Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - CRISIS: Hawkeyes' At Large Hopes HANGS by a Thread | Will Oregon CRUSH Iowa's Tournament Dreams?

Starting point is 00:00:00 It's the biggest baseball series in Iowa City in decades. Oregon comes to town, Iowa with the chance to clinch the regular season crown. We break it down today with the man on the beat, Kyle Heusman, Locked On Hawkeye. 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. I've been covering the Hawkeyes for over 20 years on the radio here in the great state of Iowa, including currently on the Iowa Sports Radio Network. We have stations all across the state.

Starting point is 00:00:43 Sioux City, the Quad City, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, and our flagship station, 106.3 KXNO in Des Moines. You can hear me each weekday talking the world of sports, including the Hawkeyes from noon to two with Ken Miller. Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can get $200 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. Well today we have Kyle Hughes been joining us from Hawkeye Report part of on three media Excited to get Kyle in here to talk some Iowa baseball along with some women's basketball His two main beats over there at Hawkeye Report and we'll get into that all today with Kyle Kyle Good to see you and well I've heard the voice plenty of times before read all, all your writing over at Hawkeye Airport. Good to see your face.

Starting point is 00:01:26 How you doing today? I'm doing great. I'm excited for the baseball this week. Thanks for having me on the show. It's good to always discuss some baseball, and I'm sure we'll get into it, but just really excited for what is, like you said at the beginning,

Starting point is 00:01:40 just really potentially the biggest series in a couple of decades here in Iowa City. Yeah, it's crazy. And coming into this year, as you know really potentially the biggest series in a couple of decades here in Iowa City. Yeah it's crazy and coming into this year as you know expectations were low after the disappointment of 2024 the talk of preseason top 25 can this team make a run to a regional super regional even college world series and they don't even make the NCAA tournament. To be on the surface the biggest change is what happened with the pitching coach and the change that was made there. So as you know, the ins and outs obviously of Iowa baseball a whole lot deeper than certainly myself and a lot of our listeners out there, go right there, take us at the top there. And a big change that

Starting point is 00:02:18 was made by coach Heller coming into the season. Yeah, I think that was, that was kind of one of the big things was the, the pitching coach can't change to Sean Kenny who comes over, you know, most recently at Houston before Iowa, but he'd been around the block with a number of programs. Was at Maryland with Eric Backich and the ACC and then when Backich moved to Michigan, Kenny went with him to Michigan and was in the Big Ten and has some experience out on the West Coast. Was at Georgia for six or seven years, he has SEC experience.

Starting point is 00:02:42 So when he was initially hired, it felt like someone that not only had a wealth of knowledge from a number of years through, I mean, back into the 90s, when baseball was pretty different than to now to kind of go through that change to what baseball is now, but also just across the country, different conferences, different levels of division one baseball. I felt like it was gonna be a good match and it has been, but to the pitcher's credit, you know, it's not all Sean Kinney.

Starting point is 00:03:06 They've done their their job of, you know, getting to work in the off season. And, you know, they they made a they wanted to make changes as soon as that season ended because they knew what happened with the pitching staff last year wasn't going to work again this year if they wanted to make the NCAA tournament. But to your point, yeah, the expectations come to the air were a little bit lower, obviously, than last year. But I would say that the thing that happened

Starting point is 00:03:26 is there was a lot of optimism with a lot of the spots, some of the additions, some of the new faces, things like that. And it seems like every question that needed to be answered prior to the season, for the most part, everyone has been answered in some way, shape, or form, which was maybe a little bit unexpected.

Starting point is 00:03:42 But I'm not necessarily surprised by anything that has happened. It's just kind of all come together in a way that you didn't think everything was going to come together as well as it did or as quickly as it did. But yeah I mean certainly a season that I don't think many people expected. Maybe some people around the program thought they could be this good but I don't think anyone you know outside of Iowa City would have expected what's happened this year. They get off to a bit of a slow start, but have really caught fire here in the Big Ten. Now, a lot of people look at this on the cusp of a regular season championship. They win the series at minimum. They're going to be in a tie for that one, depending on what happens with UCLA this week in a sweep. And they're the outright winners,

Starting point is 00:04:20 regardless of what happens in that one. Yet people look at it and say, well, how can they be on the bubble with that kind of resume? Well, the resume is more than just what you do in the Big Ten. And even when you dive a little bit deeper, Kyle, that's the thing that jumps off the page to me, is you see, yeah, there's some nice series wins.

