Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - How surprising is the Transfer Portal Haul for Iowa Football? The gambling investigation from a player perspective

Episode Date: May 18, 2023

Trent Condon and LeShun Daniels get together on the latest edition of the Locked on Hawkeyes Podcast. They look at the transfer portal haul and ask the question about how surprising it is for Kirk Ferentz to dive in this deep.LeShun explains what the conversations were like as an Iowa football player when it came to sports gambling while he was an Iowa football player.Also a look at this time on the calendar and what players were able to do before reporting back in June to get the summer program going.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BirddogsToday's episode is brought to you by Birddogs. Go to birddogs.com/lockedoncollege and when you enter promo code, LOCKEDONCOLLEGE, they’ll throw in a free custom birddogs Yeti-style tumbler with every order.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.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) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today on Locked On Hawkeyes, we got LaShawn Daniels back in. We're going to talk a lot of Iowa football, get his perspective, the gambling investigation. What were those conversation likes for players when they told you don't gamble on sports? We'll get into that, the offseason and the lead up, getting back ready for June camp. A lot of guys will be arriving on campus. What is this time period like for Iowa football? All today on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Our Locked On Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. He's LaShawn Daniels. 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 get podcasts. You can also find us on YouTube. While you're there, make sure you hit that subscribe button. Helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans.

LaShawn, good to catch up with you again. How are things? Yeah, yeah. It's always good to be on the pod. Things have been good. It's nice starting to get some nice weather, which has been fantastic. Being able to be outside a bunch and then, you know, just a bunch of work. I literally feel like work from sunup to sundown, just running away.

Which is a good thing, right? Especially with how the economy is and a bunch of different things, it's good to be in a decent job and working, so I can't really complain. How about you? Everything's good here back in the

state of Iowa. Excited. We got a lot going on on the front as we kind of morph our way into the offseason a little bit deeper. We're past spring football, but we've got a couple of things we want to get into here today. The gambling investigation. I know you had the conversation when you were an Iowa player, and I want to get into that a little bit more and kind of what you guys were told about gambling.

It's a different world now with it being legalized in the state of Iowa, but we're going to get into that. I want to start here today, though, as we await a couple weeks away from guys like Nick Jackson, who will be transferring in from Virginia, Rusty Feth coming in from Miami, Ohio, then all the freshmen that weren't early enrollees that they make their way onto campus. But for the players, this is, I mean, is this basically your vacation? Is this kind of your time? Finals are done. School's done. A lot of summer classes haven't quite started yet. Is this a time where a lot of guys are going home?

What's it like inside the football offices in this kind of lead up until the time we get back to June? What is this time like for the football players? Yeah. So this time right now is probably the most valuable time like personal time you're gonna have the entire the entire year maybe even like right after the bowl game or after the season ends you get um a pretty decent break but like right now um i don't know when their classes ended but like say for example they ended last week like they basically have off

until players have off until players have off until like the first week of june ish so like you got a bunch of time so a lot of times this is the time when i would head home um see you see the family um because obviously being from ohio i wasn't it's not like i was driving home every weekend or anything like that like i was just heading back you know two three maybe three times a year so this time it's a bunch of valuable time guys getting back home around their families maybe even if they have any vacations set up like this is the time that you're going to take them and then uh the strength the strength conditioning staff they'll give us like

some some little workouts and things to do for us just so we don't come back that first week of June just, like, completely out of it. But they know, obviously, this is a vital time just for our bodies to make sure that, hey, we're getting rest and recovery. We're getting away from the facility, getting away from, you know, just the football complex in general, just so you can get back and just relax. know, just the football complex in general, just so you can get back and just relax. Because once you get back now, you're basically you're basically in it until January. Like, I mean, you're going to have like you have like a quick little break at the beginning of July and like maybe like a weekend, like before fall camp. But like I say, once you get back in June, it's like like you're in it until the end of football season you know as we look at this and i mentioned a couple of the newcomers

