Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - GAINS ALERT: Iowa’s Defensive Line BULKS UP—Brad Fitzgibbon & Emmanuel Olagbaju Transform Roster

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Iowa football roster tells a different story today. Size, strength, and development are showing up across the board. And those offseason gains are setting the foundation for a Hawkeye team built to win 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. Hey, welcome in. I'm Trent Condon, and this is the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast, your daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast.

Starting point is 00:00:36 A lot going on here today. We're going to break down the recruitment of one of the best players in the country for basketball. And that is Caden Doherty for the University of Iowa, Ben McCollum, zeroing in one of the top prospects out there. Now number nine in the country, the latest on that development. There is a roster update as well for Iowa football. Terrence Smith no longer listed on the Iowa football roster, what that means at the wide receiver position for the Hawkeyes. But we begin today, speaking of that roster with a look at the gains. the development and what happened in the offseason for Iowa football.

Starting point is 00:01:12 This is something that year after year during the summertime is one of my my favorite parts of the year. And that is who has gained weight, who has put on good weight, and who is ready to go for this upcoming football season for 2020. So we begin today with a look at the defense. And if you are in every day or you definitely know that my biggest concern is the defensive tackle position. We've talked about it ad nauseum. that is the one spot that I have. If this season goes awry, that's where my concerns lie. No, it's not the quarterback position.

Starting point is 00:01:41 No, it's not a new middle linebacker or a rebuilt offensive line. It is the middle of the defensive line for the Hawkeyes and specifically those defensive tackle positions. Well, there is some good news. And in fact, the top gainer in terms of weight gain this off season was Brad Fitzgibbon. Fitzgibbon a guy that comes in from the Chicago land area a year ago, a guy that there was quite a bit of buzz for really moves well. and now has gone from 265, his listed weight a year ago.

Starting point is 00:02:08 He's up to 288, a 23-pound game this season. Now, is Fitzgibbing going to be a guy this season that comes in and bays an impactful piece? I'm not ready to go that far. I think there are some other pieces that are certainly still ahead of him. But in terms of development, adding that weight and now getting to a realistic spot where he can play, if necessary, 12, 15, 20 snaps a game at defensive tackle. You have that now with Brad. at Fitzgiven. Speaking of defensive tackle position on the defense,

Starting point is 00:02:37 another big gain was a young guy. Jack Janda, who came into 250, now up to 272. Still some more weight that needs to be added, but just an incredible athlete, a guy that they're really excited about, I think, in the future. Now you've got to go through the reps. You've got to learn exactly what it takes to be in the middle of that Iowa defense.

Starting point is 00:02:53 Also at the defensive tackle position, the third player out of the defense with a big gain, and that is out of the transfer portal, Emmanuel Alibadhajou. Alibadu comes in from North Dakota. Look at the status. They're not wowing any means. But Elliot Cluffs told us before he has been described a little bit like the Hulk out there.

Starting point is 00:03:11 Well, he has added to it. He was listed at 295 when he got to campus. He's up to 314 now. A monster of a man, a guy that could be an important piece for this team this year. If this is good weight, if this is good things, it going from the training table at an FCC level at North Dakota. Now to the Big Ten, certainly some big gains there. Speaking of big game, Xavier Stiles, this is an interesting one at the same.

Starting point is 00:03:34 position. He's gained 17 pounds since he showed up on campus back in January. To that 207 pounds, big guy out there, a rangey safety. And though we haven't talked about styles nearly as much as a couple of the other guys, got like Tyler Brown, who we've talked about a ton, that is one definitely intriguing to get excited about. A couple other gains that are interesting. One, a young guy, a young linebacker and Billy Wavoda. Wavota is a guy that comes in from Georgia up to 226. He was listed at 210 when he showed up on. campus, a gain of 16 pounds. The athleticism definitely shows up when he watched film of Billy Wavoda and a young

