Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Hawkeye Sports News & Notes, Scott Dochterman joins the show

Episode Date: July 15, 2024

Trent Condon is back from Vegas to kick off the week on Locked On Hawkeyes.First, a look at Iowa football and some expectations from national media members that Trent talked to last week and where expectations should be inside the fanbase.Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever took it to Cheryl Reeve and the Minnesota Lynx in front of tons of Iowa and Clark fans.A conversation with Scott Dochterman on the Hawkeye football program and finally the MLB Draft with thoughts on Brody Brecht, Joey Oakie & Sam Petersen. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.eBay MotorsFrom brakes to exhaust kits and beyond, eBay Motors has over 122 million parts to keep your ride-or-die alive. With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it’s easy to bring home that big win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers.FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. As playoffs wind down, the sports stop sporting like we want them to. But this summer, FanDuel is hooking up ALL CUSTOMERS with a boost or a bonus, DAILY! That’s right, there’s something for everyone, every day, all summer long! Visit FANDUEL.COM and add a big win to your summer bucket list!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)

A new Hawkeye beer, some football news, and we talk basketball, and we have baseball news. Plus, Scott Dockerman from The Athletic. All today, Locked on Hawkeye. You are Locked on Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey, welcome in. I'm Trent Condon, and this is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day.

We're available wherever you find podcasts, and you can also watch us on YouTube. While you're there, hit us up, click subscribe. Greatly appreciate that. If you're on the audio side, podcasting, give us a five-star review. Greatly helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. Today's episode is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code LOCKDOWNCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase.

Terms apply. Ready to roll here for a new week. Back at it after a week in Vegas. We've been gone a lot and ready to hit the ground running here over the next few weeks leading into August camp. It is going to be an exciting time. The college football game from EA Sports is being released today. Excitement building around that. We got the Major League Baseball draft and we got plenty of topics to get into with that one. But we open up first with the University of Iowa and a new

brewery, I guess, Big Grove. If you live in Iowa City, I'm sure most everybody knows about Big Grove. If you live here in Des Moines, you now know about Big Grove as they've been here for what, last year and a half or so and doing great things with their brewery. They have been named the official craft brewery of the University of Iowa Athletics. And you might be saying to yourself, well, Trent, they already got an official beer. You got the swarm. Remember, separate entity. NIL, that sponsorship is separate from the University of Iowa. Is this going to create histrionics? Is this going to create a controversy or maybe some disappointed people? I don't think so. Look, this is a corporate sponsorship. This is Big Grove getting involved with the university

and possibly getting them in there as well. In Kinnick Stadium, possibly get them in Carver Hawkeye Arena, those kinds of things. It's a partnership. And these kinds of collaborations happen across the board. It isn't anything that I would read into about Exile and the relationship with the Swarm Collective.

I wouldn't read into it that way. Just something different. And again, we're talking about two different entities. The NIL space, that is different from the University of Iowa. Now, eventually, most everybody believes that it is going to become one entity, that it's going to come in-house,

that these collectives are going to go under the watchful eye of the university and the athletic department. And eventually, I think we need to get there and get everything on the same page. But in the here and now, don't read too much into this. Let's rip through some news and notes as we get ready for football camp and the build up to this football season. Expectations are high right here in this chair, and I don't think I'm alone with that. Being in Las Vegas last week at Big 12 Football Media Day and talking to a few people there

and a few of the national writers, that's really what I was looking for, is to get their perspective. Yes, I was there covering the Big 12, but you guys know me, right? We were there also to talk some Hawkeyes with some different people. And for the most part part some pretty high expectations now I talked to a few people that are not huge fans of the Tim Lester hire uh they believe that the way that his offense is starting to slow down a little bit towards the end at Western Michigan uh had some concerns we'll just put it that way about his ability to completely turn around this Iowa offense. Here's the thing, though, and this is what I relayed back to him