coming in nick jackson he's got big shoes to fill taking over for either jack campbell in the middle or playing outside depending on what they do with him and jay higgins but he's gonna be in the liebacker spot and he's gonna be really important rusty feth adding some depth to the interior the offensive line, those guys coming in. And then you just think of it in its totality. As we look at this haul that Iowa football brought in this season and going to the portal, Iowa has, you know, put their toe in the water a little bit the last couple of years

and just how hard they have gone now through the portal and what they bring in. I'll be honest, LaShawn, I didn't think it was going to ever happen at this level. I thought it would be no trickle. The Cade back to Mariners, that was huge in its own right, right? Getting a player like that to come in from the portal. But you couple it with Eric Hall and Deacon Hill. And in the forementioned, Rusty Feth, a couple of receivers and Seth Anderson and Caleb Brown

coming in from Ohio State. Dejan Parker to help by that offensive tackle spot. Not just getting a couple of guys, but getting just this volume. Portal Kirk, a guy that you know incredibly well. Did you ever think we were going to be at this kind of point with the haul that they brought in this season? To be honest, no. So I was definitely encouraged when Transportal first opened back in, was that December?

And you're like, okay, like, yeah, they're definitely making some really good moves. But it wasn't anything like, like, it was great moves, but it wasn't anything like just completely like, wow, like, absolutely just mind-blowing. So I figured, like, hey, they probably feel pretty good about the roster where it's at. But, see, they're going to continue to make some moves, additional moves. And then, lo and behold, as time has kind of gone on, and the second transfer portal window opened, again, they got back in it again and was very, very involved, which I think is just encouraging.

Obviously, we kind of figured out where they felt, where they were as a roster last year and they definitely obviously had to sit down a bunch and really go and evaluate from top to bottom like okay like where are weaknesses where can we really look to improve and what guys are available in the transfer portal that we're not um sure that the people that we're bringing in you know in our recruiting class like for high schoolers are going to be able to make that immediate impact in this upcoming year. So they obviously had to go out.

I have the guys in the portal, and I think they found, you know, a couple players that are definitely going to make a really quick, immediate impact, and then some other guys that are going to be some really, really good depth pieces on the roster as they continue to go through the time at Iowa. So I think I was honestly genuinely surprised of how hard they actually attacked it, but I'm glad that they did just because, again, we've talked about it on this show plenty of times. It's just the way the future of college football really is.

You're not just going to be able to just win on your own recruiting class, high school recruiting classes you bring in every year. You're going to have to go out. You're going to have to do some additional recruiting on some guys that are on different teams throughout college football that can help bolster your roster and really give you guys a boost and several position needs. It's almost like a free agency in the NFL, right?

I mean, obviously you have the draft and you're definitely always trying to draft for the best player available. But a lot of times if you're agency, you're trying to target some positions of need. And I feel like that Iowa has really done that during these two transfer portal periods. You know, it's really cool too

that Iowa kind of did it the Iowa way, right? It wasn't just going out there and looking for the flashiest things or the guys that had the most stars behind their name. It was, we want to know these guys and not just guys that can help our football team, but also fit into culture, the Iowa culture and what Kirk Ferens builds time in a timeout. It's not just a cliche, is it at Iowa? It is something that's incredibly important to the program. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's something that is drilled into you really from the day you get on campus, like from any of the orientations, whether it's from the football staff or the academic staff or whoever is really involved with the program.

It's a culture thing from top to bottom. And obviously, you don't know exactly how each person is until you actually get them there and you're around them all the time. But you can definitely do a good chunk of due diligence. And Iowa has continually done that throughout the years. It's part of the reason why a bunch of the players that have played at Iowa always, like, love to come back, right? You know, they treat like family and different things like that

just because they've got that – Coach Ferris has built such a strong culture at Iowa that the guys, they want to come back. They want to be around. They want to be involved in a variety of different things. And obviously getting players that are in right now that they have to be able to fit that mold and obviously if they end up not hey they end up doing different things and then that's okay too but definitely the guys that you get in the building

they're guys that you want to have in the building they're good people and as well as being good football players let's uh continue our conversation and look at the football program and what you went through when gambling was different it wasn't legal in the state of Iowa but I know it was a Let's continue our conversation and look at the football program and what you went through when gambling was different. It wasn't legal in the state of Iowa, but I know it was a conversation that was incredibly important that you guys had year after year. We're going to get into that as we continue here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. And what is the latest in the investigation?