Starting point is 00:04:10 guy to get definitely excited about. A guy that needs to help this year is Camari Brown. Camari Brown comes in from Elon at a very successful season a year ago at the FCS ranks, showed an ability to get to the quarterback. But for a defensive end of the Big Ten, it was a little light. Not the case anymore. It goes from a list to 245, now up to 259 pounds. And if that's your speed rush or off the edge, at that,

Starting point is 00:04:34 that kind of size. We're talking about something really good. We continue on with the defense here in the weight gains and the roster update that was just released by the Iowa football team. Another youngster, a freshman coming in, Darian Jones. He's added 11 pounds to his frame up to 181. And if you're looking for a surprise, a youngster that can help out right away at that cornerback spot. Definitely Darian Jones needs to be a part of that one. They spurred the hometown Huskers to make his way to Iowa City. Love that. And Darian Jones, guy definitely to keep your eye on. We go back to the defensive tackle position.

Starting point is 00:05:08 Soyer Jeruski comes in up to 285. Now a 10 pound weight gain for him in his freshman season. Yose Epidesa. Yeah, we've talked about him a lot. And think of the size of that young man, nine more pounds added to his frame. He's up to 269 now on that spot. Jacob Wallace, a guy I think that's going to play. Very well could be the starting cash position this year for the Iowa football team.

Starting point is 00:05:31 Jacob Wallace up another eight pounds. he's up to 186 now in that spot. Kenneth Meriwether, a guy that we know seven more pounds for him. He's up to 270 pounds. And think of Mary Weather on one side, Epinessa on the other. Maybe it's Alec Bajou and Bryce Hawthorne. That is a huge defensive line for this Iowa football team. A couple of names to mention Rashad Godfrey.

Starting point is 00:05:54 He's up seven pounds up to 202. We definitely saw him a year ago. How about Tyler Brown and talked about him a bit earlier, seven more pounds for him? He's up over 200 pounds. at 201 likelihood that he's going to be your starting strong safety for the Hawkeyes this season. Now the guy out of the transfer portal, Anthony Hawkins, who comes in from Villanova, rangy, 6 foot three, now 202 pounds as he's added seven more pounds. Now, this is one that I was very interested in because I think Devin Kennedy can help this team

Starting point is 00:06:22 this year. We're back to the defensive tackle position. He's up another six pounds. Now north of 280 listed at 281 pounds. And I think we're going to see a lot of Devin Kennedy coming up this. season. Julian Manson just showed off on campus. He's added another five pounds. He's up to 225 now at the linebacker spot. Will Hubert, who's going to be a part of that defensive tackle mix this season. He's up another four pounds now at 291 pounds this upcoming season. Drew

Starting point is 00:06:48 Campbell, haven't talked about Drew a ton. He's up four more pounds now, 252 and kind of adding to the lines of that big physical defensive line spot that Iowa has with a guy like Drew Campbell outside at 252. Luke Gaffney, much like we talked about earlier with Will Hubert, Luke Gaffney, he's up to 288 pounds, three more pounds for him. So those are a few on the defense that definitely caught my eye.

Starting point is 00:07:13 A couple interesting ones. A couple of guys that lost weight. Zach Lutmer, down two pounds. He's down to 203. All right, not a big deal. Derek Weisgstuff, down a couple of pounds. Ike's Speltz loses a couple of pounds.

Starting point is 00:07:23 He's down to 233 after now wearing number 69, also on the roster. interesting development on that front. And a couple other guys that are interesting. Bryce Stevenson comes in from Holy Cross. He's going to be an important piece in that defensive line. And specifically at defensive tackle was $2.95 when he showed up from Holy Cross is down 8 pounds, down to 287 pounds now.

Starting point is 00:07:46 You think kind of rebuilding that body, if you will, that's definitely a piece of that one. Carson Cooney also interesting. A linebacker, young linebacker, he is down eight pounds also down to 222. So that is a look at the defense. The exciting part, those defensive tackles specifically, the size, the volume that they're adding at that front. We know how important that is. Over to the offense, some gains, including a big game at the quarterback position. We'll get into that.