Starting point is 00:04:33 Obviously the sweep at Michigan, and that was absolutely monstrous for them. But this has not been the most difficult Big Ten slate for Iowa baseball this year either. Yeah, I think a lot of, you know, really when you start talking about RPI and why they're on the ball, I think some of it goes back to early season. You mentioned the slow start, a couple of close losses. I mean, South Florida is a pretty solid team this year, but you lose two out of three there if it was, you

Starting point is 00:04:56 know, had they won two out of three, maybe things are a little bit different. But the one that stands out is certainly, you know, losing three or four to Washington State down there and Claiborne, Texas, the neutral site. It's tough for northern teams, especially Iowa, to travel for the first three or four weeks of the season. The travel for that week was tough. It's the third week on the road to start the season. I believe Iowa would have wanted to, maybe even three of those,

Starting point is 00:05:19 had it been in Iowa City, but that's just kind of the way it goes with the travel aspect. They didn't get it done that week. Lost three or four to Washington State, and that's a series that is still hurting them to today. A couple of midweek losses which always tend to happen but like you said, they've done enough work in Big Ten play to kind of even out some of that stuff, you know, some of the midweek losses are still things that are hurting them to this point a little bit. But like you said, you know, the sweep over Michigan was huge.

Starting point is 00:05:45 The sweep over Indiana was huge. And even the other ones like Minnesota and Ohio State, some of the teams that aren't as good RPI, to be able to sweep them and avoid any losses has really helped them to this point. But yeah, I mean, certainly a big opportunity here with Oregon coming to town there, up to 19 in the RPI now.

Starting point is 00:06:01 So that's gonna be a big opportunity. And then at the Big Ten tournament, they'll certainly have some opportunities as well- but yeah I think it has been a little bit easier a big 10 slate- but but as we all know you know no matter what conference you're in it's hard to sweep weekends in in whatever conference you're in and winning two out of three should always be the goal and I will for the most part have done that this

Starting point is 00:06:19 year so you know outside of just one series against Washington. And I'll bounce back with a big win on Sunday in that series they try to do the same here this weekend and get the series win this time against Oregon we're going to get into that series here in just a little bit as we're joined by Kyle Heusman from Hawkeye Report. Kyle you broke some news last night and that had to deal with Ben Wilmes a guy that I saw a ton in his days here in central Iowa playing high school baseball, called a ton of his games. He was part of that program at Johnston that, boy, they just churn them out, don't they? And guys that grind away.

Starting point is 00:06:49 So you termed it, or Coach Heller maybe termed it, limited availability for the series coming up against Oregon and likely for the rest of the season. Tell us exactly what you know, what you can pass along and will was a big part of the top of the lineup there for the Hawkeyes Yeah, it was an injury that happened just at the tail end of that that tie against Oregon State in the series finale there in Des Moines Top of the 10th inning, you know went after a foul ball that you know, just went in foul territory But you know principal Park has the bullpens on the field Tried to make a sliding catch and kind of slid awkwardly into to I was bullpen mound

Starting point is 00:07:24 I will say it didn't look great, you sliding catch and kind of slid awkwardly into Iowa's bullpen mound. I will say it didn't look great, you know, the way that he slid when I saw it happen. You know, the trainer came out, Rick came out and, you know, talked to him and Ben stayed in the game, had a noticeable limp when he tried to kind of jog it off, but stayed in the game and then, you know, finished out the game. He was actually the last at bat of the tie, flew out to right field. But yeah, you know, I don't know specifics of the injury. I do know that probably a leg injury, something like that, the lower extremity injury is what it was termed.

