Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - BREAKING: Iowa Hawkeyes SNAG Ben McCollum as NEW Head Basketball Coach

Starting point is 00:00:00 Iowa basketball gets its guy. Ben McCollum is the new Iowa basketball coach. We talk about how Iowa hit a home run today. 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're available wherever you find podcasts You can also watch us on YouTube Make sure you hit subscribe just takes a moment and helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans Today's episode of Locked On Hawkeyes is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLege for $20 off your first purchase.

Starting point is 00:00:54 Away we go. The Iowa men's basketball team has hired their new head coach. It is Ben McCollum, as we've been talking about throughout the last week now, after Darren DeVries made the decision to take the Indiana job. This was something that I think a lot of people anticipated a lot of different arrows were pointing that direction. And here we are. So we're gonna break things down, talk about roster construction coaching staff for construction. How we think things are going to look in that front. What I was

Starting point is 00:01:24 gonna be able to do some of the financial components to this. And yes, the portal is open. It is an important time. And Beth gets got it done in time to make this, uh, I think very fruitful for Iowa, but we'll talk about all of that later this afternoon. The Iowa women are in action against Oklahoma with a shot to move on to the sweet 16. We'll talk about that matchup huge weekend on the diamond as well The baseball team with a sweep against Ohio State and how about the Iowa softball team down two coaches? Lot of wild wacky things happened inside that program and now this be top five UCLA How about that?

Starting point is 00:02:03 We'll talk a little diamond plus the weekend that was in wrestling as we talked to you before the championship matches one out of three in those final matches. But Stephen Buchanan wins gold and certainly a great story there. So we got a lot to get into here today, but we open at the forefront of things and it is the big news. Ben McCollum, the new Iowa head coach and talk a little bit about him. So if you missed our podcast from the last week, we're with you every single day throughout the course of the week talking Hawkeyes. But if you did just the background of Ben McCollum and getting to see him now firsthand close to action throughout the course of this season,

Starting point is 00:02:38 I'm located in Des Moines. I'll work live in Des Moines and and seeing what he was able to do with this Drake program so if we go back to the end of January when things were starting to fall apart for Iowa basketball and I put out my first top board and in a way it was a little flippant, right? It was kind of I was I was not pleased after that performance out in LA Let's just put it that way and that's what I it. And then they followed up with the loss to Minnesota. We knew this were, it was trending. And it trended where I thought it was. Raymond Caffrey was going to be let go. But when I put together that list,

Starting point is 00:03:13 Darren DeVries was at the top. DeVries was the guy, made a ton of sense, local connections, building a brand, doing what he did at Drake, all the things that make a whole lot of sense that we got into. McCollum was a little bit further down. I think my list wasn't in order, building a brand, doing what he did at Drake, all the things that make a whole lot of sense we got into. McCollum was a little bit further down.

Starting point is 00:03:26 I think my list wasn't in order, but I think I had Ben McCollum fourth at that time. Drake, of course, was out to an outstanding part. But the reason, at least initially, I was pretty tepid on Ben McCollum was very simply, but they're playing incredibly slow. And that slow pace after what we saw Under Todd Licklider. I knew it was gonna be difficult for the fan base to maybe jump aboard right away

Starting point is 00:03:54 You know dive into the pool headfirst We weren't gonna be able to do that after what what we watch during those three seasons But it wasn't just the style of play I mean that wasn't alone in the problem that Todd Licklider had at Iowa. He was socially awkward. He was not a good recruiter. He didn't connect with the fan base. I mean, there's a long list, and that's just the start of it,

Starting point is 00:04:16 of the reasons that he didn't get it done at Iowa. Slow pace was one of them, but not the only one. And I think we have to remember that when you look at Ben McCollum and Digging in and learning more about him talking to more people that he's been connected to this guy He's a buck kicker and he is a basketball Saban. He knows the game incredibly. Well, he knows it at a high level Those are all great things but then to be able to teach it and

Starting point is 00:04:49 If you were just watching this weekend for the first time if you watch Thursday night the win against, Missouri Even Saturday when they're just outmanned against Texas Tech and with a couple of breaks or maybe a couple of different calls that game Could have been different You watch the way that that team plays and you see starting with the point guard. And that's something that he is a lead at getting point guards to play at a high, high level. And you watch Bennett's starts and just think, well, does this translate? Yeah, it's going to translate

Starting point is 00:05:17 to the Big Ten. You watch the way that this group of guys at the most athletic team, not a team that's going gonna wow you with athleticism. How they play so connected on both ends of the floor. How they're running their system. They're doing the things. It is ball movement, it is cuts, it is movement on the offensive end.