Starting point is 00:08:13 And some of the changes of the Iowa football roster as we continue. Stay right there. This is your daily Hawkeye podcast, Lockdown Hawkeyes. Support for today's episode comes from Indeed, sponsored jobs. When workplace chaos hits and you need the right hire, Indeed sponsor jobs helps connect employers with candidates who match specific needs like skills, certification, and location. So less time gets spent searching and more time gets spent finding the right fit. People are finding quality hires on Indeed right now. In the minute we've been talking, companies like yours have made 27 hires on Indeed, according to Indeed data worldwide.

Starting point is 00:08:54 Usually finding your right person, your right player. Well, it takes time to come up with that one. And those kind of changes are incredibly important. Think about the change that Iowa made going back over a decade ago, going from Jake Ruddock and making the decision to go with CJ Bethard. What it turned into was an undefeated season, a 12-and-0 regular season in 2015, taking a guy that was fine and taking a step up. And your company can do just that, finding the right hire with indeed sponsored jobs.

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Starting point is 00:10:11 Thanks for being with us and making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. That's what we do here on the lockdown network, your team every day. And I got you covered on the Hawkeye front. Let's get back into some of the weight gains. We jump over now to the offense and the changing look of this Iowa football squad. The biggest gainer on the offensive side of the football was Dylan Stecker. A young guy thought maybe he was going to be a wide receiver. He's moved to tight end.

Starting point is 00:10:34 And he's up to 233 pounds now, a 23 pound weight game for Dylan Stecker. On the offensive line, Gene Raarden has shown up just a true freshman. It's got five years of eligibility in front of him. 22 pounds, though, already added to his frame is he's up to 302 pounds at that front. Also on the offensive line, and another true freshman, Carson Nielsen, was able to call Carson's games for Waterloo West against Waukew. Back in the playoffs this year, really impressed by him. he's up 16 pounds already to 311 pounds. Here's one that very well could help for this season.

Starting point is 00:11:09 We've talked a ton about the tight end position. Have we talked enough about Thomas Meyer? 232 pounds a year ago, now up to 248, Scott size, versatility, a big guy. And I always say when you have programs like Miami and Texas A&M making their way up to Clear Lake Iowa, you know you've got to have a pretty special kid. And that was the case with Thomas Meyer,

Starting point is 00:11:30 keeping him home. That was a big one. And yes, we're incredibly excited of what DJ Vadami is going to look like this season. Addison Estanga coming back. But we very well could have a really nice season this year for Thomas Meyer. Speaking of that tight end position, Mason Woods up to 230 pounds now, 13 more pounds added to his frame. He's another guy at that tight end spot that could help out.

Starting point is 00:11:52 And maybe more of a hybrid type of player, that guy that you see a ton in the NFL, maybe not quite a tight end, not quite a wide receiver, something in between. We'll see if there's something special for Mason Woods and some kind of packages this season. Now, this one, this one surprised me because I didn't know how much weight could be added to the frame of the Iowa quarterback in contention with Hank Brown. And that is Jeremy Hecklinsky.

Starting point is 00:12:13 Hecklinsky up 13 pounds, now north of 200 pounds. He's at 201. We know he's not a tall guy. Enlisted 5-11, probably more like five, nine and a half. But regardless, he's not a tall quarterback. And that's fine. We've seen plenty at the collegiate level. Short quarterbacks to be able to play at a high level.

Starting point is 00:12:29 still with Hecklinsky, adding more to that frame because if you're going to be the gunslinger, you're going to be the guy that's moving around, you're going to be moving in that fashion. Well, you need to have a little bit to go along with it size-wise and definitely added that for Hecklinski. Braden Jackson, we've talked about the depth of the running back room and this is just another guy with that depth. Jackson up another 10 pounds to 206. The son of Fred Jackson watched him at Ankeny Centennial broadcast a bunch of his games. That was definitely a good one to see there with Braden Jackson. and guy I think is going to be part of the mix going forward.