Starting point is 00:07:52 But limited availability to me, so as he's not gonna probably be in the starting lineup and maybe a pinch hitter, maybe a late ending guy if he's able to come into the game. But limited availability means that they're probably gonna be without their lead off hitter this weekend, potentially the Big Ten tournament, the postseason altogether. We'll have to see what happens there. But yeah, I mean, certainly a big loss.

Starting point is 00:08:13 Ben's had a very solid year. And really, the last two weeks, even though the offense has been struggling just a little bit, Ben, 10 hits in his last six games, he's been hitting the ball pretty well. Just kind of that steady guy at the top of the lineup. And if he isn't able to go against Oregon, it'll be tough just not only for the team, but for him, because as you mentioned, a Johnston guy,

Starting point is 00:08:31 an Iowa guy that's been around this program and has really done everything for this program that he could. He came in as an infielder. He was an infielder. He was the emergency catcher at one point. He's played outfield. The only thing that he hasn't done is pitch.

Starting point is 00:08:44 So I'm hoping that he hasn't done is pitch. So, you know, I'm hoping that he gets a chance to whether it's come in late in games or something like that or potentially a big 10 tournament, something like that. But if he can't, you know, it's probably going to be Kellen Strohmeyer in left field and Andy Nelson in right field. Those would be the two that I would think would just take over in the outfield. Maybe Ben Swell is the second base. He's been kind of split in time with Andy Nelson. So I would say the good thing is that Iowa has enough depth that no matter what lineup you put out there,

Starting point is 00:09:09 it's not a lineup where you have to throw someone out there that's only started a couple of games. They only had a few at bats. They have some guys, they have a number of games under their belt. I mean, Kellen Strohmeyer started last, for the last five games. Obviously Andy Nelson's a veteran on this team.

Starting point is 00:09:22 And if Ben Swales has to move and be the starter at second base in every game, he's already started over 30 games. So there's nothing really crazy with the lineup changes other than that you would lose your leadoff hitter and Ben Williams has been a really steady guy for them atop the batting order. Well this weekend it's Oregon coming to town, the Ducks come in, a top 10 team gonna help the RPI if Iowa can get some wins. We'll talk about that. We'll talk about the math behind it and what's it gonna take for Iowa to solidify themselves in the NCAA tournament.

Starting point is 00:09:50 We'll do that as we're joined by Kyle Heusman from Hawkeye Report. This is Locked On Hawkeyes. The NBA playoffs are in full swing and every night delivers highlight-worthy performances, major momentum shifts and can't miss moments. Whether it's a game-winning shot or a breakout player, there's never been a better time to get in on the action.

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Starting point is 00:10:49 you'll get $200 in bonus bets. With FanDuel, make every moment more with FanDuel, official sports betting partner of the NBA. Trey Conham back with you once again on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast, joined today by Kyle Huseman from Hawkeye Report as we take a look at things. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. And a shout out to our everydayers with us each and every day. We bring you a new podcast every day here throughout the course of the week.

Starting point is 00:11:21 Kyle, it's Oregon coming to town and Oregon's good. We saw last weekend, I think against Oregon State, that gap between good solid big 10 teams and you move up that tier and we saw that against the Beavers and I think we're going to see the same thing against Oregon. What makes this Ducks team so good and they appear to be red hot on top of it coming in, not just talented, but playing really good baseball. Yeah. I mean, you hit the nail on the head there. I mean, 14 of their 17, 114 of their last 17 games. And that's not those aren't bad teams that are beating, you know, they took two or three from UCLA, they they swept Oregon State in four games. And then they

Starting point is 00:11:55 just swept Washington this past week. And the one thing I will say is that the only game during that stretch that really stands out as a road win is the midweek one that they went down to Corvallis and won against Oregon State. UCLA was at home, Washington was at home. They had a double midweek against St. Mary's that they won during that stretch. So maybe that's the one thing is that they've gotten some of those big games at home that they've been able to win. So certainly Iowa not close to home for them, but as you said, playing really good baseball

