Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - FRAGILE? Iowa Hawkeyes’ Defensive Tackle DEPTH Concerns - Can Kelvin Bell deliver AGAIN?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Iowa football has one glaring concern in spring football, and it's not the quarterback position. A breakdown of what could go wrong for Iowa football in 2006. You are Locked on Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome in. I'm Trent Condon, and this is the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast, your daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast. Today we're going to talk about the transfer podcast. portal some names continuing to emerge on both the Iowa men and Iowa women's basketball side of things will break down a couple of potential candidates to become Iowa Hawkeyes. The latest on Elverill

Starting point is 00:00:45 Garras, the Hawkeye Power forward after his great run for the first three games during the NCAA tournament. The latest on the potential departure of Fool Garris. But we begin today with some Iowa football. Spring football here. And though it has been certainly pushed to the back burner, we're starting to ramp things up. And today, we're going to look at what I believe could be the difference between Iowa having another nice, seven and five, eight and four year, a bowl game and being a real contender. And for me, it is not quarterback. It is defensive tackle. We're going to talk about the defensive line as a whole as we go through our preview of the different position groups here throughout spring football. But the defensive tackle position, I think, is going to be the differentiator between this team having a potentially special season and things being.

Starting point is 00:01:33 okay this year. We look back through this run and what Iowa has built themselves into over the 27 years of Kirkbearance. Obviously, some great teams. And one thing that has been a constant has been great defenses. And for the most part, when you talk about these defenses, it starts up front. Iowa's ability throughout the years to generate incredibly good solid line play year and year out. And though the names change, the evolution has happened. We've seen them utilize more depth and go a bunch of different ways in that direction. One thing is always there. You know, I was going to be up front.

Starting point is 00:02:08 But this season, there are some major question marks, including at the defensive tackle position. And, you know, Iowa is not a program in the way that their defense is built. For the most part, you're not going to have a bunch of guys going out there, getting double-digit sacks, getting the quarterback a ton. It's just not the way that they are. Of course, we would love to see Iowa be able to get to the quarterback more. But that's not how they're predicated.

Starting point is 00:02:30 And it is going to be about hand-planking. placement, about positioning, about doing the things up front to give the ability to the guys back behind them to be able to make plays. And I'm very comfortable with what Iowa has in the back seven. I think they're going to be at minimum solid there again. But when you look at the defensive tackle position for Iowa, a place where they went to the portal, tried to get a little bit of help there, and they brought in some guys. But you start, you don't have much returning from what we saw a year ago.

Starting point is 00:02:58 And the one name that we know when we saw plenty a season ago, Well, he's banged up, and that's Bryce Hawthorne. And Hawthorne came in after starting his career at South Dakota State, three years of eligibility. He got thrown into the mix last year, and he was a rotational piece. But at 6-3-296, he's got some girths to him, something that they just don't have a whole lot of at this point in time. But on top of it, on Thursday morning, the media had an opportunity to go into practice, and they found out that he's got an injury. And there was a report from Chad Leisdikow of the DeBoine Register.

Starting point is 00:03:32 who mentioned just that. Here is the report from Chad and what he had to say earlier today. Bryce Hawthorne is out with what appeared to be a knee injury brace. Not good at Iowa's thinnest position. Walk-ons, Will Hubert and Luke Gaffney were the ones. Transfers Emmanuel Al-Aabajou and Bryce Stevenson were the twos. Devin Kennedy is in the mix. So you look at that position and you mentioned those five guys.

Starting point is 00:03:56 Well, we're going with a couple of walk-ons. I mean, that's concerning. Walk-ons obviously can build themselves into good, players, but you're not talking about a couple of guys that are huge by any means for the defensive tackle position. Gaffney 6-2-285, Hubert 6-3-287, guys that have been around the program for a long time, guys that have been here. But when you're starting there, that gets concerning pretty quick. And you couple that with a couple of those other guys that were mentioned. Al-Aabajou is a guy that certainly can look the part, got the size, 6-3-2-95 coming in from North Dakota.