Starting point is 00:13:01 Maybe the biggest, though, of all the offense is Tony Diaz. Yes, the hype train maybe is a bit out of control. I said, I'm not pumping the brakes on it. I'm absolutely going all in that I believe Tony Diaz is going to be a difference maker for this Iowa football team right away this season. So he was listed at 176. He's now up to 184. But something interesting in podcasts I was listening to with Tim Lester.

Starting point is 00:13:26 I believe it was the one he did a couple or, last couple of weeks, one with the ANF guys and the other with Chad Leickeau. I think it was with Chad earlier this week. He mentioned that Tony Diaz and Evan James, both those guys showed up like way in the 150s, even their listed weight for Diaz 176. It wasn't even close to that. If he is up now to 184, the punishment being a Big 10 wide receiver, that's going to be important.

Starting point is 00:13:49 We know Tony Diaz, seeing the highlights, hearing the hype that's coming from all kinds of places. It is real with Tony Diaz, and that frame is going to go a long way. A couple of their notes on the offensive side of the football. KJ Parker, we continue to hear about him. He can get open now securing those catches, making the plays out there on the field. He's up to 191 now. Another 7 pounds added to his frame. How about Kamari Molton?

Starting point is 00:14:13 Up six more pounds now to 211 pounds. One thing that I've heard about Bolton, he has been putting in the work big time. And taking that running back room, making sure its own. Yes, L.J. Phillips is pushing him. Xavier Williams is going to be there getting carries this year. Nathan McNeil, Brevindal. We talked about Braden Jackson. It is a deep, deep running back room.

Starting point is 00:14:32 Marry Moulton, though, not resting on his laurels. He is out there putting in the work and add a little bit more size to that frame. Another five pounds also for Reese Vander Z. He's up to now 220, just a big, big prospect out there. Trevor Loutke, who is a preseason All-American at the left tackle position, up four more pounds for him. He's up to 314 pounds now up front. Can't Winter, a guy that could be in part of the mix at the center position.

Starting point is 00:14:56 this year, depending on how things go with Kate Piper. He's up another four pounds. He's up to 294 now. Good to see a little bit of size to him. Hank Brown up to 218, a weight gain of three pounds for him. Xavier Williams has added three. Here's a couple interesting ones, though, for you. As we go a little bit deeper down into the roster, we start to flip back the other way,

Starting point is 00:15:16 guys that have lost weight. And I find a couple of these intriguing, including L.J. Phillips. L.J. Phillips has lost the most weight from their listed roster weight going back to last year. L.J. Phillips, after he came in from the portal, was listed at 225, down 14 pounds, now down to 211 pounds. And you can see LJ. Phillips, if you watched any of the tape from him from South Dakota, if you just see pictures of him, he's a bowling ball looking guy, right at the running back spot. He has lost some weight and come another direction on that front. Another guy that's maybe retooling his body, one of those true freshmen. Hudson Parliament

Starting point is 00:15:52 was listed to 320, now down to 313, a loss of 7.5. pounds for him. Here's an interesting one also at the wide receiver position, Jared Bowie. We have a ton, talked a ton about Bowie. He had the loss season a year ago because of the injury. Now is back, and he is down five pounds now, down to 198 for him. So just a couple of the interesting names that are out there. Lucas Allgaier down three pounds, down to 297. Allgaier's going to be part of the mix, maybe backing up the guard spot, a tackle spot this year, and as a big part of the future of that Iowa offensive line with Lucas Allgaier. And also, how about the the specialists. Boston Everett listed at $199. He is a true freshman coming in from Australia at the

Starting point is 00:16:32 punter position. Caden Burr, who is fighting for the kicking job up three pounds to 203. He's going to be in contention for that spot. So just a few of the names that I found interesting and intriguing of one of the more fun times of the year. All right, here's the guys on the roster. Now, our next step, we have to work to remember who all these guys are and get all their numbers memorized. That is the next step for me here throughout the course of the summer. Quick time out here on Locked on Hawkeyes. There is a change in the Iowa football roster. One of the players we didn't mention, a guy that came in with some intrigue,