Starting point is 00:12:23 and what stands out with them is their home run hitting. I mean, they're seventh in the country and home runs with 96. Um, Mason Neville, their their d h slash outfielder has 26 home runs. He leads the country in home runs. Um, you know, Jacob Walsh, their first baseman has 17 home runs, but they've got they've got guys with 15 with 13 with 11 home runs. So, uh, it's not just one guy doing the home runs for them. And the thing that the other thing that stands out about this team is that, you know, they strike out a little bit, but they also get on base via the walk hit

Starting point is 00:12:50 by pitches, you know, 350 walks and hit by pitches this year and 368 strikeouts. So I mean, nearly a one to one ratio in terms of, you know, getting on base with the free bases compared to strikeouts. And you don't necessarily see that a lot with teams that hit a lot of home runs. Usually there's more strikeouts with that. But they can do both. They can hit the home runs, but they can also get on base in other ways. And Dwayne Banks' field is one that can lend itself to be more offensive in the summer.

Starting point is 00:13:16 So we'll see where the wind's blowing. It's going to be hot, so that's going to lend itself to some offense. But yeah, Oregon, great offense. And pitching staff-wise, they're second in the Big 10 in the RA. Their left-hander, Grayson Grinsel, who's going to go on Thursday, not Friday, Thursday, because that's when we're starting this week. Potentially a Big 10 pitcher of the year candidate.

Starting point is 00:13:36 I think it would go to Joseph Derville from Michigan State. But Grinsel, over his last four starts, has completed at least seven innings in all four starts. He had a complete game against UCLA. So a guy they really lean on to give them a good start to the weekend. And certainly if you have a guy that can go seven, eight innings that helps you bullpen for the rest of the series. So he's kind of the one that leads them out of the pitching staff side.

Starting point is 00:13:59 But yeah, I mean, Oregon's up into the top ten looking at whatever poll you want. I mean, D1 baseball has them up fifth and they've had some impressive wins down the stretch and it's going to be a tough series for Iowa. What I will say is I thought they battled with Oregon State more than the 0-2 and 1 tie would show. A couple errors on Friday that I think if they make those plays they probably win the game. Saturday they got beat. That was probably the one that you would point to and say that Oregon State Oregon State was better that day and then you know certainly the tie on Sunday Iowa could have won that one had they they got another inning or two or whatever it took so I think that series was a little bit closer. Iowa made some uncharacteristic

Starting point is 00:14:36 errors in that one but but those errors those things whether it's a free base here there or an error you can't do that against a team like Oregon with the home run power that they have if they're going to hit a home run it's got to be a solo home run or a two run home run. It can't be you know what we saw against Oregon State you know the five runs on one hit because there were free bases and they hit a grand slam. That's certainly something that you can't do against Oregon. So that'll be the point this week is you know clean fielding not giving up errors and then certainly cutting down on the free bases this

Starting point is 00:15:01 week. Oregon's really talented really really good, a win against Oregon. So let's just play Oregon takes two out of three. You've been doing the math on the RPI. What that would do for Iowa when we look at it, because the resume still needs work. And they would go in, I think, to the Big Ten Tournament still with work to do. If they get at least a game, though,

Starting point is 00:15:20 against the Ducks this weekend, is that basically neutral as it pertains to the RPI? Yeah, unfortunately, I don't think so. Just the way that, obviously, they don't get a chance to beat Oregon State. Had they beat Oregon State, they might have been 60-61 in the RPI. Right now, they're at 65.

Starting point is 00:15:36 So I think you lose two out of three from Oregon. I think you're probably looking at same spot, maybe even down a spot or two. And 66-67 going to the Big 10 tournament without a Big 10 regular season title is probably not going to be good enough. And I would think that that would be a scenario where you might have to win the Big 10 tournament to get into the NCAA tournament. But you look at the other side, and if Iowa does get two out of three,

Starting point is 00:15:58 you're probably looking at getting them up around 60 in the RPI, potentially a little bit higher than that. And they would have a share of the Big 10 title at that point. Then you start looking at, you know, how many wins can you get at the Big 10 tournament? I think winning their pool at that point, going 2-0 in pool play, would potentially give them an NCAA tournament spot at that point. But unfortunately, not getting the game against Oregon State, having to tie that one, even the Friday game where they give up a few errors,

