Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - INSIDER: Chit Chat Wright TARGETED as Iowa's Next Point Guard | Will She SOLVE Point Guard Worries?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Iowa basketball isn't just aiming for March, they're built for it. Here's why the Hawkeyes are going to be dancing in 2026. 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 Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. I've been covering the Hawkeyes for over 20 years on the radio across the state of Iowa including currently on the Iowa Sports Radio Network. You can find me on stations in Iowa City. KXIC there. Cedar Rapids

Starting point is 00:00:43 95.7 on the dial also the quad cities over Western Iowa in Sioux City and of course our flagship station in the capital city of Des Moines 106.3 KXNO each weekday from noon to two talking the world of sports with Ken Miller today's episode of Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast is brought to you by Game Time download the Game Time app create an account and and use code locked on college for $20 off your first purchase. Boy, we got a lot to get into here today as the transfer portal continues to

Starting point is 00:01:14 hit. We got a little wrestling to talk about. We will get into that as maybe Iowa Wrestling has picked up their 197 pounder and potential, not just All American, maybe even a little bit more. We will get into that also a devastating loss for Iowa baseball falling to a brutal Western Illinois team as I was chances of being an NCAA tournament dead with this loss we'll get into that a little bit later on but we got football we got basketball we

Starting point is 00:01:43 got portal talk we're going to get into we're also going to talk a little bit about an upcoming But we got football, we got basketball, we got Portal Talk we're going to get into. We're also going to talk a little bit about an upcoming i club event and how you can get involved. That's coming up with Addison Bouton. So a lot to get into, but we begin today's conversation with the Portal. And a little bit interesting, as today it was finally announced that the commitment of Brendan

Starting point is 00:02:03 Howson is official. So he's been committed for a while. The news came out, there was an Instagram post and everything with it, and as we made our way into the second week, is still wondering from where's the official release from the University of Iowa? Where is the rundown of their accolades and those kinds of things? We just got it the day before, and when that happened, I think a lot of people were left kind of scratching their head, right? Left wondering, how can this happen where we get Alvaro Fulgaris commits over the weekend,

Starting point is 00:02:41 and then we get a press release on Monday, and here we are more than a week later, and we don't have anything for housing. Now, it's all good. But you know how the mind wanders, right? We know, I think, how a lot of minds work, myself included. You're just left wondering, what's going on? Is there more to the story?

Starting point is 00:02:58 Is he looking? No. All good. Sign on the dotted line. Signed his scholarship paper, so he is good. And now you look at this roster and you look at this group and what they are and the way they're built and they're not done. So Iowa basketball has got a couple other candidates. They're still looking at a couple other guys. It's a nine man roster right now. other guys. Dylan Darling is another name. Now he's visiting St. John's. Texas A&M's involved in what you're talking about well-funded programs. Texas A&M and St. John's are two programs certainly high up on the list. But St. John's just picked up Jackson the North Carolina transfer. They

Starting point is 00:03:39 think he's going to be a point guard or at least told him he was going to be a point guard there. What does that mean for Dylan Darling? I was looking for another ball handler. And as we talked a lot about yesterday with Fool Garris, do you need that rim protector? You need that more physical presence. Man Juan, him, I think, can play together. You can play both of them at the four and the five.

Starting point is 00:03:59 Both would be undersized fives. But I think you can do it. The other part, though, is you want another ball handler. And he wants somebody else that can do that. Cale Combs in that backup point guard role, it's gonna be all right. There's a few other guys on the roster, but a guy like Hassan, that's not what he is.

Starting point is 00:04:16 He is a spot up shooter, that is his game, six foot four, an elite level shooter. But that's what he is. He doesn't add a whole lot of versatility to the skillset you're talking about McCullum wants to have another ball handler out there and that's the reason that they're looking at guys like darling He averaged 20 points five assists a year ago at Idaho State They're not done

Starting point is 00:04:36 But even as the roster is structured right now, I believe this is an NCAA tournament team You start with Sturtz and what Sturtz was able to do. And if you didn't watch him, just take a glimpse at a couple of games. Go back and I think a lot of people saw what he did against Missouri and even Texas Tech in the NCAA tournament, but go back to a couple of different times

Starting point is 00:05:01 if you have the opportunity, if you're looking to cut it up, not just highlight packages. And it also shows you Ben McCollum as a coach. The way that he plays it, the point guard position, how he has built guys up, there is a really good rundown of things over at rivals, at HawkeyeBeacon.com. And over there, it was put together in a way, really showing against different kinds of coverages, what they're trying to do, the action that they use. And it's not set plays, it's a motion offense,

Starting point is 00:05:34 but what they're doing and the different actions that come out of it and using different kinds of cuts to get the ball into the hands of Sturtz. He's going to be a high level player. He's going to be an all Big 10 type of player. I believe at minimum we're going to have that. When you have a point guard like that, a guy that not only can fill it up from the outside,

