Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Former Hawk Nicholas Baer joins to talk about the Iowa United, his second year in TBT, and his rookie season with Raptors 905

Episode Date: May 5, 2020

We've got former Iowa Hawkeye Nicholas Baer on the show to talk about this summer's TBT tournament and why he thinks the Iowa United can go far. We also dive into his time with the Raptors 905 in the G-League and his future basketball goals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I thank God I was born on the good arms of the Midwest, and not on the battlefields of the U.S. It's a time of panic, and it's intercepted! It's picked off right away! Intercepted by Marty Hooker! Pick six! Eight seconds into the game! Buffen sets up deep in the pocket, goes down the field for Smith!

Oh! He got it! Smith! Touchdown. 85 yards. High on. Touchdown, 10. Taking a shot in the end zone.

It is caught. No offense. Touchdown. That's either one or you have it. Go ahead and three. Yes. Two point lead for the Hawkeyes! Welcome to a Tuesday morning edition of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast,

your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Locked On Sports Network. As always, I am your host, Andrew Wade, and I'm excited to be bringing you another edition of TBT Tuesdays, where we interview members of the Iowa United roster as they prepare for the $2 million winner-take-all tournament happening this summer, the basketball tournament. And on today's episode, we have former Iowa Hawkeye and current Raptors 905 player Nicholas Bayer joining the show. So we're going to be talking to him a bit about his transition to professional basketball, what his long-term plans are, and why he thinks this Iowa United team could go far. And today's episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast and this special TBT Tuesday that's happening every single Tuesday for the next couple of months is brought to you by Built Bar, the best tasting protein bar on the market. I absolutely love it and it's how I get through my workouts every single day.

Remember promo code locked on, get you $10 off your first box at www.builtbar.com. And if you are tuning into the show today for the very first time and you love these interviews, or if you've tuned in before and you haven't done this already, make sure to subscribe wherever you downloaded this podcast at and give us that five-star review

and make sure to follow us on downloaded this podcast at and give us that five-star review. And make sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You can also follow the Iowa United on Twitter at IowaTBT. They're doing weekly fantastic giveaways such as autographed jerseys and some awesome deals to Reclaimed Rails Brewing Company. So make sure to check them out on Twitter, IowaTBT. With that being said, though, let's hop into the show with our interview with Nicholas Bayer. So I'm joined here by Nicholas Bayer, former Iowa Hawkeye basketball player, currently a member of the Raptors G League team.

Nicholas, sounds like you're in Bettendorf staying safe right now. How are you doing, though, outside of trying to stay sane during quarantine? Yeah, I'm doing well. I'm back home in Bett right now and you know just trying to get into a routine and you know focusing my focus right now is just kind of cleaning up my diet a little bit and you know doing what i can here to stay in shape so um you know whenever we're allowed to get back on the court and the social distancing's over i want to be ready to hit the ground running definitely so you say cleaning up your diet was your diet not not going so well when you were playing for the Raptors team? No, I actually had improved quite a bit while I was up there, I think, this time.

And just, like, being able to be home and having a bit more time, I've been able to learn a few more dishes to cook. And I think that's something that's been really beneficial to me. I think that's one skill I've been kind of honing in on a bit more while I've been home is just learning how to cook different foods, different meals. And I think, you know, once think once I started cooking a few then it just all ran together and it became a bit easier overall. So I think that's taking a bit more ownership that way in regards to actually cooking it, like all my meals and everything. I get that man. When I first graduated

college I was eating pizza and beer almost every night and then I slowly realized this is not a healthy lifestyle. You need to actually cook every once in a while exactly what are you doing outside of that for um you know kind of keeping busy during quarantine playing any video games just uh working out what else you're doing a lot of working out um but you know aside from that but i'm home right now with i have five siblings so we're all home right now so it's kind of a you know unfortunate time for us all to get together. Um, but also at the same time, it's been nice to just kind of connect with them and get to see them a little bit. But, um, I mean, I've been tuning in every Sunday night to the Jordan documentary. I'd say that's something that I've always

looked forward to the whole week. So, and last night didn't disappoint. It was great. Yeah. I mean, the last dance has been awesome. I've been recording it. I'm watching the other two or the last night's two episodes tonight. So really about that Yeah, yeah, it's been great. So what are you doing then just to stay in shape? Are you going out for runs? Do you have a gym at your home? What are you doing? So I'm thankful. I have a treadmill in my home. So I've been able to do that Utilize that but I think also just like trying to find like small things like i was able

