Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - DISRESPECTED: Iowa Hawkeyes DEFY Rebuild Talk, Quarterback Race and Ben McCollum Recruiting BUZZ
Episode Date: July 6, 2026Iowa Hawkeyes fans are bracing for a pivotal football season—can consistency hold, or is a true rebuild on the horizon? The conversation focused on the fierce quarterback battle between Jeremy Heckl...inski and Hank Brown, evaluating Mark Gronowski’s explosive running game, and what could shift Iowa beyond the familiar 7-5 or 8-4 finish. Analysis includes Iowa’s impressive decade-long win record, tough Big Ten road tests versus Michigan and Ohio State, and the evolving implications of NCAA eligibility rules and the transfer portal for Kirk Ferentz’s squad. The discussion explored Ben McCollum’s recruiting strategy for men’s basketball, the prospect of European player additions, and whether nepotism will shadow the post-McCaffrey era. On the women’s basketball side, insights centered on point guard Chit Chat’s development, support from Bria Medina and Taylor Stremlo, and the dynamic potential of a backcourt featuring Dani Carnegie. Will the Hawkeyes seize this turning point and rise above expectations? Follow Trent Condon on X: https://twitter.com/trentcondon LISTEN TO THE PODCAST: APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-hawkeyes-daily-podcast-on-iowa-hawkeyes-football/id1441592240 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/0GTyz5ygevcGXdTF6QSoEo YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnHawkeyes Photo: Cody Scanlan/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images Everydayer Club If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Odoo Great organizations win because operations matter. And that’s why you should get Odoo. Try for free today at https://Odoo.com/lockedon. Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. From the opening whistle to the final kick, Let There Be Goals on FanDuel. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started now. 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) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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It's a mailbag edition of Locked-on Hawkeyes, the biggest questions for 2026-27 in Iowa sports.
How's the quarterback race going to shape up?
Is this a rebuilding year?
And a little basketball, including Ben McCollum's recruiting all today, Lockdown Hawkeyes.
You are Locked-on Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day.
I'm Trent Condon, and this is the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast.
your daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast.
Today's episode is brought to you by Odu.
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A bunch of topics to get into today here on a mailbag edition of Lockheyes,
we'll break down what the point guard position is going to look like on the women's side
with chit chat right.
And is there going to be something to be perhaps,
pushing her at that spot.
She backs up and gets ready for the season with her former running bait in Danny Carnegie.
We'll talk some men's basketball as well, Ben McCollum.
Will we see another dirty word?
Yes, nepotism.
Will that show up again this season for Iowa basketball after the McCaffrey years?
We'll also talk about recruiting and some of the things that are happening on that front.
But we begin today with a lot of football.
And that's where obviously the conversation begins here as we make our way through the month of July.
it is people starting to get amped up just a little bit.
Now, over the weekend,
had the opportunity to make my way to Kinnick Stadium
and be there in order to watch the Savannah Bananas matchup.
We were there for the Saturday on July 4th,
took the kids and the wife and had a great time.
Kids absolutely enjoyed it.
Just got those juices flowing a little bit more, though,
getting back to Kinnick Stadium
and certainly getting excited for football season.
Quick aside on that front, just what an incredible job.
And we're going to talk a little bit later on in the week,
just the job that was done.
there and maybe have a little bit of a thought exercise.
What else can happen at Kinnick Stadium outside of the seven Saturdays a year to make
that beautiful building pop even more and maybe more importantly for the athletic department,
make that thing a money maker throughout the course of the year.
We'll talk about that a little bit later on this week.
But let's get into your questions.
A lot of them rolling in here over the last couple of days.
Took some comments from YouTube as well and also on Twitter.
You can find me on Twitter at Trent Cotton and that's where we go.
and we kick things off.
All right, let's start here with this one.
And it's something that I think is very interesting.
This comes from delivery guide Chad.
He says, honestly, I've been let down so much the last 10 years that I think the best
case scenario was 7-5 this year.
I think it's worse than last year.
That's my prediction.
When's the last time you saw a tournament team without good, solid quarterback play?
Now, absolutely right.
And Iowa, I think, has to have an ascension at the quarterback spot with throwing the
football.
We have to take a step forward.
We tackled those numbers a week ago, and we talked a little bit about explosion, explosive plays, getting back into the offense and how improvement needs to happen there, and specifically in the passing game.
It has been towards the bottom of college football, and it's been that way for the last half decade plus that we've been talking about the struggles that they've had in the explosive plays.