Starting point is 00:05:54 but is such a good facilitator and has the size of 6'4", and the versatility that you're going to get out of Sturtz, that is a great starting point. We also mentioned yesterday the culture culture and bringing the five guys together from Drake, help building that culture right away. Your baseline is you got five guys that know exactly what McCullum and company are going to be looking for. There's no guesswork. There's no feeling out process. These guys know,

Starting point is 00:06:21 and they're going to be able to lead by example right away. They're going to be able to be those guys are going to be able to go out there and have Iowa hit the ground running when practice starts in September. When they're getting out there and really hit the ground as we get ready for the season, they're going to be there. And I think that is a huge leg up. That's not the case. I Found it interesting Kevin Willard took Maryland to the sweet 16. We knew he was leaving and he did None of his players followed him done of the I believe it was eight guys that had collegiate eligibility, but with him from Maryland Villanova and yet yet five guys from Drake

Starting point is 00:07:04 five guys including obviously Bennett Sturtz that were going to get paid. Were going to get a big payday. But they didn't look around. It wasn't even that they knew they were eventually going to end up in Iowa. They didn't even want to go through the process. They didn't want to be wine and die. They didn't want to go see other campuses. All they wanted to do is every one of these five guys go play basketball again for Ben McCollum. That's where you're starting. That's a good start.

Starting point is 00:07:34 Fulgaris, Hassan, and now Kuprakach, who I think is an absolute perfect fit of what McCollum wants to do. Go back and look at those Northwest Missouri state teams. One thing that they always had was shooters all over the place. They were a more prolific shooting team than certainly what you saw a year ago at Drake. Drake did not have five guys on the floor that could shoot the

Starting point is 00:07:56 basketball. And they're probably not going to have it this year at Iowa. They're not going to be certainly at the same level that what I think Ben McCollum eventually wants this program to look like. They're going to defend, they're going to rebound, they're going to play at a high level, and they got dudes. There's still more that can be coming. A rim protector, yeah, we'll love it. I saw a seven-footer from Queens, Queens College in Charlotte. Heverage like five points five rebounds a game. A guy like that. Even in a low major just a guy that is a physical presence that could play a little bit of defense. He looked like he moved okay again. We're talking highlight packages and that's mostly what this is but a player like that.

Starting point is 00:08:37 Because centers they're paid gobs of money in the portal. Big guys that can move. Big guys that can elevate. Big guys that can do those kind of things. Those are the ones that are going to get a bulk of the money. Iowa has built a solid roster. Iowa and Ben McCollum is going to be a tournament team. That's not all. There is more happening in the portal. We will get into it. Iowa Wrestling, what is happening there as Iowa very well could have picked up their 197 pounder, but Iowa women's basketball, as loud as it's been on the men's basketball front, things have been pretty quiet on the women's front. They might have a new game and potentially the point guard of the present

Starting point is 00:09:21 and the future will talk about a fun one. Chat, Chat Right from Georgia Tech. That's next. Lockdown Hawkeyes. There's nothing like the atmosphere of an NBA playoff game. Every bucket, every defense is stopped, every moment, it feels huge. It's electric in the arena and with game time, you can be part of it without the stress of last minute ticket hunting. Game time makes it fast and easy to get playoff tickets even when demand is sky high. Prices in the app actually go down as tip off gets closer and their last

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Starting point is 00:10:52 Try kind of back with you once again on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast your team every day that's what we do here glad to have you aboard on the Hawkeye front you every dayers a big shout out to you joining us each and every day as we talk Hawkeyes all day every day here on the Hawkeye front. You every dayers, a big shout out to you joining us each and every day as we talk Hawkeyes all day, every day here on the Locked On Network. We continue here and more portal news. We jump over to the women's basketball front. Chit Chat Wright is the name of the point guard that I was after. Now, you start incredibly quick. Uh you watch her film and as you go, I would need

Starting point is 00:11:27 to point guard. Addie Deal is a combo guard. She can play point and a pitch, but this is not Caitlin Clark. It's not Caitlin Clark for a myriad of different reasons, but Addie Deal is a McDonald's All-American. She's going to be a star. She's going to be good, but I think you're putting a lot on a freshman to come in and for a team that has NCAA tournament aspirations to expect her to be able to run the point right away all the time. It's just not realistic. And after Geithen left, after Iowa missed out a couple of targets I think they felt really good about, you get a little bit further down the line.

Starting point is 00:11:57 And when you look at Chit Chat right, I think the first thing that you see is the height. She's only 5'4". So at 5'4", there's going to be some things, deficiencies that you look at. Now they're able to get away with it with Molly, but again, she wasn't the point card. You also saw some of those defensive assignments and she was tough as a bulldog too. Chichette, her greatest strength is her speed, her quickness. She's lightning fast. She is a one player press breaker. You know, Iowa struggled so many times this year. You go back to the Tennessee game with

Starting point is 00:12:30 the 30 turnovers. There were other ones where the turnovers are just piling up. And she is the kind of player that's going to be able to do that. Good shooter, good quickness, incredibly smart basketball player. The basketball IQ is huge. Three years of eligibility. I don't want to say that it's a definite happening, but Iowa feels pretty good that this one's going to come to fruition and Iowa's going to get their point guard for next season. They need it because you look at this roster, they're going to be good again and there's a chance for them to be special. You look at what we saw towards the end of the season from Ava Hyden. How much next season are you going to be able to play Hannah Stolke and Hyde together? You look at the rest of that sophomore class and really the stars that very well could be there.