in our conversation, was we're not asking for a top 20 offense. We're not even asking for a top 50 offense. Can you get this thing in the top half of college football? Is that a realistic expectation? Maybe not even year one. By year two, can you get at that level? It doesn't seem like it should be a stretch. What Iowa has done in the way that it had completely fallen apart

over the last two and a half seasons offensively, there has to be an improvement. Now, bad news, there's an extra team now at the FBS level, and that means I guess you could finish 134th in the country as opposed to 133rd in yards per play, total offense, points scored. I guess there is a way to go down, but it's not going to go down. It just can't. It absolutely can't happen this season.

There's depth at the quarterback position, something that they didn't have a year ago behind Cade McNamara. I don't think the expectations for Sullivan should be real high. Talking to a few people over the last couple of weeks about him, but he's an athlete. He's a guy that can do some things physically that could certainly help this team. But the other component to this is when you talk about those expectations, what should the expectations be?

Should us as fans be thinking about this as this is college football playoff or bust? Look, a lot of things have to go right. And we talk about the great teams over the Kirk Ferentz era and the ones that in the current structure of college football would have been playoff teams. 2004. Okay. Yes, that was a great one. They also were blown out by Arizona State. Would that have been enough to get them in the college football playoff? Not exactly sure. 2002. Think of the miraculous wins that they had. Now they hit the ground running, but that win against Purdue, where they had no business winning that football game for long

stretches. They were outplayed in Kinnick Stadium against the Boilermakers. Dallas Clark had the big 90 yard touchdown catch and run up the sideline. There were some big plays in that game. Shelton made the interception to seal it. But with all that being said, that was a game. They absolutely easily could have lost that one. And there's other examples. And as you go through, just the high wire act that they went through in 2009, 2015, a lot of close calls that went their way. What if a guy just gets his hand in there against Michigan State?

It's a very fine line. It already is for Iowa football. But the breaks have to go your way, not for a week, but for a stretch and a long stretch throughout the course of the season to get those 50-50 bounces to bounce your way 75% of the time. That's kind of the math that we're looking at for Iowa football to get to that level, to get to 10-2. And even at 10-2, which I believe with a 7-2 conference record, likely won't get them into the Big Ten championship game.

You're in good consideration for that large bid. Remember, we're talking about 12 teams that are qualifying to get into the college football playoff. And after your conference champions are the Big Four, Big Ten, SEC, Big 12, and ACC. After those are off, one team from the group of five, be it Mountain West, American Athletic Conference, wherever it comes from, then you're talking about the remaining bids and you're talking about seven more bids then to hand out. Can Iowa be amongst those teams? Well, not if they're 10-2 and they got blown out 54-10 by Ohio State. Not if you're 10-2,

but one of those losses is against a bad Northwestern team. That's the component we also look at. And if strength of schedule, and listening today to SEC football media days, and strength of schedule has already come out a bunch from a bunch of different people. If strength of schedule is the component that many people, the SEC, and I think most of the Big Ten included, want this to be a huge component. I was not playing a difficult schedule this year. It's not going to be ranked very high, and we can argue the merits and what it's going to be, but that is the reality.

The way that the metrics will look at this schedule will prove not to be overly difficult. Again, we're thinking pie in the sky. We're having high expectations. We're getting excited about it. However, a lot of things certainly have to go Iowa's way. Things went the way of Kaitlyn Clark over the weekend. Her performance in the fourth quarter on Sunday, getting the victory was incredible, but it shouldn't come as a surprise. Now, the Minnesota Lynx coach, who is also the U.S. national coach, that lady sucks. What a

terrible, just miserable human being she is. Oh, man. Asking questions. How dare somebody bring up? It was Meyer Metcalf of ESPN. Asked her about the national team. And she's not there to talk about that. Just a miserable, just terrible human being.