We continue here in a moment with more Lockdown Hawkeyes. Today's episode is brought to you by Bird Dogs. Now, LaShawn, I don't know if you got the info. So Bird Dogs, they are our newest sponsor here on the Lockdown Network. These are incredibly comfortable shorts, pants, and I just got a box in the mail. I just got the delivery notification. Now, I'm stuck here in the radio studio, so I haven't got my hands on them yet, but I'm pumped up about this one.

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So looking forward to that, LaShawn, and looking forward to this Iowa football season. But we do have questions going on right now. And one of the main questions that I continue to get, who's going to be in trouble for the gambling investigation? We did know that football is involved. At what realm? I've been told probably not any headliners, not anybody that would make you say, oh boy, this Hawkeye team is in trouble but every one of the 85 scholarship guys are important and we'll have more information it sounds like in the coming days so going back to when you were playing at iowa legalized gambling in the state was not something that was there for sports wagering paspo when that was overturned completely changed things in iowa

became one of the first states where sports wagering was legalized outside of of course Las Vegas and Nevada um what was it like what were those conversations like because I've talked to plenty of people in the past everybody knew you can't gamble on sports yeah I mean like in general like we like we knew like hey um in general like gambling isn't something you know we really participated in like that very like that very often i mean even like movements of bowl games they always like gave us like warnings about gambling going to casinos and things like that um and you know sports gambling um although it's still gambling um it's obviously a lot closer to home because most a lot

of times that as a player you're probably going to be and directly involved whether it's you know obviously your type of play and people fighting for or against you right um and you know i would be i would be lying if i said up here and said that i was completely paid attention i was locked in every single time that we had like orientations like about those different things about gambling. But in general, when you got out of the conversations, it just, it just came down to, Hey, don't even bother with it. Don't bother with sports gambling. It's not worth the risk. It's not worth the trouble. Obviously, once you get done playing, go ahead,

do, do, do as you please. But know as as of right now try do not get involved with it just because hey i mean a student athlete can't be can't be involved with it there's a ton of different rules and regulations around it as betting as an as an athlete and it just wasn't just not worth the headache and you know trying to think of every exact situation of when you can and can't gamble i mean that's the same reason as what got some of those lions football uh players in trouble as well because again in the nfl like you can you can bet as a player but you can't like there's certain rules that you that are for and against you like you can't obviously can't bet on NFL games obviously we saw that um with Calvin Ridley a couple years ago got in trouble um and then you

can't bet like when you're on the plane you can't gamble when you're you know in the facility and things like that so it's like why I have to deal with all of that when you just say forget it I'm just not even gonna bother with it and you know i'll get into that realm once i'm done playing so yeah everyone definitely knows that you can't gamble so um it's not like play it like people didn't know no it's i'm a gambler i think leshawn you you picked up on that in our conversations here for the last nine votes or so i love to gamble i gamble every single day and it doesn't matter the sport. I'm always involved. Now I'm a low wager player. I don't put a lot of money into

it. I'm not going to ever have anything where my mortgage is going to be in trouble or can't pay the daycare bill or anything like that. I'm betting 10 bucks a time and I just have fun with it. It is really at this point in time, it's kind of, I call it my hobby. I don't collect memorabilia. I don't do things like that. It is ultimately for me. That is what I do kind of as my hobby. I'm not going to make a ton of money. I'm not going to lose a ton of money. I'm just going to enjoy it and be able to go that route. So that's how I look at it. And with it being legalized and just the change in structure, do you believe that there should be a way that college athletes can bet on sports? Not their own teams, obviously, not even the sport that they play and probably not even the school