Starting point is 00:04:32 this season. But remember, that was one of the guys towards the end of the recruiting process going back to the transfer portal in January that they got involved with. This was not somebody that they identified right away. Guy that they did identify right away was Holy Cross as Bryce Stevenson. 61295 for him. Comes in after playing at Holy Cross. He was productive. But it's a big step up in competition. And there was one year rentals. We know something that they didn't do much of in the transfer portal this year with Stevenson, how he's going to be able to acclimate himself very quickly on that front. It's a scary spot because if Iowa could not control things up front and can't control things like they've done, obviously Aaron Graves recently, what we saw out of him, that is hugely

Starting point is 00:05:14 concerning. The guy that I'm most intrigued by is now a sophomore in Devin Kennedy. Got the bloodlines, his dad, Jimmy Kennedy played in the league, a Penn State star as well. Now, he is still not at the size, I think, that you want to see at the defensive tackle position. still listed to just 275 pounds. But what you're talking about upside? And maybe that's a concern with this whole group as a whole. You wonder how much upside is there.

Starting point is 00:05:39 And it's very difficult to understand what that's going to be. But Kennedy is a guy I think that has a chance to get there. Is he going to be big enough? Is he going to be big enough to play more than 25, 30 snaps this season? If he can become part of the rotation, that remains the concern there. On the outside, there's a lot of candidates. And I think they're going to be fine at that spot. Of course, at the defensive end position, you start with Jose Epinessa, got his feet wet a year ago, an ability to play as a freshman.

Starting point is 00:06:07 So you got that component with Yose. He is going to be a guy, redshirt freshman this year. But getting his feet wet a year ago, impact. And absolutely, that is a guy I think that's going to take a big step forward of this season. Other names, Camari Brown from the portal, comes in from Elon, a guy that got to the quarterback a season ago, 12 and a half sacks. Absolutely, that's a guy that you believe is going to be able to go out there. make some plays. Kenneth Maryweather, who has played a ton during his career, still just a junior, which is crazy for Maryweather. But we saw him, his ability to get there, got good size also at the

Starting point is 00:06:40 defensive end position. He's a guy that's going to stand up in the run game and be able to make some plays also that you get excited about him. And then he go into some of the depth guys, Joseph Anderson, also in that same class as Devin Kennedy, when they brought in a bunch of defensive line prospects, him, Chima, Shanake, both those guys, absolutely. are going to have a chance to help out. Drew Campbell, the younger brother of Jack Campbell, 648, he's been injured throughout the course of his career, but he's really got a chance to take a step forward. There's so many candidates at defensive end that I'm not overly concerned that they're going to be able to find somebody and somebody's going to be able to step up and make some plays on the outside and be able to get to the

Starting point is 00:07:20 quarterback. It's really in the middle that leads to a concern. And I think one of the biggest concerns that we have for Iowa football is up front. We're not used to this. We just aren't. We're not used to. to having these kind of questions, I believe, at the defensive tackle position. Defensive tackle is also one of the position groups that gets mentioned most that is the most expensive in the transfer portal and just finding good candidates. Look, everybody wants good defensive tackles. Everybody wants good defensive libel. And these are guys that certainly get paid and Iowa went out there and did some work.

Starting point is 00:07:51 But if they have to play or if we see a limited Bryce Hawthorne coming up this year, that is a big concern, the lone returner in the middle that definitely has the opportunity to take a step forward. And for me, there's not another position group that is more concerning going into the season, the defensive tackle. We continue here, locked on Hawkeyes. Let's get the latest on Elverro Fool Garris, the star of the win against Florida in the NCAA tournament, a big game against Nebraska and went awry against Illinois. What is the latest on Elverro and the potential movement into the portal for him?

Starting point is 00:08:26 We'll talk about that next. This is Lockdown Hawkeyes. I'm Clea Butler, host of Lockdown Women's Basketball, and this is Mazda's Women's Basketball Snapshot, celebrating the work no highlight reel can ever capture. UCLA made history by winning its first NCAA women's basketball national championship dominating South Carolina 79 to 51. The Bruins controlled the game from start to finish

Starting point is 00:08:54 with elite defense and balanced scoring, finishing the season 37 and 1. Star Center Lauren Betts was named most outstanding player, leading a team effort that capped a 31 game winning streak. Under head coach, Corey Close, UCLA secured a landmark title that has been decades in the making. These moments are earned off the clock, those long before the lights ever come on. The sweat, the fakes, the doubt, the scrapes, and coming back for more every time. Mazda puts that same drive into every detail. Wins define the moment. Putting in the work, that defines you. There's more to a Mazda because there's more to you. Trent, kind of back with you once again on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast.

