Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Big questions for Iowa football in spring practice; Transfer portal buzz in Hawkeye hoops

Episode Date: April 5, 2023

Trent Condon is back with you for the latest edition of the Locked on Hawkeyes Podcast.Opening with thoughts on the Hawkeye offense and what can be better for them this upcoming season and even more excitment for the defense.Some thoughts on the transfer portal and what lies ahead for both the men's and women's basketball teams in Iowa City.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Well, as we come down from the high of the Iowa run to the national championship game in women's basketball, it's time to turn our attention to football. Some of the biggest questions for Iowa this spring will break things down. And the transfer portal, it is open for men's and women's basketball. A couple of targets to talk about all today on Locked on Hawkeyes. You are Locked on Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey, welcome in.

I'm Trent Condon, and this is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We are wherever you get your podcasts. You can also find us on YouTube. Make sure you hit that subscribe button while you're there. Five-star reviews on the podcast side. The analytics, they love it. It helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans.

Well, we do have a little women's basketball talk, though, that has dominated the feed here over the last couple of weeks. There are still many things to talk about in the world of Hawkeye athletics today. We're going to do some spring football talk. I want to talk a little bit about what's going on with spring football as they continue on. The announcement came down officially today is when we are going to be able to see the team in person coming up here in just a couple of weeks in their

final practice of the year as the open practice is set now for April 22nd. If you missed it, gates will open that morning, Saturday morning at 9 45. The practice is scheduled to begin at 10 45. You'll be able to get into gates A, B, and H is where you'll be able to enter there with regular procedures in place. No tailgating. Unfortunately, you know, crack open one, maybe grill up a brat. Not going to be able to happen as that's been the case for many years with spring football. Though, you know, you can always find a way or two around that,

hey, just between you and me. But let's talk spring football. And I'm excited to talk about this football team. And one thing that I do want to really start with here is, yeah, I've had plenty of negativity and frustrations that have grown in the ineptitude of Brian Ferentz, but there's still an opportunity for this team to have a really successful year. And really, when you start the conversation and the beginning part of what we're hearing about this team is can the Hawkeye offense actually be fixed? Taking personalities aside, taking Brian Ferenc and Kirk out of the equation

and just looking at it in the most simple terms. Can what they want to do, can it actually be fixed and improved from what we've seen, certainly last year and over the last couple of years? And I am hopeful that that can happen. Even with many of the negative things that I've said and that I still think are there, I think that this team can do enough offensively to be improved.

Now, there are so many things that go into this, and it's not just a place calling and scheme. That's, though, a big part of that, but it's having the guys out there that are going to be able to do that and i i don't think we can overestimate how important it is to get a competent quarterback back there the gap between kade mcnamara now here's another thing i want to warn about now kade mcnamara i think in some circles is being made out to be that we got Caleb Williams coming in here to run the offense. Drake May is going to be the guy back there behind center this season. That's not Cade McNamara.

He is more of a game manager. He's a guy that can make plays down the field. He can make plays with his feet. And we'll see coming off the, obviously, surgery and what that's going to be and what his ability is going to be athletically compared to what we saw during his days at Michigan. But we're also not talking about a guy that's going to go out there suddenly and throw for 3,800 yards and 35 touchdowns. That's also not what it's going to be. It's the limitations of the offense and it's also limitations of him. So I just, I want to warn people if you're expecting this quarterback that's going to come out there and look completely different. Look, he's good.

And also, hand-in-hand, with Spencer Petras, he's bad. There's no two ways about it. He was a bad quarterback. We know when Iowa has somebody pretty good back there, this team has a chance to elevate themselves. I mean, they took that quarterback play and that offensive play to a Big Ten championship two years ago, and they were a game away from going back-to-back to the Big Ten championship game. Yes, it was against the Big Ten championship two years ago. And they were a game away from going back to back to the Big Ten championship game.