that they go to. You can't bet on the women's basketball team. There was rumblings that maybe that was something that some of these players were betting on Iowa to beat South Carolina, you know, in the final four, things like that. But where if you're a football player and you want to bet on the NBA, you want to bet a baseball game and whatever the limits are, you can do that. Plus, the guys have a little more money these days to dabble in something like that. Are you somebody that you think the NCAA, at minimum, needs to relook at the way that this is put together and kind of the hard and fast rules that are out there? kind of the hard and fast rules that are out there well i definitely think there should be something because um i mean i can speak a little bit closer because um nfl and especially because my brother's still playing so like yeah conversations all the time and you know you see all the advertisements

throughout um you know the games or whatever it's on nfl network or whatever you see this stuff it's like you know draft kings it's fan duel it's whatever betting site that you guys use like all that stuff is being advertised and you know how like it can't be that fair like if you know you're advertising all these different things and the people that are employed they're actually doing all the stuff they're making the money and they can't take advantage of it it definitely can definitely be frustrating so now you come back to NCAA and now you're looking at it like oh um okay like there needs to be something around it because now obviously like all this stuff is being promoted um you know what's being seen on commercials when you're playing games when

you're watching games and all this stuff and again the people that are directly contributing to the outcome of this stuff can't take can't partake in it it's definitely something that needs to be be looked at but i mean it's such a fine line with with everything because i mean obviously as an athlete you're typically going to have a lot better information than your average Joe, right? And now you obviously, you got to have rules around that. And, you know, you've talked about it, you know, obviously not betting on, you know, your team

or even, you know, other sports teams or the same university, things like that. So they're going to have to come up with some type of rules and regulations where I don't think just outright not allowing them to do it. I just, I don't think that that's very fair, but it's got to be something there and it's got to be like a definitive line that players know what they can and can't do. So, you know, you kind of avoid the situation and you avoid a bunch of guys, you know,

getting in trouble for, again, doing things, taking part of what you said and, you know, a hobby, because I can definitely hear that. Like it definitely does make watching some of the sports a little bit more entertaining, especially when you got a little, something extra riding on it besides, you know, just, just a gut feeling. Sean Daniels, Trent Condon with you here on Locked On Hawkeyes. We'll take a quick timeout, continue our conversation in the gambling world.

We talked about our odds from fan duel overrunners on football totals. There's some new odds out, the Big Ten West. Who's going to win the division? We'll talk about that as we roll through here on Locked On Hawkeyes. that as we roll through here on Locked On Hawkeyes. Trent Condon and LaShawn Daniels back with you one final time on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Coming up tomorrow, you every dayers, we got you covered as we will talk about the Iowa

baseball team. They open up a series here today against Northwestern. A sweep is important, not just because of the way that it sets up for the Big Ten standings as we get ready for next week in Omaha and the Big Ten tournament, but Northwestern stinks. Can't afford a loss against the Wildcats. All right, LaShawn, wrapping up. So I've been talking here a lot last week or two about the over-under at FanDuel for every Big Ten team, including the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Put them up on the screen here for our viewers on YouTube. You see Iowa there. Seven and a half is the number. Very simply, Iowa, if you think they're going to win eight games or more, you bet the over. If you think they're going to be seven or five and worse, you bet the under. So that's all well and good.

First of all, LaShawn, I think that number is absolutely crazy. I don't think there is any reason at all that we should see that be the number currently out there. I don't get it. It doesn't make sense. They won seven games last year in the regular season. With some of the worst quarterback play and offensive play, we've seen a Power 5 conference history. They just got to win one more game with an easier schedule. What am I missing here?