Starting point is 00:17:04 but it's not going to be an Iowa Hawkeye for this year and change at the wide receiver position. Plus, Iowa basketball's recruitment of Caden Doherty, how that's shaping up and some good news possibly on the Hawkeye front. That's all next year, Lockdown Hawkeyes. Trent, kind of back with you one final time on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast, your daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast. Get your daily lockdown Hawkeye fix completely add free by joining the everyday air club today. Start your seven day free trial right now and get closer to the

Starting point is 00:17:39 Hawkeyes without the interruptions. Click on the link in the show notes or go to Lockdownhawkeyes.com to claim your free trial. That's Lockdownhawkeyes.com. Rapping things up and first, Terrence Smith is no more on the Iowa football roster, a change that was first reported by Elliott Clough from Hawkeye Insider. com as Elliott talked a little bit about that. So Elliott had this up yesterday on Twitter, said per multiple sources and as confirmed by an Iowa spokesman, second year wide receiver, Terrence Smith will not be on the roster this fall for the Hawkeyes.

Starting point is 00:18:14 Smith was a three-star prospect out of West Aurora High School in the class of 2025. This was a recruitment that kind of went down to the wire. Minnesota, Illinois, were the other two programs that were involved with him at the end, gave a little bit of hope being able to get a wide receiver that had some other Big Ten offers signing on the dotted line and trying to change the perception of the wide receiver position now under Tim Lester and what it can be going forward. It doesn't feel like it's a huge blow. There were some rumblings back last fall acclimating into the college environment and become, it was tough for Smith early on. And we'll see. And a lot of times we see that these guys

Starting point is 00:18:50 find a home at a Juco. Iowa Western has definitely become a big one throughout the years. If that's a spot where he chooses to go, go to junior college, get everything. right, get your academics in order, play some good football there with Iowa Western, one of the powers of Jucco football and potentially come back. And that's certainly what the hope is, that everything gets figured out on that front, what it looks like that was going to be part of the equation this season. Anyway, with what they added in the transfer portal was not going to be a huge part about that one. But still any time, you lose a guy and lose a guy that, look, if you're a recruiting person that likes to follow that, I'm sure a lot of people out there liked what they saw from Terrence Smith. but we'll see what his next destination is going to be for him, but it will not be part of the Iowa football team this upcoming season.

Starting point is 00:19:38 Rapid things up with a little basketball. And coming up on tomorrow's show, we're going to be joined by Tom Kekert from hawkeye report.com. Tom was in Vegas last week, and he was watching a bunch of prospects, specifically Kane Doherty. And as we've talked about Doherty here throughout the last couple of months, this guy has continued to build upon what was a great start to his career.

Starting point is 00:19:59 This is a guy that at the high school level, won a state championship down in Florida this past year. Playing with his Florida Panthers A.U program, they had a lot of success. They're going to be a peach jam coming up here in the coming weeks. They're going to be one of the teams maybe in contention to bring home the championship. He had a 13-game winning streak during the run, just a lot of great things about him. But as we've heard about him, first, it felt like there was kind of, it wasn't a final four, but four teams that were talked about the most in his recruitment. and it was two home state schools, Florida State and Miami.

Starting point is 00:20:30 It was Michigan, and then it was Iowa. And Iowa, in a way, felt like the outlier. Michigan, of course, won a national championship. We know about the investment financially that the Wolverines make and what they're able to do on that front. And then he have the two home state schools with Miami and with Florida State. But Iowa, the way that they've recruited him, the relationship that seems to be developing with him and Ben McCollum

Starting point is 00:20:53 seems to be at an incredibly high level. and talking to a few people I know inside the recruiting industry, it's not over. It's not that he's going to Iowa. But it continues to trend more and more in the direction that I was in some really good shape on this front. That Iowa really feels like probably the headliner. Yukon's got involved.