Starting point is 00:09:40 Thanks for being with us and making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We are your daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast. Well, football will continue to be at the forefront of the conversation here. Once we get through the transfer portal, and that is where we go next with the latest news in the portal in an update from On 3. Alvaryl Fulgaris, what is going to happen with him? Now, still officially, no word as we make our way into Thursday awaiting. Is he going to portal? And another question that I have about Fulgaris is if he makes the decision not to go into

Starting point is 00:10:14 the transfer portal, does that lead to some kind of release, us finding out some way or another that this is going to be the case? I think that's something that definitely is a component that people are going to be keeping their eye on. But let's talk a little bit about the reporting from On 3, starting with this. And I get it. After what we saw from him during the tournament and a lot of people, that was maybe one of their first glimpses of Elviral, talking about the number of people that jumped aboard in the NCAA tournament and didn't watch a ton throughout the course of the season. I talked about this, in fact, with my mom, who is more of a casual. And my mom, oh, Alverro, he can't

Starting point is 00:10:55 leave, he was so great. Of course, he was so great against Florida. And he was so great hitting that three-pointer in the corner to put it away in Iowa, knocking off the defending champions, what he did against Nebraska, but then we saw against Illinois. But a lot of questions were, well, why didn't he play more against the Illini? He's making mistakes. And if you were watching throughout the course of the years, and I'm sure you did, and I was throughout the course of the year, we know the inconsistency from Fool Garris this year was the biggest concerned. This is a guy that absolutely was so inconsistent throughout the course of the season. You never knew what you were going to get. Iowa was 15 and 1 this year when he scored

Starting point is 00:11:32 in double figures. 15 and 1. But they also had a lot of losses. Those were for the most part the games that he just didn't have it. Inconsistency, something that seems to drive Ben McCollum nuts. The Hawkeye head coach who obviously put together a tremendous year this year, getting the tournament, the run they had in the NCAA tournament, doing things we had seen since 1987 with an elite 8, 1999 since the Sweet 16. There's a ton there. And McCollum was able to do it, and Full Garris was a big part of getting to the final game before the final four and getting to an elite eight.

Starting point is 00:12:07 But what it's not there, it got bad. You know, another thing that we heard Ben McCullum mentioned a couple of different times during media availability during the NCAA tournament is he doesn't do Moody. He doesn't do Moody players. And that is not to say that Elvira, fool garris is a moody guy, but certainly the energy level at different times this year look different. We're looking for consistency.

Starting point is 00:12:31 Here is part of the quote from on three. Sources have said they would be surprised if he is back for another year in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes had a team workout earlier this week that Fulgaris did not attend per a source. The two sides were expected to meet again on Wednesday. So as we await that decision, another component to this is this. new era of college athletics. And it is the muddy piece.

Starting point is 00:12:56 So Iowa reportedly went out a year ago and spent approximately $5 million with their biggest portal additions. And that was, of course, Bennett Sturts, who could have got even more on the open market. There were plenty of programs that were after him. K. State was one of the initial teams talked about some family connections to that program. I'm sure he's probably happy not going into the dumpster fire that was K. State certainly a year ago and making that decision.

Starting point is 00:13:20 But that aside, there were plenty of opportunities and opportunities for Bennett Sturts to go other places, and he could have made even more money that he made in Iowa City. But the other two big additions that they got were Elverill Fulgaris and Brendan Hassan. And the estimates are about $5 million total was paid amongst those three players. Now, there's wide ranging, and we don't have anything official. There is no sportico that you can go to and take a look at what all the player's salaries would be. hopefully someday we can get there and actually have some kind of understanding of what this absolutely looks like, but that's not the case there.

Starting point is 00:13:56 Well, we know Brandon Hassan this year just didn't happen. And the defensive concerns definitely were there. He was injured during the offseason, playing his way back into playing shape. And it just didn't click. And then Fulgaris, who was incredibly inconsistent. And one of the thoughts behind Fulgaris is that if he's going to return to Iowa City, the payday is not going to be the same. And in fact, he's going to probably have to take even less than he did this past season to make that happen.

Starting point is 00:14:24 And I completely understand from Fool Garris's perspective. And we found out during the tournament about his dad passing away when he was a youngster at nine years old. He talked about the struggles and what his mom did and meant for the family and making everything work after the passing of their father. And definitely a huge component to that of setting yourself up and giving back to your family and having that chance. Alvro for Gare is going to be an NBA player, highly unlikely that that is going to be the case. He's going to make money playing basketball and maybe it's back across the pond and doing it over in Europe. He's going to make money playing hoops. I don't have a doubt in my mind about that.