How can you be just that ugly at times? Not physically. I'm talking about personality-wise. Just hideous. Absolutely brutal. Hey, but Caitlin Clark, she got the last laugh, and that Indiana Fever team now starting to play a little bit better, and certainly growing the excitement about them, at minimum, being

a playoff team. Great to see for Caitlin Clark and the Rookie of the Year debate. Come on. Caitlin Clark is the runaway favorite, and she should be, regardless of what some of the narratives out there are about Angel Reese. We continue here at Locked On Hawkeyes. We got plenty of Hawkeye football talk coming up for you as we continue.

Scott Dockerman from The Athletic will join us as we continue. This is Locked On Hawkeyes. Passion, drive, and patience. The formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive ebay motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to peak performance superchargers roof racks exhaust kits led headlights and so much more whether you're into speed power or style e eBay Motors has you covered. With over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die, you'll always find exactly what you're looking for. And with eBay Guaranteed Fit, your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time

or your money back. Because with eBay Motors, you're burning rubber, not cash. With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it's easy to make your car the MVP and bring home huge wins. Keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay guaranteed fit only available to U.S. customers. We're joined by Scott Dockerman from The Athletic, the Big Ten, and College Football National Rider,

along with covering the Iowa Hawkeyes. And he joins us here once again, even while on vacation. Doc, appreciate your time as always. Good to catch up. What's happening? Hey, I'm doing well. I'm just watching these people work in this manhole near my front yard. So I'm kind of like, oh, nothing goes too wrong today.

But other than that, things are going well. You're going to have a baby Jessica situation. Keep those kids away from there, right? Yeah, and the feral cats in my neighborhood. Feral cats. Oh, man, rough living up there in North Liberty, huh? Jeez. We've got bobcats.

We've got, I guess, bears. So, you know, they're enjoying their time away from Wisconsin. Yeah, absolutely. Well, Doc, last week at The Athletic, you wrote a little bit about the Hawkeyes and you talked about some of the players, the commitments for the class of 2025, some of the current guys,

and after their big recruiting weekend, what, added four or five more guys, depending on when you consider Mason Woods a commit there. I want to start with him. LeVar Woods' son plays over in Iowa City West, a guy that not exactly sure what he is at the next level. Is he going to be big enough and maybe tall enough to be a tight end in the Iowa scheme? Is it defensively? Is it another spot for him? What do you think about Mason Woods?

I like getting in. He's kind of one of those guys in Iowa that has really started to step up their efforts in this area where you just get him on the bus and then figure out his best spot. And in his case, he probably transitions better to a tight end than most other positions. But I also wouldn't rule out wide receivers, especially if, say, Terrence Smith picks the Gophers over the Hawkeyes. Because I think what you're going to want is you're going to need somebody in that position. And they really struggled there. And he plays wide receiver and safety at West High, and now he's got a frame, and all you have to do is look at his dad to see what it can be,

but he's got a frame that can get much bigger. And that's probably why he transitions better to whether it's a defensive end or tight end or an outside linebacker or something like that. But I do think that he's, you know, in the right spot right now. And, you know, first year, he's probably going to be playing scout team anyway. So they'll see what he's capable of doing. And yeah, he's probably on the track to be in a tight end, but he very well could be moving to a different position

if his skill set leans that way. You mentioned the wide receiver out of Aurora, and that's Terrence Smith, 6'4", 175 pounds, being your prototypical X guy, right? Out wide with the big size, the height to him to go along with it. But is that really it, that they're recruiting at the wide receiver position, at least at the high school level? Which you look at Big Ten rosters, you look at scholarship numbers at other Big Ten teams, there are not many teams that are built like Iowa and as few of scholarship wide receivers that they have.