Starting point is 00:16:22 those are the ones that might come back to haunt them if they were to lose two out of three for Morgan this weekend. So I think NCAA tournament-wise, getting two out of three this weekend is really, I don't want to say a must, but potentially a must. So you mentioned the Big Ten tournament, and we'll see where Iowa exactly fits in there, but they have solidified themselves as a top four seed. The structure of this one, now my daughter plays U-triple-S-A softball, getting to know this and usually it's run differential, run scored, you know, the different tiebreakers and pool play. So they go with this pool play

Starting point is 00:16:53 structure, but none of that stuff matters. I mean, you can win a game 15-1, but if everybody's one-on-one across the board, it's just going to come down to the better seat. Do you like the structure? Let's start right there. Somebody that follows obviously collegiate baseball. Do you like the structure that they put together here for the Big Ten tournament? Yeah, I mean, first off, you know, they went with the eight team system, which was fine until you added four more teams

Starting point is 00:17:13 and you just couldn't have eight teams making it in a 17 team, you know, conference. I mean, that's just, that just wouldn't be fair. So I liked, first off, I liked the expansion to 12 teams. I think 12 teams is good. You know, the pool play format, I don't mind it. There's there are going to be some games that don't matter. Because you're going to have teams that know they had to go to and oh, and they're going to be to know or not going to be one to know going to that second game. But I don't mind it. Like you said,

Starting point is 00:17:39 the the run differential to me shouldn't matter in this tournament. You know, you just played a 30 game conference late to see where you filled out. If you got a top four spot, you deserve the reward for playing 30 games and earning that top four spot. It shouldn't come down to two games and this team won nine one and we only won five one. To me, that's not fair if you're gonna play a 30 game schedule to figure out who is the top standing. So as you mentioned, Iowa is going to be a top four seed.

Starting point is 00:18:06 I don't believe they can go lower than three and I don't think they're going to go lower than two. So they're going to have an opportunity to potentially get through if they go one-on-one, which like I said, I believe that that's the reward for playing a 30 game schedule and earning that top four seed. But it is different because as you said, almost everything else that you go through, there's tie breaks, whether it's run differential or run scored or something like that.

Starting point is 00:18:28 But I don't mind the pool play format. I do like that they're giving the top four seed that advantage. It makes that race for the top four seed really exciting because the difference between finishing fourth or fifth is gigantic, potentially gigantic. So yeah, I think the format is different. We'll see how it plays out. But it'll be interesting to see it in its first go this year. So with that, now, I don't think I was going to be in a situation that if they win their first game that they can relax in the

Starting point is 00:18:56 second game even with the loss still advanced because of what it still matters for them in terms of the NCAA tournament, but a team like Oregon, you know, that's built obviously a really good resume. That could be that if we do see that play on if we do see a team that basically tanks their second game knowing we've already solidified a spot in the semi finals, do you think that'll lead to some restructuring and maybe the format of this one because it's just, it's bad for competition, right? If you have teams basically throwing away games in your conference tournament. if you have teams basically throwing away games in your conference tournament? Yeah, the HCC used this for a couple of years, this format, and I would have to look to see how teams played that.

Starting point is 00:19:30 What I will say is, to your point, I think Iowa, if, you know, I said, you know, if Iowa loses two or three this weekend, they feel like they need to win the Big Ten tournament, or if they were to get swept or something like that, you bring in the fact with Reese Buter and his status being up in the air right now with him missing the start against Oregon State.