Runs of over 10 yards, passes over 20 yards.
And the passing one is where it definitely shows up in a big time way and getting that back.
They have to be better throwing the football than what they got.
out of Grinowski. And though we saw improvement from him throughout the course of last season,
and by the end of the year against Nebraska, against Vanderbilt in the bowl game, we did see that.
But I hear this a lot and the beat down level about it. And where expectations are for this
squad and another seven and five. Well, Iowa has had a seven and five season in a very long time.
It has been actually a rarity. They have been better than that. A crazy thing, you look over the last
decade and all in college football, Iowa has the 15th most wins in college football.
Yet there's portions of the fan base that make this out to be some sad sack program that never competing, never playing.
And I get it.
You want to have that playoff bid.
You want more.
And that's just fandom.
That's how we all are.
We want more out of the program that we root for.
But when you look at the consistent nature of this program, what Iowa football is able to put out there year after year.
And it's not seven and five.
More times than not, it's eight and four.
But still, that consistency is incredible.
Here are the other programs over the last decade that have more wins than them.
Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Clemson, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Michigan, Oregon, Penn State, LSU, Washington.
That's it.
Out of the Power 4 structure, those are the only teams.
Now, out of the Power 4, you also have Appalachian State who has two more wins, Memphis,
who has a couple of more victories in Boise State, still 15th in the country,
and 12th in the Power 4 in terms of victories over the last decade.
This is not Iowa.
That's terrible.
This is not Iowa is just not good.
No, this is a consistent winner year in and year out, difficult to do.
And certainly difficult to do at a place like Iowa.
I get wanting more.
I get the expectations, but also realize where we are, there's no oceans, there's no mountains.
It is not a state that has a huge population base to draw from.
The consistent winning is something that is very, very good.
Here's another one.
This one comes in from Richard Ward.
I'm looking forward to this season and what the Hawkeyes will look like.
Realistically, I think this will be a rebuilding year, but I hope it won't be Go Hawks.
So this is something that I've seen a lot of back and forth.
What a rebuilding year looks like.
And if it's a rebuilding year that ends missing a bowl game, yeah, there's going to be a lot of frustration.
And there should be frustration because of, again, that consistency and just what we've grown accustomed to,
that is going to be the case.
But for argument's sake, and back to the previous comment about a seven and five season.
Let's say Iowa does go seven and five this year.
They're not able to get through that initial gauntlet at the beginning of Big Ten play
with the road trip to Michigan, the home game against Ohio State, out to Washington.
Say they get swept there and they lose two more games.
Maybe it's on the road against Illinois.
Maybe finally Nebraska finds a way to beat the Hawkeyes.
Whatever it is, they finish seven and five.
On the surface, they'll be frustration.
They'll be grumbling.
There will be upset portions of the fan base because, well, it's a fan base.
So that's what's going to happen regardless of what happens.
happens. But when you dig a little bit deeper and what they have, if they get through a season of
seven and five and some frustrating losses and what could have been and should have been and all
that, and of course we'll play it out throughout the course of the season, yet you figure out
the quarterback spot. You have all this returning talent, all these multi-year FCS guys they got out
of the transfer portal. Tony Diaz hits and you look like you really have something there.
And you get another year out of Reese Vander Z. And suddenly, yes, Cam Buffington at middle
linebacker looks like a star and Jose Appanessa takes a step forward. And on and on and on,
I think we're having a different conversation going into 2027 because, yes, it was a rebuilding year,
but the bottom's not going to fall out.
And it is really building towards that 202027 season.
It depends on how it goes.
I completely get that.
I understand that aspect.
It's going to depend on how it plays out.
Look, if they're getting blown out by the heavy heads and they also lose 27-7 against Illinois late in the season,
they lose again in Nebraska.
Yeah, it's going to be different.
it depends. It's not just the number, a seven and five and eight and four year, there's more that
goes into it. But if you have that kind of year yet, you are very solid in your foundation going
forward. I think that's something that we could definitely all think about. This one comes from
Jack Hinman. I absolutely think 10 and 2 is in the cards for Iowa, but I think there's a big issue
with making the playoff with that record. I don't think we'll be good enough strength is
scheduled to make it at 10 and 2. So he has said a little bit more here, but let's just start with that
part of it. And the 10 and 2 season for Iowa, if Iowa goes 10 and 2, yet their two losses come
at the hands of Michigan and the first big 10 game in Ohio State, there will be a narrative
out there. There is no doubt, even if they go on the road and a short week, beat a Washington team,
and let's say Washington's solid. They're a good 9 and 3, 8 and 4 type of team this season.