to find like a jump rope in our garage and just you know being able to put myself through that kind of cardio workout um i was thankful to you know get some information and you know being able to you know also just like take some ownership that way just understanding you know eating clean and getting into better shape i think that's something that's definitely been a goal of mine this offseason regardless of whether we're in quarantine or not so just trying to you know utilize the things that I have here at my home and being able to get in good shape absolutely man so your your G League season was obviously cut short due to the COVID issues what was it like though the first 39 games you know how what was that experience like was it as great as

you expected it to be yeah you know I think I had a really good experience up with raptors 905 and i really appreciated that um that opportunity i think something that i learned definitely in the g league is being able to adapt pretty quickly and you know understanding that there's going to be constant change and constant movement um and being able to handle some of the highs and lows i remember one game um it's probably my best game i played i made those four four from three we won on the road we got a big road win and you know i was pretty integral in that part of that game and then the next game we go home and the raptors want to send down um four players to you know get some more time um and get like get some run in so that game I didn't play so that's kind of like being able to handle you know the highs and the successes but also understanding

like not taking anything too personally being a professional about it was something that I definitely learned and I'm really grateful for that opportunity definitely man I mean I'm looking at your stat line it seems like you kind of just picked off right where you left off at you know Iowa in terms of a do-it-all type of forward. Right now, through 39 games, you were averaging 4.8 points per game, 4.4 rebounds per game, 1.3 assists per game, almost a steal, and almost a block per game. Did you feel like there was a big adjustment for you? Because that's pretty reminiscent of the type of performances, maybe obviously with a little bit more minutes, but very reminiscent of the performances Iowa fans came to expect of you

when you were on the Hawks. Yeah, I think I was thankful for my time at Iowa just because it kind of helped me prepare for this time with the Raptors, 905, in the sense that I was more towards the end of the rotation, kind of had to work my way up, and had to find ways to be valuable to get on the court. And for me, that was with playing as much energy as I can and hitting the offensive glass and you know being able to spread the floor a little bit so I think you know once I found you know what my role was early on in the season I was able to expand a little bit but I was overall I was very happy with how my rookie season went. Definitely man and so you talked

about the highs and the lows and that being kind of a huge adjustment. Was there any other majorly difficult parts that you were not expecting coming into your first year? Maybe not that I wasn't expecting. I think just an adjustment for me was just obviously every time you go up a level, the athletes are going to be better, they're more skilled, they're faster, quicker, stronger. So I knew that. It took me a little bit to adjust perhaps, but I didn't shoot it particularly well to start the season from three. But then as I got more routes from that distance and was able to keep practicing

and get a lot of shots up, I was able to shoot it better towards the end of the season. So that was something that gave me confidence towards the end of the year. That's awesome, man. And when we talked last time, I asked you what were your future plans. And you talked about playing overseas. And it sounds like in doing some research, seeing some interviews, you were kind of surprised to get the call to go play in the G League. Is that an accurate statement?

Yeah, I mean, I think last summer I was looking to go overseas, and I think this summer I'm still looking to go overseas. You know, unfortunately, I didn't think there were opportunities to present themselves. I thought this opportunity with the Raptors 905 was a better opportunity for me, long term being able to show I can play at this level and play at the high level

in the G League, I think is good for me going forward into the market I was really excited about my opportunity with Raptors 905 and I hope to expand on it after coming up in this next season. I want to take a quick moment to recognize Built Bar

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be in if you had to pick a dream I mean obviously any country probably would be amazing go play professional basketball but if you pick a a perfect country a place where you just feel like would be amazing for a personal life, where would you go? Yeah, I mean, assuming that no countries are having any coronavirus issues, I would say I think I've always wanted to play in Italy. That's always been something I've been interested in. I've been able to be there a few times just once with family and a couple times through basketball and being able to spend some time there was really special and I'd love to go back.

But the reality is being able to play anywhere would be great it'd be special and you know getting to experience new cultures you know that's definitely part of it and um you know hopefully wherever that is i'll be happy wherever i end up for sure man and going to the raptors you were in ontario um you know you know you're an iowa kid as you've spent your whole life in iowa prior to moving to Ontario? Yep, yep. I've been living in Iowa my whole life, and this is my first time moving outside the country. What was that like, man?