Starting point is 00:19:46 If Iowa ran into a scenario where they say, I think we need to win the Big Ten tournament to get into the NCAA tournament and Reese Buehler is out, potentially that scenario presents itself where Kato Vermeiler is able to go out and get you a win in the first game. And that upset does happen in that first game. And you are playing the 11th seed or you are playin you know that that you've spot in the semifinal. If you might be able to just

Starting point is 00:20:11 just get this game out of midweek arms, whatever yo that way you have Aaron S the semifinal and then th to kind of piece it toge at the Big 10 championship if that that's a pretty s I would I feels like they need to win the NCAA tournament And you know Reese Buter is not available, but that would be the scenario where I think Iowa could do it

Starting point is 00:20:32 You know a team like Oregon it depends I guess how much they want to try to win the Big Ten tournament Because a team like Oregon or a team like UCLA or maybe even USC to a certain degree They have their sights set on something bigger than just winning the big 10 tournament. They already know that they're probably in the NCAA tournament. So I would, you know, maybe at Oregon and UCLA, I would expect them to just kind of throw their guys in order and say, let's, you know, let's not mess anything up. Let's keep our guys,

Starting point is 00:20:57 you know, on a routine for the big, for the NCAA tournament, because that would start the Friday, Friday after. So, so maybe give them an extra day rest because they would be able to pitch, potentially like a Wednesday, Thursday and then your starter would get Wednesday to Friday off for rest. So I don't know that as the organ or UCLA doing that, but I could certainly see a team that is a top four seed down the road. Maybe it's not this year, but a year to come.

Starting point is 00:21:22 If there's a team that does feel like they need to win the Big Ten tournament, they could potentially do that just to try to save up their best arm. So I don't know that it'll happen this year. I think it would be a pretty specific scenario. But I do think if they keep this format for years to come, there will be a year where a team tries to do something like that. Thursday, Friday, Saturday against Oregon before the Big Ten tournament in Omaha next week. Kyle Heusman will have you covered over at Hawkeye Report. You can find him also on X. Kyle, you got a couple minutes to stick around, talk a little women's basketball? Yeah, absolutely. All right. Couple more minutes with Kyle here. We'll talk some women's basketball, including

Starting point is 00:21:56 Iowa still shopping in the portal, the latest on Emily Rodriguez. We'll talk about that with Kyle next as we continue Locked On Hawkeyes. Trent Conner back with you one final time on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast joined by Kyle Heusman today. Kyle wrapping things up with some women's basketball talk, another part of your Beat with Hawkeye report. Year number one of Jan Jensen that I think most everybody has to deem as pretty successful as we look back upon it. The bridge from Caitlin Clark era, obviously the retirement of Lisa Bluder getting to the tournament, winning a game. What I maintain though is the importance right now of continuing this train down the road and you know that Iowa on the jersey still means a whole lot on the national landscape but

Starting point is 00:22:46 you know I've equated it to back now here you're not going to remember this one but way back in the early 90s when Cheryl Swoops took Texas Tech to a national championship they were a program that looked but there was no sustainability after she moved on they had a little bit of success afterwards but very quickly they kind of fell back into also ran status and and I guess that's the the pressure that's on Jan Jensen right now not falling back to even what they were before. Meg Augustinsson and and a team that could make the tournament but to get back into that top ten type of status. You follow the recruiting a whole lot this

Starting point is 00:23:19 year number two now of Jan Jensen the importance of it in your mind of what they need to do to continue kind of the momentum of the women's basketball program. Yeah I think you know more than transfer portal stuff which which we're going to get into in a second. I think it's it's more the high school recruiting side. We've seen some of the names that are popping up that I was going after and they're four and five so high four stars and then some five stars. The answer to your question is going to be how many of those can they get? How many can they get to come to this program? And obviously, Addie Deal is one of them. She's going to join the program this summer. And you know, Journey Houston is a four star as well. So they've got they've got some talented players. Layla Hayes is a four star as well at center. So they've got a pretty good class coming in, you know, headline by Addie Deal. And certainly the freshman class that they played this year is a solid class. I think they're going to continue to get better and they're going to make their mark on the program. But you're going to need another class after that, another class after that. And I think it starts with that 2026 recruiting class. Can you land a five star?

Starting point is 00:24:14 Can you land one of those high four stars and kind of join them with, you know, what was this freshman, this last year's freshman class and the incoming freshman class? And that'll be the biggest thing is, you know, Jan did a great job of being able to keep the players that were that were on the roster when the changes made. She kept all those players. She kept, you know, deal Houston and then got Hayes. Hayes had not been committed when Jan took the job. So she was able to land Leila Hayes. So that was a great job to start off.