Is Smith it, basically? They're kind of putting all their eggs in that basket? At this point, yes. That's what Iowa's looking at is one wide receiver in this class. And, you know, and I think this is what everybody's been asking for, which makes perfect sense, which is get one scholarship receiver. And then after that, check to see what's in the portal. You might have more luck there. And so that makes a lot of sense for Iowa right now, probably because they've gone the

traditional route. It hasn't really worked for them. And well, nothing's worked in that position group for the most part. And then if they have got some pretty good ones that have stuck around um then they transfer so it's really uh a lot of questions in that position group so but but terrence smith does fit the part really well he's pretty good i want to ask you one other on the recruiting front for 2025 it's the quarterback in this class and in j Sullivan, a guy that he was committed before Tim Lester got the job,

stayed on after the coaching change at Offense Coordinator, obviously, and what's happened there. I've heard a bunch of things about Sullivan talking to people kind of deeper in the recruiting space. Some people really, really like him. Others aren't exactly sure.

What have you seen? What have you heard about Jimmy Sullivan? I think he's a good prospect, no question. Others aren't exactly sure. What have you seen? What have you heard about Jimmy Sullivan? I think he, you know, he's a good prospect, no question. The one thing is, you know, he's not really thought of that highly. I mean, he's not highly ranked at all for his position group. But then again, he was also the player of the year, the quarterback of the year as a junior in the biggest class in Indiana. So, you know, he's from class in Indiana. So, you know,

he's from Fort Wayne and, and that's, uh, you know, has some really good players. I'm not sure if he's, uh, you know, the guy that fits or not. I mean, you know, with Iowa, you kind of have to come in with a little bit of skepticism at that position because they haven't really heard it very well. Uh, but, uh, they do see enough apparently under Tim Lester or, or like him enough to where they feel like he's the guy for them in the future. And as we've seen, you know, right now, at least their top two and possibly their top three are all transfers. So I think, you know, for this one coming up, that's the one they've decided to go with early. And they've stuck with him.

And we'll see. You know, the other one is they do have a walk-on coming in in Ryan Fitzgeraldgerald and i think in some ways they've made him the uh you know he's a walk-on but he might be better than that and uh you know it wouldn't surprise me at all if he's a walk-on and name only and then uh he might be one of the rare ones i always had at that position that might be able to actually compete and earn a scholarship at some point. You go through wide receiver, and I guess the biggest story the last couple weeks was the arrest of Caleb Brown. We've talked about that a little bit in the past. Are you surprised, though, at this point we haven't heard a suspension,

anything like that? Because normally, I know in-season's a lot different than out-of-season, and he ended out of suspension. I thought we'd hear something by now from by now, from Kirk Ferentz. What do you read into that? Nothing. I mean, this doesn't happen very often for Iowa. So when it happens, we're jumping to conclusions on kids like this.

And, you know, he made a mistake. Obviously, it's terrible. He's going to be suspended for it. But, you know, kids who get out obis get one game suspensions unless something really significant happens out of that and and so it's the middle of the summer you know don't announce it i'm sure before the start of the first game and you know or even at big 10 media days in a couple weeks i i don't read anything into that you know we're the only thing i read into a trend is that there's not much going on

people want to know something yeah well you know we're looking for content you're looking for content we're looking for content we're always wondering and it leads us down some different paths certainly well one path i went down with my podcast uh last week was who has the most pressure for iowa football coming up this year so i'm going to pose it to you you can do player you can do coach up I think George Barnett's one of the guys that I certainly landed on the offensive line coach and maybe has the most pressure to build that thing up with so many returning starters coming back this year. Who is it for you? Who has the most pressure in 2024 for Iowa football? I would say Kirk Ferentz.

You know, all these years, you know, he's had had his son his son was the scapegoat the offense has been terrible the the defense has been great and if this defense uh if they find a way to lose those games that they won last year even with such a rough offense um i think then fans are going to start to really look at him and and start to wonder if it's time to turn the page i mean if this you know this team has the potential potential to win 10 or 11 regular season games and maybe get to Indianapolis or the playoff, and it also has the potential to be 7-5 and lose three or four games that could be very close and go the other way.