This seems like, I hate to say lock, this seems like a lock. They're going to win eight games or more in the regular season. Yeah, I mean, hey, I'm not a person. I'm not the biggest betting man at all. But if I had to, you know, really stay here and make a claim,

I'd be like, yeah, I mean, they're for sure going to win more than seven and a half games next year. Like, they've made improvements on the roster um defense is still going to be phenomenal um you do it does set up an easier schedule i mean i think i just looked at it the other day um i think what maybe the biggest game of the year is what the penn state game and happy Valley so like like it's a very very favorable schedule like and if Iowa continues to do the Iowa thing right I feel like they're

going to be all right and I feel like every year when it comes when whenever Iowa's had a year where it's been kind of like a disappointing like end or just wasn't what kind of you would be expected like from not only like inside the building but from you know general fans i always feel like there's some type of there's always like this like bounce back like type of year where it's like i will bring this head back around it's like yeah like we're still here we're still we're still um you know really really good football team and i feel like this is is setting up for that for a good chance. So, yeah, I don't know. I don't know how they got that line.

I think they just figured, you know, let's put all like some of like the regular Big Ten West teams. Let's throw them in there. Let's give them seven and a half, six and a half wins line and then put Wisconsin at the top because they're Wisconsin. half wins a line and then put Wisconsin at the top because they're Wisconsin. And that's how I feel like they went ahead and placed those lines. I just, I really struggle with it. I do. I think the gap, and you can make an argument.

Look, Wisconsin gets that game in Madison against Iowa. All right, there's an advantage. They're still going to be good defensively, but the transition that they're going through offensively, I just, I struggle with that. Now, here's another thing. Not yet available. It will be soon at FanDuel. They will have the odds, not just to win the conference.

Those are up right now. Iowa's 14 to one to win the Big Ten championship game, but they'll have division odds up. And there is another site that does have those up currently. Wisconsin's the betting favorite. They're plus 160 meaning you make a hundred dollar bet or a ten dollar bet my stake when you win sixteen dollars or 160 i was three to one though i don't think the gap is that big i wisconsin favorite fine

but that big i don't get it lashawn iowa what am i missing here you know i'm also not the most optimistic guy. I think they're going to be really, really good this year. I think they have a chance to be 10-2, 11-1 good this season. Is it just that national narrative that we got to see it from Brian Ference, we have to see it out of this offense? It was just so bad the last two years. Does that remain, I guess, the question?

I think I really feel like that's really honestly kind of what it's what it's come down to i mean like don't get me wrong obviously wisconsin they've been phenomenal program for a long time now um you gotta they brought in a great coach and fickle who's done it um you know been successful basically everywhere he's been and but like you watch that iowa w Wisconsin game last year and you're like like I will look like they were well well ahead of of them in that football game and I will improve their roster this offseason I'll see Wisconsin did as well but I will improve the roster again like I feel like if Wisconsin is better I feel like it's not like they're not that type of that big of a gap better um than iowa so i really think it's going to come down to the offense and how they end up

performing because obviously we know everyone knows the comments about the offense right we talk about every every single opportunity we get um but if offense is even just you know marginally better than they were last year which i think they have opportunity to do because again the line play wasn't great quarterback play wasn't great um and you know you've made improvements at those at those uh key spots like i don't i don't see why they I don't see how the gap's not closer, to be honest. I'm believing they're right with you, and I think that they have the opportunity to be a really good

football team this year. That's kind of where I'm at. We're in the same spot. This is a good time for the players getting ready to make their way back for June. We're going to talk about that as well. Kind of what do you get those new teammates in there? What's that like for the Iowa program?

I want to get your perspective on that here in the coming weeks. Good catching up with you again, though. LaShawn, appreciate it. Yeah. It's always, always, always a great time. Stay busy over there. And I saw that likeness is coming to the EA sports college football game. So we'll get to actually play with Cade McNamara as he'll come back for another season next year, right? We'll be able to do that.

Yeah, that's the hope, right? I mean, obviously it comes down to the player's decision at the end of the day. But yeah, pretty pumped about it. That's cool. Good stuff. LaShawn Daniels, Trent Conant, thanks for joining us here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast every day or

again more coming your way as we'll wrap up the week tomorrow we got you covered on the Iowa baseball front Iowa softball also played in their tournament postseason tournament that's going on right now we'll get you updated on that and as always plenty of football and basketball talk here on Lockdown Hawkeyes thanks for making

Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day we'll talk to you again tomorrow Go Hawks