Starting point is 00:05:36 Yes, it's limited possessions. But also the reason that they played with limited possessions this year, is because they had to. They weren't deep. Also remember, when he put together this roster of Drake, he didn't get the job early in the process. They were going through a run in the D two playoffs and because of that he was already behind the eight ball coupled with Drake does not have the financial

Starting point is 00:05:59 resources. Certainly if an Iowa, even at the mid major level, Drake is not at the top of the heap financially when it comes to NIL, you're talking about that next here a guy and he was able to build a roster helped By four guys from Northwest, Missouri State But also going out bringing the couple guys from Wyoming went to Indiana State for a player They were able to cobble together a roster a whole lot of depth but was able to do what they did Reaching the round of 32 getting a win outside of the first war for the first time since 1971 at Drake doing something that Darren DeVries couldn't do at Drake When a game in the round of 64

Starting point is 00:06:35 Ben McCollum was able to do that in year number one His past offenses played at a quicker pace, but he is a coach He is a coach that is gonna work with the style of play that makes the most sense for his team. He's not going to try to put a round hole into a square peg. That's not who he is as a coach. Yes, there are basic tenets of what he wants to do and what they're going to do on both ends of the floor. But I think what should excite all Hawkeye fans after what we've watched over the last. But I think what should excite all Hawkeye fans after what we've watched over the last

Starting point is 00:07:10 Well, honestly over the last 40 years 39 Dr. Tom You did it. I know you did and I know there's some people that dr. Tom Davis is a beloved figure and Watching that two three zone that flat two three and seeing teams shoot three pointer after three it drove you nuts And then obviously what we saw here recently on the defensive end of the floor With Brad McCaffrey outside of the last two years With Adam Woodbury in the middle this team is just brutal on the defensive end. They didn't put in the work That is not gonna be the problem here work will be done on the defensive end. They didn't put in the work. That is not going to be the problem here. Work will be done on the defensive end. You're going to see a team that is going to be connected. They're going to be easy to cheer for. And yeah, we might not be cheering

Starting point is 00:07:52 for quite as many of those games in the eighties and nineties, but we're going to see defense. We're going to get defensive stops. We're going to have stock block violations. You're going to see a team defensively that is so different Now who is going to be on this team and what is the roster going to look like that's going to be a big part of this Conversation who's coming back? Who's he bringing along and who are they going to be targeting in the portal all important questions plus what this coaching staff? maybe has a chance to look like as we celebrate the signing of Ben McCollum the new new Iowa basketball coach, plus the weekend wrap up from everything else going on in the Hawkeye world of athletics. It's a busy day here as we kick

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Starting point is 00:10:16 Um moments after the official announcement came down and we start right there So at the top of the list and it's guy that I just talked about Is Bennett starts? Bennett starts a six four point guard you see the emergence that he made his ability to control the game and If maybe you just saw Drake for the first time Maybe it was in the Missouri Valley Championship game in the NCAA tournament these couple of games Whatever it was if you don't have a deep amount of knowledge, this dude played basically

Starting point is 00:10:46 every minute of the season. He led the country in minutes played and outside of a game that Drake played against a D two school, he was out there seemingly every single minute. He controls everything. The ball is in his hands and what they did and how good they were, how efficient they were offensively all goes goes to Bennett Sturtz. Now weeks and weeks ago, before even Iowa Ben McCollum was anything on the official radar, I was told that Kansas State was going to be the likely destination for Bennett Sturtz and he was going to finish up his career. And then before this all became official,

Starting point is 00:11:19 and I told you if you're an everyday or you remember this from last week, that I had multiple people tell me, pump the brakes on that. Now there's more people, certainly with deep connections to the McCollum staff, to the Sturtz family. Truly Donovan, the online persona from Twitter, who's deep in the college basketball world and knows basketball news.

Starting point is 00:11:39 He has mentioned that he anticipates, he had a tweet out this morning talking about Sturtz making his way to the Big Ten. Well we know the connection. He's in McCollum and Sturtz in the Big Ten. So possibility. You know why did it take so long for this to come together? I'm sure things like that.