And if that happens in the new Big Ten, with all these defensive players here, I could see it going the other way. So that's who I would probably point at. I mean, it's too early to say that with Tim Lester, Cade McNamara. Maybe the pressure was on a little bit more last year. And Brian, I think it's less on now because he didn't have a complete year. He didn't have a good year. So, you know, I would probably point to Kirk Barrett.

Wow, yeah. I think that's a good one and a good way to look at it. You mentioned McNamara. It appears all systems go. He was playing in the softball tournament, the Iowa State softball game here a couple of weeks back. Sounds like health-wise, everything is good. What about, you know, kind of this time of year? Now that he's fully healthy, working with the wide receivers, those kind of things,

what are they doing right now and what's the importance of before we get into august camp what these guys are going through right now you know right now it's it's just trying to develop some chemistry and you know he's got some you know receivers he worked with a little bit i mean but you know a year a year ago spring he was rehab, so he didn't really get a chance to do much. In the summer, he did, and then he had the injury in fall camp and had an ACL. So now it's just about getting some sort of chemistry, especially with a new offensive coordinator. I mean, the routes are the routes. I mean, you're going to run the same types of routes.

You just cut them off differently and do some things differently there. But I think just developing some sort of bond and chemistry with the receivers and working out and then hanging out because football season is a long season, so grueling grinds. So I'm sure for him it's about trying to build the chemistry while also clearing your mind. Two more with Scott Dockerman from The Athletic. Doc, you mentioned Big Ten football media day as I get ready to head to Big 12.

Coming up here in a couple weeks for the Big Ten, who are going to be the representatives, you think, that are going to be tagging along with Kirk Ferentz taking the private jet out to Indianapolis? I hate guessing these because sometimes I guess who i want and something yeah i think they're gonna get i mean last year's representatives included luke lachey and jay higgins and it wouldn't surprise me to all of those two are going again and and then there's uh you know the third one is kind of up in the air i would i would say deontay craig has a really

good opportunity he's's from Indianapolis. I'd say Sebastian Castro should have every consideration. Really good story of the Chicagoland area. I would say Mason Richmond being a four-year starter at left tackle and gone through something more. Same thing with Logan Jones being a three-year starter at center. I think all of those, and then there's, of course, the one I would probably want to see, and I think most people would be Kate Bactamara. You know,

I'm sure there would be some real interest in him, but I would probably lean towards somebody like Sebastian Castro as being the third one to go along with Jay Higgins. Good stuff there. Well, Doc, I appreciate your time joining us on vacation. So a fun vacation or a stay vacation back home. Yeah, I'm going, I'm leaving later this week. Me and my son, On vacation, so a fun vacation or a staycation back home? Yeah, I'm leaving later this week. Me and my son are going to Mississippi.

He's joining the AmeriCorps. Oh, wow. So we're driving to Vicksburg, and we'll be back a week from Tuesday. So I'm taking a little bit of extended time here while I can, and so he'll be gone for almost a year. So, yeah, we're going to be out and about and be back a week from Tuesday. Well, safe travels to you, Doc, and we will talk to you when you get back.

Appreciate it as always. All right. Thanks, Trent. Appreciate it. That's Scott Dockerman from The Athletic. Follow him on Twitter at Scott Dockerman, writing about the Iowa Hawkeyes, the Big Ten, and college football as a whole now and his new role with the Athletics. Well, as you could hear last week, that was a conversation with Scott Dockerman, and we

do know who is going to Big Ten Football Media Days. It will be a return for Luke Lachey and Jay Higgins, as we talked about last week. Quinn Schulte, the new be there. Great stuff, as always, from Scott Dockerman. Always appreciate the time he gives us. A lot of great content on Iowa football. We continue. We got a busy week ahead of you.