Starting point is 00:15:00 However, when you look at it, when you have an opportunity and your last go-around at the college level and you can make more millions of dollars and set yourself up and set your family up for an incredibly long time, that is hard to say no to. even if he wants to return to Iowa City, even if he believes that's the best place for him going forward, if you're going and making $1.5 million and that number, say, gets cut in half because Iowa wants the ability to go out and spend to bring in a new lead guard, spend to bring in a rim protecting a big guy. When that happens, well, that takes money. And if it goes away, that could be a difficult component. We'll see what ultimately happens here. The other part we don't know is Ben McCollum.

Starting point is 00:15:44 and what the Hawkeye coach wants to do also in this situation. We talk about the potential of just not being the right fit, not being the right perspective that they're looking for and the right mood that they're looking for inside the clubhouse and building up the team culture. And those are things that can go awry very quickly. And we know it's not just about going out and spending the most money because if that was the case, Kentucky would have been the national champion this year.

Starting point is 00:16:07 And that was not the case as they lost in the round of 32. It's not just about that. It's about creating that. and we know the importance for Ben McCollum of the right culture. It is not just as simple as bringing the best guys out there. There is more that goes into it. And this is a basketball guy that believes in those little things and finding the different avenues that you can do to build the program up.

Starting point is 00:16:30 So that's where it is right now. We will see if there's more news on Thursday. Obviously, we'll jump back aboard with you and get you updated on Elverill Fulgaris. But the big question that still remains at this point in time, Iowa is one of I believe it was eight teams on Wednesday that I saw out of the power conference structure that hadn't lost anybody to this point with college eligibility that was on the roster a season ago. Not many programs that are going through this, but we still, it is a holding pattern for Fool Garris. Continuing on now, some names starting to emerge. And we've talked about a couple of those guys, but a couple of new names that have come up and to the forefront potential visits for Iowa basketball.

Starting point is 00:17:10 A couple of names both on the men's side and the. on the women's side as Iowa looks to bolster the roster in the transfer portal. We'll talk about that next as we continue on your daily Hawkeye podcast, Locked-on Hawkeyes. Also, while we have a moment, want to let you know once again about the Everydayer Club. It's an opportunity for you to get locked on Hawkeyes ad-free with the Everydayer Club. You also get members-only Discord access. You can join us, LockedonHawkeyes. com.

Starting point is 00:17:39 That's LockedonHawkeyes. Supercast.com. Support what we're doing for you. each and every day and do it ad free with the Every Dayer Club. Coming back talking about some portal candidates on Locked on Hawkeyes. Workplace chaos, deadline stacking up, inbox overflowing in the one position you have to fill, still sitting open. When the pressure's on and you need the right hire, this is a job for sponsored jobs.

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Starting point is 00:20:03 This is Lockheyes, your daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast. Glad to have you aboard with us here today as we talk about the portal, the basketball portal specifically and a few more names that we haven't bandied about too much at this point in time. This is a very fluid situation. That's something that we know each and every time. These conversations certainly start. A big guy, though,'s name has started to emerge a little bit.

Starting point is 00:20:28 We will get into that. What to start, though, with the guard position. And as we talked about Finley Bigeck, the guard out of Butler the other day, one thing I talked about, the defensive metrics are not very good on that front. Guy that absolutely can score, can facilitate, do those different things.

Starting point is 00:20:44 That is, though, a point guard, elite, that type of position. A new name that is bumped up recently out of Liberty is Brett Decker Jr. A guy that a season ago average 17 points per game. Now, he is not what we're thinking about as it pertains to a Bennett Sturt's replacement. This is more of an off guard, a two guard, a shooting guard, whatever phrasing terminology that you want to use at this spot. He can do things with the ball in his hands. This is not a guy that is strictly a spot-up shooter, but that is a big part of his game. Really, probably the role that we anticipated, Brendan Hassan was going to be able to play this season. Now, looking at his defensive

Starting point is 00:21:21 numbers, certainly better than what you have from Bizjack, like that component to it. But he is not a guy that you think about taking over the role, as mentioned, with Bennett Sturt. So this would be more of a pairing with Kail Combs, who would become more of a facilitator, more running the point guard position, and then you'd have Decker playing off the ball. But that is a name from Liberty that is emerged. He's originally from Kentucky at this point, no Louisville, no contact on that front, Louisville or Kentucky, and that's certainly a big part of this one. Another name to mention is the big guy.