Starting point is 00:11:55 You know for Ben McCollum who grew up a Hawkeye fan, grew up in the state, was born in Iowa City, grew up in Storm Lake, he's my age, he's a good dude. I can tell. One of my kind of guys. I hope that this works because this is one of my guys. This is one of the people in my era. So we need this one to work. But that aside, Sturtz though is a number one at the top of the list.

Starting point is 00:12:22 What he does, what he does with point guards, You start right there and the finances to make it work Beth gets the swarm collective all working together to try to build up the NIL resources Bri would be able to compete I was never gonna be Indiana and They're still going to be towards the bottom of the big ten But when the gap between you and even the average teams in the big ten in terms of your well What it is a payroll is As big as it was the last couple of seasons You know there's a problem and it feels like this fan base is starting to be reinvigorated something that definitely needs to happen

Starting point is 00:12:55 So you start right there? After that, what's next now a lot of people's talking about Josh Dix You see some of the programs that he is involved with Creighton, Kansas, Kentucky, they got deeper pockets than Iowa. Even with Iowa, with these additional resources that they are putting into basketball, those are programs that play at a different level. If it's all about money, Iowa doesn't have a shot to get Josh Dix back. But you hope maybe there's a little something more and it'll be up to Ed McCollum and the new coaching staff

Starting point is 00:13:29 to figure out a way to sell him. I would put that personally without any insight on this one. This is not an insight driven conversation. I would say that this is going to be the most difficult of the names that we're talking about. Price Sanford, Cooper Koch, both those guys, the connections to the program. Cooper's dad, JR, played at Iowa, about the same age, a little bit older than Coach McCollum.

Starting point is 00:13:53 I'm sure a lot of people in the basketball world, they know each other, the connections there. Price Sanford, brother just finished up. He's gonna command some money too, and all these guys. But if you can get that as your foundation. Sturtz, Koch, Sanford, guys with college experience coming back. And then he thrown kind of this next year guy, two guys from this year's team that I was a little bit surprised have not entered the transfer portal at this point, please, as we tape it, say to Traore and Chris Tajo. Tajo, we know an incredible athlete,

Starting point is 00:14:26 very raw. You think of him in the back end of the way they play defensively and just with that raw athleticism and a coach that is going to teach you how to play on that end, it gets a little intriguing. And then Seydou Traori, same thing, good athlete, showed some skill offensively, put him with a coaching staff that is going to coach things in a different way That gets a little bit exciting another name Isaiah Johnson or a goo the transfer from Miami kid from Minnesota was a top 150 player coming out Four-star player out of high school Played ten games on Miami didn't do much before transferring in Midway

Starting point is 00:15:03 and another name also on the list is the Akita who is one of the high school prospects that has not a decommitted. Now the biggest name on the list. I think we got to talk about is Josh Lewis. So Josh Lewis was one of the highest rank recruits at Iowa basketball ever received. He was formally committed to South Florida, decommitted after their coach tragically died last year, and I went at him. Now, people say one of the main reasons that they nabbed him is

Starting point is 00:15:31 because of Tristan Spurlock. So that leads us to our next conversation. Josh Lewis has decommitted, but the door's not closed and signed anywhere else. Again, at least the time of recruiting. Stuff like this is gonna happen fast, and that's why you gotta be with us every day because some of these things are gonna be happening very very fast But as we don't right now, so Josh Lewis the connection to Tristan Spurlock and Courtney Eldridge Matt Gaetan some of the holdovers from the previous staff Sherm Dillard is not gonna be retained. I Without having any knowledge. I will I will guarantee you that How about that? We'll put a guarantee stamp on that.

Starting point is 00:16:05 If I'm wrong, all right, I'm wrong. But I don't believe Sherm is gonna be part of this staff. Remember also you're allowed five assistant coaches. That is something that is different than the old days. And certainly the last time that we went through a coaching change at Iowa is that now you're allowed five assistant coaches. And because of that, you have a little bit more depth.