Starting point is 00:24:40 But now she has to do the next part, which is start building this team, which it's which is out of the transfer portal. This I mean, this era of basketball and baseball and football, the transfer portal is a big part of it. But it's also going to be, what can she do in this first recruiting class, this 2026 class to try to continue things. And, you know, depending on what they can get out of that class, I think it's going to give you an idea of where Iowa stands on the national stage. If they land a couple of those high, high profile names, I think it shows you that Iowa, like you said, still means a lot because of what they were able

Starting point is 00:25:08 to do over a couple of years. But if they aren't able to land a couple of them, maybe they do, like what you said, drop down a little bit to that team that is similar to this year, where yeah, maybe they're contented to be in the Sweet 16, but the Final Four is probably not something that's in the cards on a yearly basis. But I think a lot of that stands on what happens with this 2026 recruiting class. So one player that's going to be a part potentially next year is Emily Rodriguez from Central Florida. Wing player. Some people may be acquainted to a fill in for Cynthia Falter doing some of the same type of things. Visited Iowa as visiting Indiana and kind of heard that myself. Thought, all right, maybe it's a two team race.

Starting point is 00:25:48 But you mentioned before we came on air here today that maybe that is not the case here for Emily Rodriguez. What can you tell us a little bit about her recruitment, what her fit would going to be, and maybe it's not just down to two with the Hawkeyes and the Hoosiers. Yeah, you know, she was in Iowa City for a visit. What is it?

Starting point is 00:26:05 It's Wednesday now, Monday, and then part of Tuesday, and then went off to Indiana. She's presumably still there this morning. But yeah, so I think a lot of people thought Iowa and Indiana, when you hear those are the two visits. I've been told that the expectation is that she is gonna take a couple more visits. How many?

Starting point is 00:26:21 I'm not sure, but it doesn't sound like it is just Iowa and Indiana. And when we were talking before this, I mentioned that, you know, I'm not sure. But it doesn't sound like it is just Iowa and Indiana. And when we were talking before this, I mentioned that, you know, the portal is closed, so no one else is going to enter and then no big name is going to enter and where Rodriguez has to go, oh no, you know, Iowa's going after a big name or Indiana's going after a big name. She's kind of in a spot where she knows who's in the portal. She knows what teams are looking for. So she can take her time a little bit.

Starting point is 00:26:41 So maybe that means taking, you know, two more visits after Indiana or three more visits or one more visit, whatever she wants to do and then really weigh your options. So I don't expect this to be a decision that comes like tomorrow after her Indiana visit or Friday or Saturday or something like that, which I think people kind of expected with the Iowa and Indiana visit being the only one that were publicized.

Starting point is 00:27:01 But I was told the visit went well, so that's good for Iowa. She's a player that is only going to be a sophomore, was an all freshman selection in the Big 12 at UCF last year. And 11.9 points per game, 5.3 rebounds. So you mentioned, you know, the rebounding they lose with Sita Folter is there's a lot of rebounding there in that position. And generally, teams don't lose a ton of rebounding when they lose a small forward. But but I would did with Sita Folter and Rodriguez can rebound in her own right pretty well. 10 games last year, six plus rebounds had a season high 12 rebounds in one of her games. So can do that. And that's what that's what I was been looking for is a little bit of rebounding help. You know, a player that can that can drive and score in the paint, which is something that that Iowa, you know, even go back to the Caitlin year, something that I will act outside of Caitlin with someone that could really get downhill and get to the hoop. Um, I think Iowa has probably a couple more players that can do that now. Um, but they'd love to have someone, you know,

Starting point is 00:27:57 that I think Rodriguez would probably be off the bench for someone that can come off the bench and do something like that. So I think your fit would be kind of that small forward position. Whether it's starting lineup or off the bench, like I said, I think I would lean towards off the bench. But yeah, someone that probably isn't gonna be that splash transfer like Lucy Olson. But someone that can certainly come in and contribute and has already done it at a power five level was a contributor for UCF this last season in the Big 12.