Yes, it was against the Big Ten West. Yes, it is the weakest division in college football historically over the last five years. And we certainly know that, but it is there for the taking again this year. Nebraska, they're going through a transition. They're going from Scott Frost and into Matt Rule. I think Rule is going to be a guy that's going to be successful,

will ultimately be successful enough for that crazy fan base over there. That's a different conversation. Wisconsin is going through an even bigger adjustment period now as they're really changing things up schematically. And if you're somebody like me in their 40s or people in their 50s, the only time that we've seen Wisconsin football be successful is when they're running a power-style offense with a power-running game, play action.

That's when they've been successful. With Luke Fickle, they're going to change things up, and this is going to be a more wide-open offense. Do they have the hogs up front to make that happen? Do they have to retool what they're looking for for offensive linemen? Do they have quarterback play, though they brought in a bunch of them, and there's a lot of buzz about what they're doing there this transition period. Minnesota lost a ton off of last year's team. Illinois lost plenty off of their team from a

season ago. Iowa, I don't think it is any anything at all to say that they are not just the favorite, the prohibitive favorite in the Big Ten West. But back to the original point, can this offense be fixed? And I think the answer very simply is yes yes it can with improved quarterback play that they can become competent top 75 top 70 in the country something like that in total offense when you take pace into play being towards the top 50 i think that is a realistic scenario for what they have and there's still more to be done the offensive line that we see right now, one practice last week, just six scholarship offensive linemen were available. Health is something that's going to be improved. I do like some of the adjustments that we've seen where Iowa has not been strictly a zone

blocking scheme, but also going a little bit more with some combo blocks, doing some more man-on-man, seeing a little bit more of that. I think that is important also in the evolution of this offense. Though I don't think Brian Ferentz is a great offensive coordinator, I think he knows what he wants to do. I just don't know if he knows how to put it together. And that is coordinating an offense and calling plays and making those kinds of decisions. I think those are the things that he really struggles about. I think him understanding, along with Cade McNamara, what they're trying to do, having more people in the building that have that ability to actually come through and actually execute the game plan, I think that's going to be there. This is not to say that it's fixed, and there is going to be a ton of work that still needs to be done. The problem, losing all those offense alignment to entry this spring, you don't get that continuity.

And how many times have we seen in the past Iowa get off to a slow start in September because that continuity isn't there? And by October, November, we do see it all start clicking, but a slow start. And I think that's something you have to look at this year with Iowa football is a possibility of a slow start. A ton of new faces, something that Iowa has never dealt with before. Yeah, there's been a name here or there. There's been some guys that have come in, but nothing at the level that we're seeing. The injuries with the offensive line, a huge problem. Timing with the quarterback coming off the injury. Cade McNamara is not taking snaps from center right now.

They do not want to have anything happen to that reconstructed knee. They're taking things incredibly slow with him, as they should, because him being upright is a huge, huge importance to this team i mean it's very well the gap between them being 10 and 2 and back in the big 10 championship game and fall around the face and going five and seven i think the gap is that big of what they have and what mcnamara can be for them it's a hugely important part but you get that timing down

what's it going to be with the wide receivers you bring in a transfer wide receiver and seth anderson and he's sitting out here this spring. So injuries are a big part of this, but at minimum, I am hopeful that yes, they're going to be much better on the offensive side. Not many ways that they can go, certainly, on the offense. Let's go over to the defense as we continue here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Some burning questions for spring. We'll jump over to the defense when we continue here in a moment on Lockdown Hawkeyes.

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Choking things down here just a little bit. Kind of back with you once again on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. All right. So talked about the offense. I think there is a real possibility that we see a big step forward from this offense this year. There are plenty of things to be concerned about. We'll talk about those individual concerns here as spring football continues, but more some big picture stuff.

And defensively, you know, one thing, I brought this up a lot. And going back now, what, almost 15 years ago, when Iowa came into 2010, big expectations, had the breakthrough season in 2009. And with it, there was a lot of talk about Iowa being a preseason top 10 team, the possibilities of them making a big run once again in 2010. And though they were very talented, they lost a lot of close games. They lost a lot of games that year. I believe every one of those games that they lost came in the fourth quarter where they had a lead in the fourth quarter and couldn't break through. One of those reasons was they didn't get the same playmaking from Ricky Stanzi, though he was a much better quarterback in his senior season compared to what he was as a junior. Didn't have those same kind of clutch plays that we saw in 2009. But also, I think the biggest thing was they didn't have depth up front. They didn't have depth on the defensive line. They had four outstanding guys up there and not much else behind it. And it showed. So that spring, Iowa went out and they were talking to programs, including Georgia.