Illinois, 8 and 4, you beat them, you beat Nebraska who's 6 and 6, whatever it turns out to be.
there's not going to be, though, that blue blood, that victory that you can point to with the 10 and 2 record.
And it's a fair point.
Now, what we know, this is not in a vacuum.
We do not know how things are going to play out in the college football playoff, what it's going to look like.
What are the SEC teams that are vying with, say, three other teams.
Well, you got a 10 and 2 team from the ACC.
You have a 10 and 2 team from the SEC and 10 and 2 Iowa coming down to a final spot in the college football playoff.
It's going to be difficult.
Without one of those major victories, that will be difficult to shift the narrative.
Regardless of how good the rest of the slate goes, Northwestern has a surprise season.
Wisconsin is better than people think, whatever it is, shifting past that narrative.
And the old adage that is out there, back going back some 50, 60 years ago with the Big 2 and the Little 8 in the Big 10 with Ohio State and Michigan, if you don't have one of those victories on your resume, I get it.
There is going to be a lot of angst.
The good news is we'll see how the season plays out.
I think Iowa still will be in good shape intended to to make the college football
playoff.
Still, we're asking for some difficult ones.
Well, we still got some more football questions coming up here today that we're going
to break down some different things happening in college football, including the biggest
question.
Who is going to be the starter at the quarterback spot for the Iowa Hawkeyes?
Is it Jeremy Hecklinski?
Is it Hank Brown?
We'll talk about that more coming up with more football talk,
a mailbag edition of Lockdown Hawkeyes.
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Trent, kind of back with you once again here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast.
Thanks for being with us and making Lockdown Hawkeyes
your first listen every day.
Back into the mailbag.
Let's get into it as we continue with some Iowa football questions that are coming in a lot of
different ways.
This one comes in from Andrew Hodge.
He asks, does Kirk bring any influence for guys to consider coming to Iowa or do guys
only care about coordinators and position coaches?
I think an interesting one when we talk about recruiting and the way things that are set up
for Iowa football and when you have your elder statesman, the oldest coach in college football
with Kirk Ferrence, how the recruiting process goes.
Now, initially, it is about the program, yes,
but it is about the relationships that developed
for whoever is recruiting a particular student athlete.
And though, yes, it begins with Kirk Ferrence and the program
and everything that goes into it.
It really starts on the recruiting front with Tyler Barnes,
the chief of staff, the general manager of the program,
and we go back to the recruiting hall that they got
out of the portal this past season.
This was a shift in philosophy of what they were looking,
looking to do bringing in the multi-year guys, guys that have multiple years of eligibility on that front
from the FCS ranks from the Tony Diaz and they have been James and on and on.
The different guys that they went that route and thought it made sense to go here.
We're still a developmental program.
We'll bring these guys in.
Instead of just getting that one-year rental, if you will, having more years with these guys.
It was a shift in momentum.
And Tyler Barnes definitely knows what he's looking at.
You look at the way that I was recruited, what they're selling, how they're doing it.
And they've had to adjust and change throughout the time.
But most importantly, when it comes to kind of these individual guys,
it is that relationship that develops with the coordinators and develops with it.
But Kirk Farrant's also, I mean, you see it.
And it's no frills.
It's not going to be the pomp in circumstance that you get inside of other programs.
That's going to be a piece of it, a piece of it.
But Matt Spalding, also the director of football recruiting,
that group does a really good job of kind of building the template of what they're looking to do
you're in and you're out on that front.
This one comes from 14 stiff arm king.
Might be a dumb question, but with the five-year eligibility is much more available in
27 if he doesn't go to the NFL.
Yes, does have another year of eligibility.
And speaking of that, if you go over to hawkiesports.com, I found it very interesting,
as I was poking around and playing around as I normally do.
They have shifted now of the eligibility standards that are out there on the website.
You look at the basketball front, and now I'm actually looking to taking another peak,
and they've gone away from what they had.
in the past. But the way that it's set up, now instead of having senior, junior, sophomore,
freshman, whatever it is, it is change into what year they are in the program. So Jared Bowie,
he's number zero. He was the first guy on the list. So I clicked on him. When you click on his
profile, it just says years, and this is his fourth year. So all these guys will have five years
of eligibility, meaning that Jared Bowie, yes, he does have two years of eligibility as the five
for five goes into effect and what that's going to look like for Iowa football. So yes,
Zach Lutmer, he has another year of eligibility after this season in front of him.
