesian descent, and that's another angle. That's something you can't sell at Iowa. Also, getting away. Some guys just want to do that. If you had young kids, you know that. There's just some people that are wired that way at 18 years old that they're ready to get away. They're ready to do something else. And because of that, this could be something we're dealing with. On three, still loves Iowa's chances. On three, still believes that Jose Ep. On three, still believes that

Starting point is 00:15:45 Yosei Epinesa, from the way that they kind of structure things and the way that they have their recruiting machine and what it spits out is Iowa is a slight favorite in this one. But I believe it was 24-7 has a lot of people that continue to put in their crystal balls that Yosei's going to be

Starting point is 00:16:01 a Miami Hurricane. Would it hurt the program? What would it say about Iowa? Would he have a player? It's dad played here. That loves the university. Let's send two of his sons here already. What would it say about the future of this program?

Starting point is 00:16:21 Is it reading between the lines? Will we read too much into it? Yeah, we probably will read into is the end near for Kirk Ferentz? I think that's a component that a lot of people will definitely go to and look at. Do they know that Kirk Ferentz is not going to be there throughout his career? Likely a three-year career for Jose Epinesa. I think the speculation is merited. Kirk Ferentz, got a birthday coming up here.

Starting point is 00:16:50 Less than two weeks. August 1st, and usually right before Big Ten, football media days, or right after football media days, he has a birthday. We take another one off. And as we get ready for year number 26 of iowa football under kirk barrence you're just left wondering right you're left wondering what does this future look like and is it seth wallace that is going to be the heir apparent the title that was handed to

Starting point is 00:17:20 him this spring as assistant head coach i don't think leads you to think that this thing's over by any means. I just don't think that's likely. But gets the wheels grinded. And to think that Beth Getz is just going to hand the job to Seth Wallace because that's Kirk's guy. I think that's short-sighted as well. Kirk Ferentz has accomplished a lot. But this is a great job. It's not a good job. This is a

Starting point is 00:17:48 great job. Iowa football is a great job. Is it one of the best in the country? Top 10? No. But is it in the top 20? I think so. Recruiting base? Obviously not at the same level. But when you throw in the Chicagoland,

Starting point is 00:18:03 when you throw in the other components to recruiting, it's okay. I don't think there's many coaches that could turn them into even a consistent top 15 type of recruiting program. You just don't have the home base to do that. But outside of that, you look at the infrastructure.

Starting point is 00:18:20 It's absolutely there. The infrastructure for Iowa football is at a high, high level. There's not an issue with that. You look at the way that they invest, right there. You're in the Big Ten. Obviously, that's a huge leg up of everybody not in the SEC or the Big Ten with you. So you're right there.

Starting point is 00:18:37 At minimum, it's a top 36 job, and we know it's a lot better than a lot of the programs out there. And maybe most importantly is stability. And we can get upset. And I know there's plenty of fans out there that get upset about the stability. They don't want to see it. Don't want to hear it. It's too much. We need to be more aggressive when it comes to firing coaches, moving things on. But in the coaching community, it is looked at as a great thing. It is looked at as a huge positive. I'm 44 years old. I've seen two coaches in my life.

Starting point is 00:19:12 Jay Hayden Fry and Kirk Ferentz. That's it. Good or bad, that is the reality. And that is a good thing when you're out there searching for your next head coach. Your pool of candidates, I believe is going to be at a high level. You can win here. You can win at a a high level and even in the downturns you can still keep your job that's not the case a lot of programs i'm not talking blue bloods georgia alabama ohio state not places like that but that

Starting point is 00:19:40 next tier you don't see that kind of stability You see people that are run out year after year after year. It happens a program very like the University of Iowa football program. That stability is incredibly important. We continue here at Locked On Hawkeyes. Single game tickets go on sale today. Don't miss your opportunity to get into Kinnick Stadium and not have to pay through the nose in order to get those tickets. We'll talk about that as we continue Locked on Hawkeyes. Back with you. This is the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast.