Starting point is 00:21:16 There's been some sniffing around, some other programs, Tennessee, a few others that have been out there. When Yukon gets involved, that maybe gets you a little bit concerned. but I don't think recruiting-wise there's anything that you can knock what Ben McCollum's done. And how about also what they did last week or what happened last week in Vegas? There's Bennett Sturtz, a first-round draft pick, a guy that began his career at the Division 2 level, and he shows up to watch Caden. He shows up there, talked with him, was there being a presence.

Starting point is 00:21:50 And it's one thing to have a presence on the coaching staff. and maybe more importantly have the head coach there watching your AAU games. But when you have somebody like that, somebody that's taking time out of their day to come watch you as a high school prospect, a guy that was a first rounder and that can say nothing but you would think positive things about the way that he was developed inside Ben McCollum's program, starting at Northwest Missouri State, then Drake for a season, and then wrapping up in Iowa this past year. And what they were able to do in that first season, Sweet 16, Elite 8, going to Heights, that we haven't seen in decades for Iowa basketball. And having that kind of selling point, I think it's going to go a really long way.

Starting point is 00:22:30 Nobody wants to say it. And I understand because we've been hurt before. If you're an Iowa basketball fan, and specifically at the point guard position, there's been so many close calls, going back to Rand, going back to Dr. Tom. There's so many times that you think back upon that they were almost there. And for whatever reason, we're not able to push it over the finish line and get that prospect to get that great guard, that game changer. And it definitely feels like Caden Doherty is that kind of player, that that is where the

Starting point is 00:23:00 expectation level is for him. Iowa, the leader, absolutely. Now finish this thing. A change in the perception of the Iowa basketball program. When you look around and you hear national people talking about him, I was listening to the Ion College basketball podcast the other day with Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander of CBS. And those guys do a great job. It's an incredibly entertaining podcast.

Starting point is 00:23:23 They have fun, and they talk college hoops, which I absolutely love. And when his name gets brought up, it's another one of those. And it was just a mention. It was just a moment just talking about he looked really good. To paraphrase, that's all that it was. But to have a guy like that, and if Iowa can do this, because we're so used to, yes, the Yukons and the Mexicans and the Dukes and the Michigan states of the world and getting these top-level prospects. But for a program like Iowa that hasn't had a player like this commit to their program in so very long,

Starting point is 00:23:57 they've had great players come through, Luca Garza, becoming an A Smith award winner, Chris and Keegan Murray, what they developed into, and on and on, we can play this game. But nothing of this stature, nothing at this level. And that leads us to think about what Iowa basketball still can be going forward. from the successes of this year in year number one and all the positive momentum that was there at the end of the season. But we're talking about getting back to that second weekend. We put a ceiling on this basketball program for so long.

Starting point is 00:24:30 We just get to a sweet 16. That's not how Ben McCullum thinks. That's not how this staff thinks. That's not how this roster thinks about things and how they're going to be. That is not where they are. That is not the way that they look at things. And because of that, it leads to a lot of excitement. Excitement about what this can be, what this will be going forward.

Starting point is 00:24:50 It is a very, very excited time. We are out of time for today. Thanks for being with us and making Lockdown Hawkeyes, your first listen every day. Again, Tom Kekert from Hawkeye Report, who was there watching Kane Doherty last week in Las Vegas. We'll get a scouter report from him and an update on the recruitment. As I know Tom had an opportunity to talk with him. Let's talk some Iowa football. Tom came out with his fearless forecast on the.

Starting point is 00:25:13 4th of July. We'll talk a little bit about that and 10 bold predictions for Iowa football. That's all coming up on tomorrow's Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. Again, your daily locked on hawkeyes podcast here with you each and every day. Make sure you check it out. And if you never miss an episode, the everydayer club is built for you. Get locked on Hawkeyes ad free plus members only discord access and more. Go to lockdown hawkeyes.com to join the club. Lockdownhawkeyes. dot supercast.com. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Hope you have a great day.

Starting point is 00:25:43 Until then, go Hawks.

Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - GAINS ALERT: Iowa’s Defensive Line BULKS UP—Brad Fitzgibbon & Emmanuel Olagbaju Transform Roster

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