Starting point is 00:21:55 And what we've certainly talked about a ton is Iowa needing to get that rim protecting big man. And what we saw in the Elite 8 game against Illinois, the struggles that they had both offensively and defensively against the Illini size. And certainly late in that game proved to be the difference in that one as the Aligni punched their ticket into the final four of finding that kind of guy. Well, you're talking about size. They're looking at it in seven foot three center, Andrew McCarver, Kiever out of St. Mary's.

Starting point is 00:22:24 St. Mary's lost their coach. Randy Bennett, who'd been there for such a long time and done a great job with that program in the West Coast Conference. He has departed to Arizona State. Don't know what exactly their plans are. In fact, Arizona State as down as they were this year under Bobby Hurley, they did have a pretty good big guy themselves who has entered the portal and sounds like he's going to be a guy that absolutely gets paid.

Starting point is 00:22:45 McKeever connection, obviously following his coach, though, to Arizona State. That could make a whole lot of sense. Now, this is not going to be an offensive guy that are going to dump it into the middle and do those kind of things. The average eight points this year, nine rebounds, though, but it is a good rim protector. And that's where the excitement certainly goes with that one. So reports out there, including from 24-7 sports and from Sean Bach, that Iowa feels like they're in pretty good position for this one at minimum to get a

Starting point is 00:23:12 potential visit seven foot three and after what we saw from Adai Mara this season for Michigan at that size. Same kind of frame, different type of skill set, not as nearly as skilled as Mara is at this point in time. But would allow K.M. Man Yao to go back, become either a guy off the bench. That is your backup center and place some power forward and a little bit more traditional there. Certainly one to keep an eye on on that front. And then a name over on the women's basketball side. And this would be, I don't want to say home run, but this would be big. And that is Ellie Brugman from Linda Wood. Down in St. Louis area had a tremendous year this year.

Starting point is 00:23:51 He's got some big time offers already. But looking at somebody that can score, I think playing the back court together with Chit Chat, right, I think that would be a really nice pairing. This one's going to be maybe towards the top of the portal wish list for the Iowa women's basketball team. But another component to this is it's not just going out there and fight in a star or two. they need to build the roster and that's where it becomes tough because you got the veteran, you got the baseline already set up there with now all those sophomores become juniors and what we saw out of that group. But trying to find those best bench pieces. And if you're

Starting point is 00:24:23 looking down at the mid-major ranks, finding those players that were starting playing 35 minutes a game, averaging double figures, and then asking them to take a different role with Iowa and becoming a six, seventh, eighth, eighth player. One of the first players maybe off the bench, but finding those kind of players is, I think, going to be kind of difficult for Jan Jensen. But back to Brugman and her fit, 5'1-foot-11, fit both three-pointers in the country a year ago. We know Iowa's need for three-point shooting, and though they've had a hair from Iowa State already on campus, another good shooter, I think this would pair incredibly well. Also, good off-the-bounce, has a good pull-up game, and we go back to two years ago,

Starting point is 00:25:02 and Lucy Olson, that pull-up game, not quite probably the same kind of physicality as a Lucy Olson the way that she was able to play off the bounce, but definitely a player that can get in there, hit that pull-up game, but a better three-point shooter than Lucy Olson was, certainly coming in for Villanova. So that's what you're looking at at this point in time. Again, more names are going to emerge, but a lot of work to be done for Jan Jensen building out this roster. Thanks for being with us today here on Lockdown Hawkeyes. Again, if any news breaks on the Elverill Fool Garris part, we will be back with you with a rapid reaction to that here on Thursday. daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast. It is Locked on Hawkeyes. Make sure again, if you would like to join us on our

Starting point is 00:25:43 everydayer club, go to lockdown hawkeyes.supercast.com. That's where you can get involved over there. Lockdown hawkeyes.com. We will talk to you again tomorrow. Until then, go Hawks.

Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - FRAGILE? Iowa Hawkeyes’ Defensive Tackle DEPTH Concerns - Can Kelvin Bell deliver AGAIN?

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