Plus, what's happening in baseball? The draft continues and taking some tough ones for the Hawkeyes. Brody Brekka is a Rocky. We'll talk about that a little. Iowa baseball as we continue Locked on Hawkeyes. Locked on Hawkeyes. Trent Condon back with you one final time on the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Locked on Hawkeyes your first listen every day.

So Brody Breck, the Iowa baseball player, has been selected by the Colorado Rockies. Now went a little bit lower than I know many pundits out there believed. The control still remains an issue, and that is one of the concerns. We saw the walk rate continue to be very high, and he gets drafted by a place that is not friendly to pitchers by any means when you're talking about, obviously, what happens in Colorado. However, there is, I know, for some hope that potentially, maybe Brody Brecht will come back

for his final seasons of eligibility and a Hawkeye uniform and that everything's going to be okay. Don't hold your breath. The likelihood that we're going to see Brody Brecht come back in an Iowa uniform is incredibly slim. We know that he has big time money. The slotted value of the 38th pick is well north of $2 million. You have that component of it. That's going to be difficult

to turn down. A slot value of $2.4 million. Now, he also does have in his back pocket the ability to press Colorado just a little bit here. And with the option to come back for Iowa as a senior, maybe they'll have to pay over that slot value coupled with them being Colorado and trying to get starting pitching. Yeah, that can't be a bad thing. I don't think, at least for the agent of Brody Breck, trying to make that one happen.

Now, we anticipated this was going to be the case. Again, we're talking about less than a percent chance. I believe that Brody Breck's going to be back in a high school, in an Iowa uniform. Out of high school, Joey Oki saw Joey play. In fact, I just saw him play a couple weeks ago, calling a game for Ankeny Centennial when they were over in Urbandale. He's a stud.

I mean, there's no two ways about it. So he was just drafted earlier today in the MLB draft. He was taken in the third round and got the call, and he is going to a great place. As bad as Brody's selection was, having to go to Colorado and that organization, and ultimately, if he makes the major leagues, where it would go for him.

Joey Oki going to Cleveland. The Guardians' development of pitching, starting pitching, relief pitching, all of it is absolutely amazing. It's some of the best in the game, and it has been that case for the better part of a decade now. They've been incredibly good at building prospects up and what they do on getting these guys ready to go. The slot value for the 84th pick, that's what Joey Oki went, is just shy of a million dollars, $906,000.

Oh boy, that is going to be, again, very, very difficult to see him showing up in an Iowa baseball uniform. And that's not all. Sam Peterson's also been selected today. The big time bat for the Hawkeyes. So their blows, we anticipated they would all happen. However, that one stings just a little bit. Coming up this week, Lockdown Hawkeyes.

We got more conversations with some of the Iowa media members, including John Boenkamp. It's going to be stopping by later. Tom Caker from hawkeyereport.com. We're going to make our first installment. We've gotten away from what we did last summer. Throwback Thursdays,

and we're going to be taking a look back at some of the great teams in Iowa history. We got that coming up on Thursday and some great memories. Plus, we start to preview everything going on with this Iowa football team.

We'll start going position by position and a deep dive of all the players on the roster and what we expect for them coming up in the 2024 season. It is a busy one. We're with you, your team every day here on the lockdown network. We have you covered on the Hawkeye front with lockdown Hawkeyes. Are you watching Fox Sports or ESPN all day on your TV? Do you have to turn

down the volume because of all that shouting? Well, it's time to make the switch to Locked On Sports Today. It's a free 24-7 sports streaming channel programmed for you every day to bring you the biggest stories without all that screaming. Locked On Sports Today brings you can't-miss analysis, opinions, and news

streaming 24-7 on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app. All part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Hope everybody enjoys your Monday. Baseball draft will continue. There's

potentially some new names that are going to be coming into the fray on that front. Potential some guys possibly coming back. A lot to go on. Basketball, football, we got you covered. Your team every day. Maybe a little even wrestling content in the offseason. Hey, why not?

Love to be here with you. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Go Hawks.