And one of the things they said is, you know, why is your defensive line year after year? This is under Mark Rick. Why is it so good? And very simply, they said, because we got a lot of dudes. Well, what I was done in the interim is they've got a lot of dudes. And the depth of this defensive line this year is going to be absolutely incredible. I love what they have on the edge now. Obviously, Joey the Bold Joe Evans coming back for another season of football. We know what a playmaker he can be. And that's certainly going to show up again this year. On the other side, Deontay Craig, I think his best football still is in front of him. This is. And that's certainly going to show up again this year. On the other side, Deontay Craig, I think his best football still is in front of him. This is a guy that's still building.

You look at the size, he's got long arms, wingspan. I would love to see what his wingspan is because he just got those long arms that seem to be able to chuck around an offensive tackle. He's got so much to his game and I think he's just going to continue to get better and better. But it's not just a couple of guys, so much depth up front there, and that's what leads to the excitement. When you're good up front, your defense is going to be good, and that is certainly the case. Jay Higgins went from a year ago at linebacker, a fill-in after the injury.

Thought, oh, we'll see. He was a special teamer. By the end of the season, he was a very good linebacker. Now he's got big shoes to fill, more than likely in the role of Seth Benson. Nick Jackson, the Virginia transfer, he'll be in after he completes his studies and gets his degree from the University of Virginia. He'll be in for his final season. More than likely, he'll be manning the middle linebacker spot.

They're going to be good there. Depp, that's a question mark. A couple of new names that have continued to build up. We'll see on that front. The starting unit, though, is elite. The 1 through 11 on this defense, they're going to be be so good and what other little thing to throw in there the defense no surprise it's going to be really good can it even take a step forward from it was a year ago you know you look at lose lucas van ness he's going to be a first round draft pick and we get some more coverage coming your way

with that nfl draft we'll get to that here in just a moment, but obviously that part of it. But the other part that I love about this team is that they continue to evolve, that Phil Parker does not just rest on his laurels, that he just doesn't sit there and say, oh, you know what? We're pretty good. We're one of the best in the country and we're happy with that. No, he's always looking, always tinkering, always try to find that next angle. And with this team and with the depth that they continue to try to build, that's going to be a big case. Now we're talking about building that depth for Iowa football. We've been talking a lot about the transfer portal opening up on May 1st.

It'll be open from May 1st to May 15th. Actually saw a note today from Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic, and she mentioned that that's actually not true this year. It is going to open up earlier this season there was a pass from the coaches association that that portal will actually open up on april 15th so something to keep an eye on there as we are just 10 days away now from that thing opening up and that can be very impactful to what i was trying to do they're going to be looking wide receiver there There's no doubt about that.

They're going to also be looking for something at the quarterback spot. Not a starter, likely. Now, if you can find one, of course, you would take it. But more of a depth piece. We saw a year ago in that Nebraska game, Iowa just didn't have the depth because of the injuries at the quarterback spot. And we saw how quickly things got out of hand there. That's going to be another part that they're going to be looking at.

I'm very excited about this defense, as you should be as well. Special teams, they'll be very good. LeVar Woods is in capable hands. And let's see what LeVar comes up with. You know, it's been a couple of years since we saw a lot of those trick plays that became a huge part of Iowa football. We think back to Polkat and the win against Ohio State and those kind of things that we saw now, what, five, six years ago.

Yeah, get a little bit more of that. The two-point conversion play that they ran against Minnesota up there one year. Let's see a little bit more. And for a team that is looking always for ways to generate points, let's get back to a little bit more of that with the special teams. So we got all that with football. We also have basketball and potential huge, huge news. One of the best forward centers in the country has entered the transfer portal. She's from the Midwest. Is there a possibility she ends up at Iowa? Also on the men's side, we got portal news.