He can go out there, get another season if he so chooses.
I don't think that's going to be the case.
I believe he's going to be moving on.
And we're going to see Zach Lutmer next season after this upcoming season in the NFL.
But a guy like Lutmer, Trevor Loutk, a couple of guys, fourth year players, red shirt in the past, doesn't matter anymore.
Five years to play five seasons.
That's as simple as that.
Doesn't matter if you have multiple entries.
Doesn't matter.
Waiver process.
and outside of going on a religious experience like BYU has and things like that,
it simplifies things.
And I am a fan of this, I'm making this as simple as possible.
And the good news is we got Michael Mislinsky.
He'll be the last Iowa player that we know of at this time without a shift in the way that
they do things that will get that six year of eligibility.
But no, not a dumb question at all like that one.
And, yeah, something I know we've talked about a lot,
but I think it's good to take a look down that path and how it changes things
overall. This one comes from the narrow way. And I absolutely love this. I was going to have to make
up for Grinowski's explosive quarterback runs. It's hard to do whatever you have when you have a
statue for a quarterback being considered a starter. I think this is a huge point. And honestly,
Narroway, you nailed something that bad work out of me. I should have talked about this more.
And I think it's something that I'm going to talk about more going forward. We go back to last
season, as we talked about last week with explosive plays. How many of those explosive plays that
Iowa had a year ago came because of the legs of Mark Nounowski? We go back to the Penn State game
and the way that he set up the big touchdown with the long run, the way he salted the game
away, the touchdown runs that he had short-yarded situations and the like. But just the explosive
element that they got out at the running game, something you're not going to get. I don't think with
either quarterback, certainly at the same level. But Hank Brown, though, might be a little bit faster
in the 40. There's been talk about that. Jeremy
Headklinsky has that short range speed, a little shiftiness to his game and a little bit more
mobility, I guess side to side as opposed to straight ahead, maybe than what you get with Hank
Brown. Neither of these guys are runners. Neither of these guys are anything like Garnowski.
Grinowski was also built like a tank. I mean, six foot three, 235 pounds, just an absolute
bulldozer out there of what he was able to do, and you're going to be missing that element.
But that is important. And I think something that we definitely need to bring up more of getting
those plays that can lead to something.
And again, it comes back to, I think, the passing game that needs to take a step forward.
This one comes from the random boner.
And he has, outside of the matchup against Ames, which other games are guaranteed wins for the Hawks this football season.
Now, I like that.
He's throwing a little bit of shade the cyclones way.
But if you mark that one down in the L column, and I will say be careful, go back to Gene Chiswick in his first year.
They looked awful.
They came in 0 and 2.
They upset the Hawkeyes.
We've seen in the past, I had our friends over at Fanduil have installed about 11.5.
5 point favorite in this game.
Maybe it's 12 and a half if memory serves against the cyclones.
You feel confident, but it's a rivalry game.
We know anything can happen.
Northern Illinois, Jordan Lynch is not walking through that door.
Definitely you and I, David Johnson is not walking through that door.
Those ones feel really good.
But when it comes to the Big 10 slate, what would you mark down right now?
as a guaranteed victory, guaranteed, not guaranteed and it's 100%,
but let's say north of 90% chance of winning a game this year.
Well, you got road games at Illinois.
I mentioned how difficult that is.
At Northwestern, the new stadium is going to be built up.
I think you'd probably put Purdue in that range.
That game's November 14th.
You'd probably put on that front.
What do you feel more comfortable about putting in Penn in the wind column?
The home game against Wisconsin on homecoming, a blackout.
game on Halloween. How awesome is that going to be or the Black Friday matchup against Nebraska.
Of those two, what do you feel more confident about getting a victory this season? For me,
it's Wisconsin. I know they went out there. They went in the portal. They got the quarterback from
Old Dominion. They spent, they feel like they're in good shape that they're going to be okay
coming up this season. Boy, that game from a year ago just lingers in my mind of the domination
that Iowa showed in that football game. I get it. The Badgers got better in the back half of the
year had a win against Washington played much better still.
I just can't get there.
With the Nebraska game, we know it's going to come down to the end.
It's likely going to be a game that's going to come down to the wire and just time in
time out.
I was been able to find a way.
Yeah, they blew them out a year ago.
I was had other blowouts during this series.
But overall, Iowa year after year finds away.