Starting point is 00:28:24 So I think it'd be a good addition. And they obviously already got Chit Chat Wright from Georgia Tech who's gonna come in and be a contributor card. So not those high level splash transfers, like I said, like Lucy Olson, but if they were able to get Rodriguez, I think he'd feel pretty good about what they could,

Starting point is 00:28:37 they would be able to get with Wright and Rodriguez. So not knowing obviously what the finished product's gonna be and Rodriguez could change the equation. What's your expectation right now just on the surface? I know things are not solidified across the big ten What are your expectations right now though for the women's basketball team next year? Yeah, I mean it's an interesting question because we you know We haven't seen any type of schedule or anything like that obviously we know the big ten opponents You know the home and away portion of it We haven't seen a non-comment schedule or anything like that obviously,, you know, it's going to be Iowa State, it's going to

Starting point is 00:29:07 be UNI, it's going to be Drake, you know, but we don't know, is there going to be a tournament in there? What's going to be the non-conference points? So that'll certainly matter to a certain extent. You know, I think this is going to be maybe a similar team to last year where NCAA tournaments probably a good starting point and then, you know, if you can make a sweet 16, I think that would be good. But a lot of it is gonna come down to, we talked about the freshman class this past year. What kind of strides can they make? What kind of strides can Ava Hyde make at the center position? Because I do think she's gonna be the starting center this next year.

Starting point is 00:29:38 We saw her abilities very late in the season, kind of the Big Ten tournament and NCAA tournament, what she can do. What steps can she make over the offseason? What steps can, you know, Atika Mulaney make? She didn't have necessarily the role that I think some people and myself thought that she would have. You know, what steps can she take going into her sophomore year to potentially get a bigger role? You talk about someone like Taylor Stremlow,

Starting point is 00:29:58 what steps can she take? And then certainly Addie Deal, what is she going to be for this team when she comes in for true freshman season? I think she can absolutely be a starter and I think she will be a starter right off the jump in game one. I look at what Michigan had this past year with Olivia Olson and Silas Swartz. They were both players that averaged double figures and recruiting rankings aren't everything,

Starting point is 00:30:23 but Addie Deal is in that same area that they were in terms of recruiting ranking. So I think Addie Deal can absolutely come in and have that type of impact, maybe not 16, 18 points a game, but, but maybe a double digit score for Iowa. But there are a lot of questions with some of the younger players on this roster. What can they do in terms of taking a step up?

Starting point is 00:30:40 What can, what can Journey Houston do? What can Leila Hayes do in their freshman year? But you do have a couple of veterans, you know, Kylie Fierbach is gonna be back, Taylor McCabe is gonna be back, Hannah Stolke is gonna be back. So I think it's a solid team. It's not a team that I'm gonna say is gonna go to an Elite Eight or something like that. But I still think it's an NCAA tournament level team. And and certainly looking at what what happens with the portal, I mean, Chit Chat Wright is going to be be certainly in there as a guard. I think she could potentially be a starter, depending on what Iowa wants to do at point guard. But

Starting point is 00:31:07 yeah, like I said, I think it's a solid team. I don't know that I would say it's a great team, but I think the expectation would be similar to what it was last season. Well, a great look at Iowa women's basketball and Iowa baseball. Kyle Heusman joins us today here on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Kyle, appreciate it. Thanks for joining us today. Yeah, thanks for having me on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Kyle, appreciate it. Thanks for joining us today. Yeah, thanks for having me on the show. Thursday through Saturday, Kyle will have you covered in Iowa City for the Iowa baseball team, and then he'll make their way over

Starting point is 00:31:32 to the wrong side of the river, over to Omaha, coming up next weekend for the Big Ten Baseball Tournament. That's Kyle Heusman, HawkeyeReport.com. Give him a follow on social media. He'll keep you updated on all things Hawkeyes. I'm Trent Cahn, and this is Locked On Hawkeyes. Thanks for being with us and making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Go Hawks!

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