Yeah, I mean, you know, the thing I appreciated, so we're in Mississauga, Ontario, which is like a suburb of Toronto. It's about 15 minutes outside. And I think something I appreciated is it didn't necessarily feel all that different from my experience at Iowa. You know, I feel like for the most part, Canadians were welcoming. I felt very welcomed up there. It was just a general kindness, I think, that I found there with most Canadians, which is something that I was a little bit nervous about moving to a big city,

but I was happily surprised by that. And just overall, really had a good experience up there and felt at home. So, that was good. Awesome, man. Find some good up there and felt at home, so that was good. Awesome, man. Find some good food places and some things to do? Yeah, I mean, the nice thing about Toronto is just how diverse of a city it is and being able to, you know, any kind of food you want to be able to have, they definitely have it. And that's one of the first things that impressed upon me. It was, you know, just like around our living space or our apartment complex,

there's obviously Italian food, but there's you know obviously italian food but there's like afghan food pakistani food like any any food you want to try like you can definitely find it within you know a few minutes so that was something that was very special too awesome man well good to hear you i'm glad that that transition went well um i know being an iowacan as well getting out of the state was definitely a unique experience for the first time so always gonna be a little bit a little bit different um so coming into the tbt tournament this year i'm obviously if it goes on as i hope i definitely hope it does i think that'll be great for sports i mean i don't know if you're a big nfl fan but having the draft this past weekend was like a breath of fresh air

yeah it was absolutely um really what is your favorite nfl team then i'm a cleveland browns fan i've been a fan for the last five years um I joined or actually probably six years I joined um right after uh we had like a 79 season my best friends a Browns fan I was like you know what I might as well buy my stock low right now I didn't really have a team um we proceeded to go 1 and 31 the next two seasons so that was a little rough patch. But I'm feeling good now. I mean, we got Baker Mayfield, OBJ, our new head coach,

who I'm excited about. I liked our draft. We got offensive tackle, which, you know, isn't necessarily the sexiest pick. But at the same time, it's definitely addressed the need. So I'm very excited, hopefully, to see, you know, what the Browns are like here this season. Jedrick Wills in the first, and I think Grant Delpit in the second.

Yep. Yep. A couple LSU guys, that always helps. Yeah, that's awesome, man. So kind of where I was going with that, though, is you have played in the TBT. Obviously hope it does happen this year. How has that experience helped you coming into this year? Is there anything that you weren't expecting about tbt um that you kind of know now um i mean i think the unique thing about tbt is the uam ending i

think that's something that was always pretty unique about it and um i thought that was a good experience but i think overall um something that did surprise me a little bit um i think caught us a little off guard was how was the environment we played in last year wichita state it was absurd yeah i mean like i knew like okay like it's in wichita and like we're playing the team in wichita but i didn't expect um it to be like a sold out you know crowd that crowd that arena was as loud as any ever arena i've been in you know in my collegiate days at all so that i think that's what makes tbt special it had you know bringing back that college atmosphere um i think it was something that caught us a little off guard

as well though so i think that's something knowing you know going in if we do run into that that again then i think we're more we'll be more prepared for it now but um overall just very excited for this team we have coming in yeah man that that environment was wild i remember i was sitting in the front row and literally just surrounding me was all Wichita State people. So I'd be yelling, and I'd be the only one yelling at one point, and then everyone else would be yelling any time Wichita State did even a remotely decent thing.

So momentum swings were big there, especially from the fan perspective, which was crazy. I wasn't expecting that either, man. That's crazy. Are you excited coming in? This year sounds like you're really excited about the team. Is there anyone in particular, any of the new guys that you are most excited about playing with?

Yeah, I think one of the new guys that stands out to me is probably Mike Dom. I had a chance to, you know, obviously see him play in college and watch his career. And I think, you know, he's always been someone I've admired from afar, you know, how he's been able to play and, you know, produce and continue with his career and I think um you know that's always been he's always been someone I've admired from afar you know how he's been able to play and um you know produce and continue with his career so I'm looking forward to you know playing with him and trying to get you know obviously anytime you come across you know different professionals you want to learn from them so looking forward to that as well but um I'd say that's probably one guy who I'm really excited about that we had a new addition to our team this year absolutely man and then from the team last year, we talked about it on the –

when I interviewed you last year, you were really excited about playing with Peter Jock. Obviously, injuries and whatnot, didn't get a chance to play with him. Was there anyone who stood out to you last year that you maybe weren't as familiar with, but you really enjoyed playing with and felt like you worked really well together with? Yeah, I'd say probably Tyrus McG mcgee and matt tybee i think

um those two in particular when we traveled down there i was in the same car with them and you know i was just you know coming out of college and these guys have been playing professionally for a couple years now so i really appreciated being able to you know ask them you know bounce ideas off them just like differences between college pro game and then obviously you know just different you know they're playing and I think Matt was playing in Turkey the year before and Tyrus has been all over so I'm just kind of like getting their understandings about you know how to like adjust to playing overseas and everything like that was something really special and I always appreciate it and I think just like on the court being able to see how they approach the game was

something that and be able to play with them was something that I enjoyed as well. Awesome. And yeah, when I was talking to Matt, it sounds like Tyrus was one of the guys who kind of being a big leader with the team and kind of giving some advice throughout the time. So definitely a helpful learning experience, you know, not only along with the basketball experience too. Absolutely, yeah.