Starting point is 00:20:14 I'm Trent Condon. Thanks for joining us here today. Does it look like we're going to be able to get Brian Smith in here? Apologies for that. Haven't heard back from Brian, but a swing and a miss on that front. Hopefully we can track him down for tomorrow's show. If not, we'll get him in here next week

Starting point is 00:20:29 as we count down to the season upon us and what we're going to see with Iowa football, your opportunity to get inside Kinnick Stadium. Well, the chances are dwindling. We mentioned yesterday the Cy Hawk game has expired. That's right. Tickets are sold out for the game. Now you can still get them on the secondary market. That's still an opportunity. You can go to game time and still pick up tickets there. However, if you want to go through the University of Iowa and the athletic department and the ticket office, your chances are few and far between. There's just not a whole lot out there in terms of tickets. Talked about this yesterday, about 1500 tickets remain for many of the games.

Starting point is 00:21:07 North of 4,000, though, for the Washington game. Just hit me as a little bit of a surprise. Something we talked about a couple months ago every day, or as you may remember this, Washington game likely looking at a 11 a.m. Central time kickoff for that matchup against the Huskies. When you look at the Big Ten schedule, games that are already set, and the likelihood of where other games are going to be, it's a very real possibility that's going to be an 11 a.m. kickoff.

Starting point is 00:21:31 So it's overall, when you look at the week of games that week, I got it here in front of me, taking a look at the schedule for that week. So that will be, let's see here, week number, not the 19th. Go back a couple of weeks. It is, oh, this is compelling.

Starting point is 00:21:53 Apologies for that. What we have here, week six, week seven, and I'm struggling to find it. Washington, there we go. All right, here's the reason for it. Week seven. So that is Saturday, October 12th. The reason that this likely is going to be

Starting point is 00:22:10 the big noon kickoff at 11 a.m. is the other big games happening that weekend in the Big Ten are on the left coast. You have the monster, Ohio State at Oregon. Normally, that would be the big noon kickoff. That'd be the 11 a.m. central kickoff. However, it's in Oregon. Normally, that would be the big noon kickoff. That'd be the 11 a.m. Central kickoff. However, it's in Oregon. You're not going to put that game 9 a.m. local start.

Starting point is 00:22:31 Same thing. Penn State goes to USC that weekend. You're not going to do that as well. And then the other games. Well, Minnesota at UCLA may be okay on the surface. Again, you're talking about the West Coast. You're not playing those games at 11 a.m. Central, 9 a.m. Pacific. The other games, Purdue at Illinois. They're not putting that on Fox.

Starting point is 00:22:51 Wisconsin at Rutgers. Potentially, that could be Rutgers has got a chance to get off to a good start, and we'll see how Wisconsin does, though. The Badgers schedule is incredibly difficult, and the only game that remains is the Washington at Iowa game. So lock that one up, get your tickets, get ready to go, and you'll be good to go for the season. Again, those tickets will go fast. It happens every single year.

Starting point is 00:23:12 Single game tickets on sale today. So get those tickets if you want to make your way to Kinnick Stadium and get set up what should be an exciting 2024 season. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes

Starting point is 00:23:23 your first listen every day. Again, Brian Smith. Hopefully we'll have him on the program tomorrow. Hopefully everything's okay with Brian as well. Do you watch Fox Sports or ESPN all day on your TV? And do you have to turn down the volume because of all the shouting? It's time to make the switch to Locked On Sports today. It's a free 24-7 sports streaming channel

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Starting point is 00:23:57 your team every day. Your team is the Hawkeyes and we've got you covered each and every day. Thanks for joining us as always. Hit us up with a like, a subscribe on YouTube, or a five-star review if you're listening on the podcast side. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Go Hawks.

Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - "Assist King Caitlin Clark & The Latest on Iose Epenesa: Recruiting Updates and Record Breakers"

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