One of the transfers is making a decision tomorrow. He's got Iowa amongst his final four teams. Do the Hawkeyes have a shot? Well, let's say better than 25% shot. We'll talk about that portal news when we come back on Locked on Hawkeyes. All right, Trent Conant back with you one final time here on the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast.

As always, thanks for making Locked on Hawkeyes your first listen every single day. So we're talking about Lucas Van Ness. Also saw a couple of two different mock drafts this week. They had Sam Laporta going in the first round. That was an eye-opener for me. Another mock draft, I think this one was over at The Athletic, had Van Ness going at 11,

and then three Hawkeye players selected in the second round, which was another absolute eye-opener. Jack Campbell, okay. Sam Laporta, sure. And Riley Boss going in the second round, which was another absolute eye-opener. Jack Campbell, okay. Sam Laporta, sure. And Riley Boss going in the second round. I did not anticipate that. I called a lot of Riley's games in high school. Thought he had a chance to be a good player at the collegiate level. Never saw this, and he can go more and more. There's a lot of NFL draft talk. We're going to be talking a little bit more about those Hawkeye prospects coming up here over the next couple of weeks. Of course, just from the south of us down in Kansas City, the draft's going to be this year. I know a lot of Iowa fans will be making their way down there, going through the fan experience that they'll have. Really, really cool.

Well, we got something new for you as well here on Locked On. We have a new NFL draft newsletter, and what you're going to get every single week, you're going to get a story from our NFL Draft expert, Luke Inman, a top five ranking of positions, links for the great draft content across the Lockdown Network. So you're an NFL fan, you're a college football fan, you're a draft fan. We got you covered with Lockdown.

You can sign up for the newsletter. Very easy. Just go to LockdownPodcast.com slash newsletters. LockdownPodcast.com slash newsletters. LockedOnPodcast.com slash newsletters. See what they're saying about the Hawkeyes. See what they're saying about your favorite NFL team over with LockedOn. LockedOnPodcast.com slash newsletters. Let's get into, right now, Iowa basketball. So mention a name that has been out there for a while for Iowa

on the men's basketball side of things. They're continuing to look in the portal for bigs. There seems to be kind of a five, six, seven names that continue to pop up there. You have the Wofford transfer in B.J. Mack. I was listed amongst his finalists. They're setting up visits with a lot of those guys. In fact, as we told you just the other day, a couple of guys already getting ready to go. Well, one that was coming in this weekend is from St. Francis College in Pennsylvania,

Josh Cohen. 6'9", he's down to his final four, Penn State, Iowa, UMass, and Santa Clara. Santa Clara, huh? He's got a couple of East Coast teams, he's got Iowa in the Big Ten, and Santa Clara. Well, he averaged 21 points, 8.5 rebounds a game a year ago. Good player. In fact, saw him play. It was in the Northeast Conference Tournament.

I had a wager on St. Francis. In fact, a couple this year. I played them a couple of times. I always had to warn people, make sure you get the right St. Francis. Don't get the one from New York. Get the Pennsylvania one. So I've seen Cohen play a couple of times. More of an under-the-rim guy.

I mean, he's not going to wow you athletically. He'll fit in well in the Iowa scheme. Here's the problem. He was set to visit this weekend. He's making his choice tomorrow. Hmm. I think that tells you with a pretty good deal of certainty that he is not going to make a commitment to the Iowa Hawkeyes. So looking at the five, six names that we have brought up here before, Cohen was a guy that was a little bit further down my list. I want to see a little bit more defensive upside. I think Iowa needs that defensive presence, certainly to make things a little bit better.

So I wouldn't read too much into this. I certainly tomorrow would not anticipate that he is going to have any kind of big announcement to the university of iowa not take so maybe one that's pretty easy to even cross off your your list if you're talking about just going those prospects will continue to pop we'll see what this news if anything changes in terms of what they're trying to do i think bj mac is the guy though that's in the top of a lot of people's wish list. Now, he's also not an above-the-rim kind of guy. He is more of an above-the-rim type of player.