Starting point is 00:16:23 So does it make sense to retain a couple of guys? Does it make sense to retain both Matt Gaetans and a Tristan Spurlock? Keep both of those guys on. If you can get Josh Lewis to come along with it, you had that direction. You know, is that something that would make sense? Uh, Josh Shash is another one. He's at Drake with coach McCollum, Tyler, Sasha's brother, uh, great article in the register by Tommy Burch talking about that and the

Starting point is 00:16:50 background. So you can build a staff in a different way than what we're used to and how many of the Drake guys are going to come along outside of sash. Is there going to be more to the story on that front? But building this roster is also going to go hand in hand with the way that you build your coaching staff. And that's where we are. Um, it's an exciting time. It really is. I'm super pumped up for this. I think they got this right. And yes, normally the expectations with any coach is you got your guy But as I look around I look at where Iowa basketball is and the way the program has been in a way forgotten This is about as good as it gets

Starting point is 00:17:35 This is a guy that has been able to squeeze the most out of his program as possible Maybe this is a guy that is a little bit better fit There's a guy that's not going to be out on the golf course a bunch, not going to be out on the town. He's not going to be that kind of coach. He just loves basketball. And is he going to have a seven and a half million dollar NIL budget to work with? No, it's not going to happen in Iowa.

Starting point is 00:18:01 But that can be okay. Because if you're an elite level coach, as he proved at the Division 2 ranks, proved in one season at the Division 1 ranks, then those little differences, those little edges, they show up on the hardwood. You're gonna get that from this dude. I truly believe that. I know at times here on the program, I can be pretty pessimistic. I truly believe that. I know at times here on the program I can be pretty pessimistic. I can get down. It's I think it's the course of just doing this and doing this for as long as I have now. Being in sports radio for over 20 years. Doing this daily podcast now for a number of years and talking

Starting point is 00:18:40 Hawkeyes every single day and at times you start to get to the negativity and it's frustrating and it's not always fun it's just the way sometimes your mind goes because I can't be optimistic all the time I can't be sunshine and rainbows and because maybe I have too much hurt I have to talk about the scar tissue right I've just built up too much scar tissue as a Hawkeye fan throughout the years to be sunny optimistic all the time because that's not reality. I'm pumped up for this one. I think they got the right guy. Could have egg on my face. It takes work. Sometimes it takes a little luck. I was got the guy to make it happen. We continue. It wasn't just about the the men's basketball team the women getting ready for their matchup later today against Oklahoma We'll talk about that the weekend that was both on the baseball and softball diamond and another champion for Iowa wrestling

Starting point is 00:19:35 All as we continue on the locked-on Hawkeyes podcast Imagine watching your favorite team live feeling the energy of the crowd and witnessing unforgettable moments. There's nothing like experiencing a big game in person. Getting tickets shouldn't be stressful. That's where game time comes in, making it easier than ever to grab last minute seats at unbeatable prices. Game time picks curation makes it easier to find better value on tickets to sports concerts comedy theater

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Starting point is 00:21:19 Stream it all for free on Amazon Fire TV channels. Search bracket breakdown to see it all for free. It's your team every day. Trent Conner back with you one final time on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for being with us and making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Hit subscribe if you're watching, if you're listening on the podcast side five star review. So a lot going on this weekend Stephen Buchanan gets it done one for three in the finals at NCAA wrestling Penn State even in a tournament where they didn't wrestle. I didn't think of their best

Starting point is 00:21:53 They still break another record and it's just some some dominating ones We went down to heavyweight Gable Stevenson goes down in the championship bout to Hendrickson I just incredible scene on top of that one. But right before that is where we got to see Stephen Buchanan win the title at 197 pounds, a guy that was really easy to root for. You can see what it meant to him, his family, which is always great. Wrestling, they do it right. And you get the background, you see these guys, everything that goes into it.

Starting point is 00:22:24 The families, the emotion, all of it. Just a great, great scene at NCAAs and after comes down to the wire and overtime loss for Drake Ayala. And love or hate it, the reality is the six seconds of writing time was not great. That it comes down to that. But is it better than having to write a guy out the other way and then you get into the stalling? Now there into the stalling. Now there were some stalling calls in that match.

Starting point is 00:22:47 I know that frustrated people. But I thought Bird was the more aggressive wrestler overall during the course of the match. Just a little more fueled with fire for next year for Drake Aiello where I think he's gonna finally break through and get that NCAA championship. We also saw like messing break against Caliendo. What can you do? The guy is an absolute machine.