Sometimes, oh, it's an oblong football and it goes the other way.
Those would be the two in the big 10 that I'd mark down, at least the closest to a guaranteed
victory this season.
This one comes from Todd, Ty Cever.
He asked, will Alex Moda see any playing time this fall?
That's intriguing because Moda has been a guy that is just an absolutely decimated by injury throughout the course of his career.
Came in with some high praise, a guy from, you know, the area, Cedar Rapids kid from up in Marion that you thought was going to have a chance.
He also, speaking of eligibility, he still got two years left.
He was at wide receiver, then over defensive back.
and I know I've heard lots of good things when healthy,
but it's as simple as that when healthy.
And when I've talked to some different people about the defensive backfield this year,
honestly, his name has not come up.
I don't know if that's just something where they have to see it in the coaching staff,
the support staff that they have to know that he's going to be healthy this season.
Intriguing guy, guy that definitely can be out there,
was able to get a tackle in the Wisconsin game.
Speaking of that a year ago, get healthy.
And then we'll see from there if Alex Mota can be out.
another guy that a little bit deeper down there that starts to become a part of a new defensive
backfield coming up this season. This one comes from Ed Hulinski. He asks, how might the approach
to recruiting and portal change with the new NCAA eligibility rules or does it change?
Interesting thought exercise. And this might be one we dive into a little bit deeper.
I like this question, Ed, because when you go through and look at Iowa's philosophy,
I do wonder if this is something that Iowa was at the forefront from understanding, as we talked about those guys out of the portal that they got,
they're not just a one-year rental, the multiple years, they were looking down the path and saying, hey, this makes more sense for us.
The redshirt rule that changes, what does that mean?
Well, you don't have to worry about the four-game limit anymore.
But in terms of actual recruiting, I don't see anything on the surface that changes.
I think last year maybe gave us a little insight into what they did,
but I don't see anything sweeping anything completely different on that front.
With the five years of eligibility, also does that lead to more portal candidates?
And is that something that I was going to invest a little bit deeper in?
They love their developmental program,
but I think we're seeing at least a shift in the change in that overall.
As we get ready to shift over to basketball, this is a back and forth question.
This one comes from Dan Welter over under total wins between the two teams.
he's speaking of football and men's basketball this year.
Well, we know in Vegas currently, Fanduil has I was over under at 7.5.
I would anticipate that if you put it out there right now, regular season victories for the basketball team,
probably 19 and a half would be the number, maybe 18 and a half, something in that range.
So we're talking about 26, something like that.
I would probably tick a little bit higher.
Like if we had the kind of casino, if that was a real thing and I had to lay numbers myself,
also because we're in the state of Iowa,
and we know Hawkeye fans are going to want to bet the over.
I'd probably put it more in that 27 and a half range, something like that.
But now, 51 is what Dan guessed.
I don't think we're going to get there.
That would be nice.
How about a 12 and 0 regular season?
Say 29 and 3 during the basketball.
Yeah, we could definitely sign up for that.
But I don't think we're going to quite get there on that front.
Well, that leads to a shift a little bit over to the basketball front.
But before that, the big question.
from Stabone, who wins the quarterback starter role?
We will talk about this a lot more.
And as we get ready, about a month away from Camp Starting for Iowa football this year,
it is going to be topic number one for most everybody.
Who is going to be the guy?
Is it Jeremy Hecklinski?
Is it Hank Brown?
We've talked about the differences between the two.
I know for so many people lingering in the back of their mind, and it is for me also.
It is that screen pass that fell awry against Indian.
Indiana when we had the Hoosiers beat and we're going to beat Indiana, a team that went 16 and
0 and won a national championship.
It was that close.
They'd complete that pass.
They run out the clock.
I think he probably gets tackled at, I don't know, the 10-yard line, run out of the clock.
It's a chip shot field goal, walkoff victory.
Iowa wins.
The last, that didn't happen because Hank Brown didn't complete it.
And there's some tendencies for Hank in that game that leave you a little bit mixed.
That's something I went back and watched a couple of games so far, watched the Nebraska
game from last year Vanderbilt.
I need to go back and watch the Indiana.
Now we was on Peacock, that makes it difficult.
It's not on my DVR and fast-forwarding.
But that aside, we'll figure it out.
I need to go back and watch specifically Hank Brown
and re-remember what we saw
because coupled with what happened there,
the injury to Grinowski, the bi-week that they had,
which came him at a perfect time
because Grinowski somehow got healthy enough to go out there
and play against Wisconsin,
and then he was good to go after that
is we also had the Ascension of Jeremy Hicklinski
into the backup role.