He was really fun to play with. I'm looking forward to playing with Tyrus again this year. Awesome, man. And as far as your expectations for this time around, obviously the team got bounced last year in the first round against Wichita State. I felt like there was a good shot of winning that game, right? I think Wichita State came on hot late, but what are your expectations coming into the tournament this year? coming into the tournament this year? Yeah, man, I think something I'm really excited about is all of our new additions. I think looking at our team this year, I think we'll definitely be an improvement.

So credit to Matt Crawford and Jeff Horner for being able to continue to try to improve our team. I think that's something I'm excited about. But, I mean, I think the sky's the limit. I think when you look at how much talent we have and if we're able to put it all together, I think we can be really special and make pretty far run in this thing. Absolutely, man.

I'm really looking forward to it. I want to quickly pivot to just the Hawks in general. I know we weren't going to talk a lot about Iowa, but I have to ask you about, you know, the team this season. Did you expect that kind of season from Luka Garza, man? Not entirely, but I also wasn't entirely surprised either uh if that makes any sense i guess but anybody who knows luca knows how hard he works and his tireless work ethic and um obviously very skilled and i think being able to you know have the volume that he

did this year was something that allowed him to um you know really pop and propel as you know one of the best players in the nation. So it's been really fun. It was really fun just to watch this team. It's a little different, you know, obviously not being on the team and watching from afar, but really had a lot of fun watching them and, you know, hopefully having a lot of fun next year as well. Yeah, were you able to catch most of the games then?

Yeah, I mean, I pretty much, I watched every game unless we were playing. Because, like, a lot of times they'd be playing at, when it was, like, 7 o'clock games and we had a game at 7.30 or 8.30, and I wouldn't be able to watch those. But assuming we weren't playing myself, then I was tuned in for sure. Awesome, man. And you kind of mentioned next year. What are your thoughts on the potential for next year?

If Luka Garza returns, it sounds like Joey's camp has already decided to return. What is the expectations for next year if luca garza returns sounds like joey's camp has already decided to return um what is the expectations for the program i feel like it might be one of the best teams that fran has ever assembled yeah i mean i think you look at you know you have national player of the year candidate coming back and i think you also look at um jordan bohannon you know coming back from injury um being the best three-point shooter in school history coming back. And, you know, C.J. Frederick really emerged his freshman year. And, you know, you put Joe Weese, Cammy, put that all together. And, you know, they got a lot of really special pieces. So I'm really excited to just see how they do. I think they also have a pretty big recruiting class coming in.

They have like four or five freshmen coming in. So it would be interesting to see how they all gel. But I have full confidence in Coach McCaffrey that he'll be able to you know get them ready and they're always prepared and they'll be ready to go absolutely man sounds like you you at least pay pretty much i mean obviously it helps that your brother is is on the team of course but sounds like you pay pretty close attention to um what is still going on with that team which is pretty awesome yeah i mean i i'm still really good friends with everybody on that team um and it's just fun to like stay in contact with them and you know watch their success especially absolutely man well nicholas um definitely appreciate you taking the

time to speak with me uh enjoyed the interview just like i did last time as well um really excited to you know watch you with iowa united and really enjoy kind of following and tracking your successes with the Raptors G League team and looking forward to obviously tracking you going forward if you do decide to play overseas any last words for from you man for the the Hawkeye fans out there no just go Hawks you know I'm looking forward to you know this season this year and looking forward to you know this opportunity with TBT and you know hopefully that goes on I appreciate you guys all tuning in to whatever channel we're on,

usually ESPN or ESPN2. I would love to see you guys support it. Absolutely, man. Well, thank you so much, Nicholas. Have a great day and stay safe out there, buddy. Yep. Thanks. Appreciate it.

Good to see you, man. All right. And that will do it for our episode today. Again, a special shout out to Iowa United for allowing us the opportunity to interview these guys. A special shout out to Nicholas Bayer for taking the time out of his day to talk to us a bit about some Iowa basketball stuff, playing for the Iowa United, and his time with the Raptors 905 in the G League.

Always a great time talking to Nicholas, so thank you again to him as well. And if you do like what you hear today, if you did like it, make sure to like, review, and subscribe wherever you downloaded this podcast app. Give us that five-star review, and make sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram so you do not miss another TBT Tuesday. And as always, make sure to follow the Iowa United on Twitter at IowaTBT. Again, thank you all for tuning in to today's episode. I hope you have a fantastic time. Stay safe out there, Iowa, and have a great day.