Starting point is 00:23:10 We know that the gap was pretty significant. Caliendo at least hung around, right? Did embarrass himself as he doesn't because he's a stud in his own right. They're just, there's a generational talent as it seems like Penn State's got a bunch of generational talents, which is frustrating. But finally back to Buchanan and getting that national championship after being his career

Starting point is 00:23:28 out in Wyoming, becoming an All-American there, going to Oklahoma, another All-American, and finally getting that final step. What it meant, hearing him afterwards, really, really good scene. Iowa has three finalists. They go in for three, but still three finalists. There were parts of the season that went awry, the injury to Timur, the injury at the end of Parco. Not the way any of us anticipated it going for both of those guys. But you still look at the future.

Starting point is 00:24:00 This juggernaut that Penn State's created, it's not gonna last forever. And Iowa continues to be in really good position to make a run. To make a run and be able to do a little bit more with this program and ultimately become a national champion again. So with that, yeah I know David Taylor at Oklahoma State is going to be there also, right? And they also in year number one had three finalists mention what we saw at the end at heavyweight with Henriksen

Starting point is 00:24:37 It's going to be I think overall though an ability and an opportunity For this all to come together for for Iowa wrestling to take that step and Penn State to go back the other way. Good work on that front. A couple other updates from the weekend. Um, go to the diamond suite for the Iowa baseball team and necessary one. Now still a ton of work that needs to be had and qualify for the big 10 tournament. That's all well and good. There's going to be, remember also a different looking baseball season in the big 10 this year with the additions of the West Coast schools I don't yeah, you start with of course

Starting point is 00:25:08 USC and UCLA and what they are. Okay, UCLA is off to a really good start They're 18 and 5 on the season They're gonna be a juggernaut and probably one of the overall favorites and I won't face them this year But also Oregon who's been right there a Washington has been okay and off to a decent start on the season. USC was ranked in the top 50 in the RPI. But Iowa sits at the top now of the big 10, just a few series in, but still at seven and two after the sweep tied with UCLA and Oregon. That's some good work there.

Starting point is 00:25:47 One quad, one victory still work to be had there But overall I will put themselves in good and good shape to that minimum make the big ten tournament that's gonna change coming up this week and Better part of a week now is they're gonna be going on the road in fact it starts in the middle of the week a little bit of an oddity as they're going to be making their way to Illinois State a weekend series against Minnesota who's ranked very hard high in the RPI. They're ranked 23rd in the RPI. Another midway game that went over at Bradley and then the following weekend, April 4th through the six, they're over

Starting point is 00:26:16 at Northwestern. Odd schedule, but got to be able to do it on the road and they keep this momentum going. They're able to take the series against Minnesota. We can start to have a little bit different conversation. We could see that coming though and things starting to trend in a different direction. One thing that I didn't anticipate we're gonna be talking about was the Iowa softball field and what was actually happening between the lines.

Starting point is 00:26:39 Iowa after Coach Gillespie stepped away, then another coaching move and just the oddity of what was happening kneeling during the national anthem and on and on and on, you're left kind of wondering, well, what's happening with this program? This thing's gonna fall apart. Where in the world is Gale Blevins, right? Bring Coach Blevins back because Iowa softball was a power back then,

Starting point is 00:27:01 not the case anymore. Well, then I was three and one of the big 10 after beating fifth ranked UCLA over the weekend they're hot they beat Indiana last weekend took both games against the Hoosiers who are pretty good in their own right then to get this victory 7-4 on Sunday it's an eye-opener they got South Dakota State coming in this week Then they go to Wisconsin over the weekend before Nebraska comes back in the Iowa softball team Maybe this is what they needed to make a little bit of a push Whatever it is other playing a high level and great things to see on that front over out of time for today

Starting point is 00:27:38 We got a whole lot more coming on Ben McComb We will be back with you after the conclusion of the Iowa Oklahoma game. Later this evening we will have a rapid reaction podcast for you. The Iowa women against that fast-paced and big Oklahoma team, coached by Jenny Barancheck, the former Jenny Lilas and former Iowa basketball player. We'll have that coming your way after it goes final. Three o'clock tip off for that one this afternoon with Iowa and Oklahoma at FanDuel Iowa currently a four and a half point underdog. Thanks for being with us and making lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We'll talk to you again

Starting point is 00:28:12 tomorrow. Until then, go Hawks.

Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - BREAKING: Iowa Hawkeyes SNAG Ben McCollum as NEW Head Basketball Coach

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