They're different quarterbacks, but you wonder about the throws, about Hecklenzky.
Can he make all the throws that are out there?
The leadership qualities.
And that's another piece that's big.
Going into spring, it was Hecklenzky and I think a pretty big gap.
And if there is a gap, and I don't even know if there is, it is incredibly slight at this time.
If I had to make a pick right now, not what I would choose because I would use Jeremy Hecklensky.
But if I had to guess at this point, after what we've heard from Tim Lester,
what we've heard from Kirk Farrants, going back to spring football,
I believe that Hank Brown is going to get the knot at the beginning.
I also think it's going to be open.
And I will not be surprised.
In fact, if we see both those guys, even in the first half of the first game of the year
against Northern Illinois, if I had to make a pick right now,
what Iowa football is going to do, it's Hank Brown.
Let's talk some hoops when we come back, a mailbag edition of Lockdown Hawkeyes.
Thanks for being with us and making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day.
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Trent got in back with you one final time on a mailbag edition of Lockdown Hawkeyes.
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As we lock things up here, let's get into some basketball topics.
And this one comes in first from John Simonson on Twitter.
What has Ben McCollum's approach to recruiting players who currently play in Europe
since lets of them are declaring for the NBA draft?
Are there any he is currently targeting?
So we go back to last summer.
And there was a young man, Thais de Ritter, I think is how you pronounce his name.
Big guy from over in Europe, Iowa was heavily involved.
And there was a while where I think Iowa felt pretty good.
He ended up in Virginia, and he was an absolute stud this season.
If you put that guy in the mix with Iowa this last year, yes, they made an elite eight.
Maybe they could have made a final four.
I mean, that the guy was really, really good for a good Virginia team of this past season.
They've been sniffing around.
One thing that I have heard is it's something, but with the five-for-five change, how much is that going to impact also European recruiting?
What's Illinois done bringing in a bunch of veteran guys over there.
There's other programs across the country that are looking to do the same.
But yes, I do know that Iowa is involved, that they've definitely been trying, shifting, putting resources there, and making their contacts over on that front.
Nothing, no names, anything at this point in time to reach out.
But yes, they are swimming in those waters at minimum to perhaps augment.
this roster going forward.
Jake Marks, I'm going to get to Jake's question tomorrow.
He's talking about the quarterback spot and some of the young guys in there,
including trading Bessinger.
We'll get to that one on tomorrow's show.
This one over on the women's basketball team.
This one comes from Russell McFadden.
Chat's game relies on her speed.
She had to play too many minutes.
Hopefully Brea, a brand Medina, the transfer that came in from the D3 level,
can give her five to seven minutes a rest of the game so chat can stay and be fire.
Gohawks.
You know, chit chat last year.
Talk about being thrown to the fire.
And after the departure at the point guard position, what are they going to do?
I think they upgraded with Chit Chat Wright.
She shot the ball so incredibly well throughout the course of that season.
You know, for a long time, she was approaching 50% from behind the three point arc last season.
But with Chit Chat, I think you can see that a little bit, getting her a little bit of a breather.
Now, I don't think it's going to be with Medina.
I still think we need to see a little bit more, even if that's at five to seven range.
But it's probably going to come from Taylor Stremlow.
And coupled with Danny Carnegie,
that can handle it so well, that's really, really good off the bounce.
And though she's going to be playing off the ball a ton, you can do that also,
those two together.
I think you're going to see improvement out of chit-chat.
We go back to the lost of Virginia in the NCAA tournament.
Just felt like she was out of sorts, and we saw that a lot towards the end of the season
from a bunch of different players.
It was not just chit-chat.
Getting her in the back court now with Danny Carnegie, I think is going to go a long, long ways.
And that back court, it's got a chance to be one of the better ones in the Big Ten this year,
coupled with maybe the best center in all of college basketball with Ava Hayden.
It is going to be a fun, fun season on women's hoops.
We're out of time for today.
Had some questions we didn't get to.
We'll tackle those a little bit later on in the week.
Thanks to everybody out there for setting those along.
Again, you can join us on Twitter at Trent Cotton is where you can find me or at Lockdown,
Iowa is where you can find the podcast feed and we'll be pushing out content there as well.
Thanks for being with this and making Lockdown Hawkeyes, your first listen every day.
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Go Hawks.