In fact, this year, as he averaged over 20 points a game for Wofford, put up a nice season, did have a dunk all season long. Yeah, I think that says a little bit about the kind of player that you're getting there. But that is what Iowa's going to continue to do. It continues to interest me as well that Iowa, you don't see a whole lot of talk about guards in general, being a point guard, being a two guard, a slashing kind of guy, a shooter from the outside.

Just not a whole lot of that. Farron McCaffrey apparently feels very confident in what he has. DeSante Bowen will be back. Josh Dix will be back. Of course, we saw moments of those guys during their freshman campaign. Brock Harding comes in. You got Tony Perkins locked in one of the spots in the backcourt. But I found that interesting.

Looking for bigs, maybe even multiple bigs. But that's about it right now in the transfer portal. And finally, the women's basketball team. Now, they do not have a scholarship available. We talked about this earlier in the week. There is currently no scholarship available for the Iowa women's team. They're full. 15 scholarships. They are locked and loaded. And if nobody leaves, nobody departs early, well, that will mean that we know what their roster is. I don't anticipate that's

the case. I think Iowa knows that they have a huge opportunity in front of them. It's not Lisa Bluter style to run people off, but if there was ever a a time they had to do it. And if this happens, if the conversations come and people aren't willing to leave or don't want to leave, you've got to have some hard conversations. It's not very often you get a once in a generation player, right? Well, it's once in a generation. You have a transcendent star in Kaitlyn Clark. They need help inside. Hannah Stolke has a chance to be great. All Big

Ten great. She has a chance to do it. Still a lot of work that needs to be done. Footwork needs to be better. Has to become much better at the free throw line. Has to develop more of that 15-18 foot jump shot. Also where she can stretch out the defense and hopefully that also develops into by the time she's an upperclassman somebody that can step out and hit a three-pointer. But the name that is out there that just entered the transfer portal here on Wednesday afternoon on the women's side of things is Anissa Morrow. Played at DePaul, grew up in Chicago. Ed Morrow is her dad.

You might remember him from Nebraska. You might remember her brother that also played basketball at Nebraska. A lot of people's, obviously, ideas go right there. Six-foot-one, post player, can step out, hit, I think of people's obviously ideas go right there. Six foot one post player can step out, hit, I think it was 53 pointers this year. Didn't shoot a great percentage from outside, but definitely hit them. I watched a highlight package for her. Also saw a condensed game that I watched a little bit earlier this afternoon. She would fit up incredibly well. Now we talked about having that huge post player in the 6-5 center with some

athleticism and what a big help that would be against certain teams for Iowa next season. But Morrow, this is an automatic take. This is one that a phone call already needs to be reading up and dialing up for Morrow because she is a great player. She was an All-American at DePaul just as a sophomore. She averaged 25.7 points, 12.2 rebounds in the Big East that had very good this season. Of course, they had Creighton. Remember seeing them a year ago. UConn in the Big East, obviously an outstanding women's program.

Villanova, who had one of the All-Americans on their team. So it was a really good league this year. She played incredibly well. One to keep an eye on at minimum. Thanks for joining us here on Locked On, Hawkeyes. Your team every day on the Locked On Network. Here on Locked On, Hawkeyes, we got you covered all throughout spring football. Baseball's going on.

Talk a little bit more about that. Iowa able to salvage at least a game in their series last week against Maryland. Let a big lead slip away on Friday. That was a disappointing loss, but we'll talk a little bit about that. Brody Brecht, the accolades keep coming his way. Midseason All-American. See him one of the finalists for the Golden Spikes Award. A lot going on in that world.

We'll talk about that. We've got softball happening as well here during the spring period. So a ton going on in spring football and the transfer portal. On and on and on. It never stops here with Locked On Hawkeyes. Thanks again for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every single day. Again, make sure you hit up our new newsletter. Go to LockedOnPodcast.com slash newsletter where you can sign up and get all the NFL

draft information that you want coming your way. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Go Hawks.