Starting point is 00:13:14 Malaney, I think a part of that. Shremlo definitely has those kind of things. So you got those pieces that are going to be there. The veteran presence coming back, Fjerbaak coming back for another season. It looks to be another successful season, but point guard, you got to get this one right. Jan Jensen continued to do work in the portal. Plus there was another interesting nugget that was put out a while back. So if you remember back to the coaching search, we talked a little bit about Trilli Donovan here. Trilli Donovan is an online persona, somebody in the college basketball ranks. He's been put out of who he exactly is by weirdo Kentucky fans, but he's a guy that knows. He's an insider, had information, and for the most part, he's right on basically everything

Starting point is 00:13:58 as it pertains to the portal, coaching searches, those kinds of things. Well, there is something similar on the women's basketball side called Skim Mulkey. And this person put out something, it was a while back again, about Iowa maybe waiting till June before they had their complete answer of point guard. I don't know what that means. You could speculate a million different ways. We're not going to do that here. I love to speculate.

Starting point is 00:14:28 This one kind of threw me for a loop. But just something to put away. Here is we month and a half from now, maybe something's happening. I don't know what that would be. Is it a foreign player? Is it somebody that needs to graduate before they're going into the portal?

Starting point is 00:14:41 I have no idea what exactly that could be. Or it could be nothing. But but just again something to file away for a little bit later we got wrestling news to get into and we also got to talk about the Iowa baseball disaster just an absolutely hideous loss to an awful Western Illinois team and very well could put this Iowa baseball team in a difficult spot as a pain pertains to making the NCAA tournament. Obviously, winning the Big Ten tournament, you get the automatic bid that goes along

Starting point is 00:15:10 with it. This one though, against the Leathernecks, going to be a stinger. We'll talk about that as we continue. But first, talk a little iClub coming up right around the corner, the Pout County iClub. Addison Bouton, a conversation with Addison about what's happening here in the boy and coming up. I had us in Bowdoin is the president of the Polk County I club their big event is coming up. April the 30th is the date Addison good to meet you how are you. Well, thanks for having me in and studio today guys know good to see you so how's how's, uh, still continuing to build.

Starting point is 00:15:47 I know that at the end we saw the, uh, we saw the numbers of going out to men's basketball games, but as you quick to point out, when I asked you that affair, well, the women are carrying them, carrying the water, um, and, and and the have for the last few years. So, uh, still a lot of interest. Um, and this banquet should be well attended, I'm assuming. Yes, we're sure hoping for. Yep.

Starting point is 00:16:07 With the hiring of Coach McCollum, it definitely brought, definitely heard from a lot of our board members and just Hawkeye fans in the area that, yeah, excitement is higher than it's been for a little while. Yeah. And Trent and I are both friends and fans. Me too. I really like Fran, what he did for the program when he came in and the shape it was in when he arrived and so no wish. Definitely wish Fran best of luck out at

Starting point is 00:16:33 Penn. Yeah. Also, he landed on his feet. He absolutely did. And got a five star. TJ Power. How about that? We tried to get to Iowa City and Duke came calling that one quickly dissipated a Addison What a question for you. We talked so much here and It happens in all walks. It doesn't matter if you're at the corner bar the coffee shopper at Casey's Everybody's talking about NIL right the money and what it takes to bring these players in

Starting point is 00:16:58 How does that change what you guys do with the I club and specifically you with the Polk County iClub. It has to be different circumstances than it was even four or five years ago because the Swarm Collective and the Wrestling Collective and all those different things. They're asking for money too. How different is, like you just said, Trent, there's a lot of many different areas are asking for money now as opposed to before when it was mostly straight through the university, the iClubs, and mainly going towards facility upgrades, that type of thing. So yeah, definitely, definitely harder just with all the different avenues with the swarm. But from how we operate in our main events that we do each year, it hasn't really changed. Who's going to be there for coaching wise? Will McCollum's schedule allow him to attend? Ference is usually there. I'd be surprised if he's not going. What have you got lined up?

Starting point is 00:17:59 So we have confirmed Coach Ference will be there, Coach Jensen, Beth Getz and Gary Dolphin will be our MC for the event. He is always there. We have not been able to confirm if Coach McCullen will be able to make it. If we do get that commitment, we will definitely put it out there on all of our social media platforms and get that out to fans. You know, I'd be surprised if his schedule allowed that he wouldn't attend because he seems like he gets it. If you know what I mean, he understands the PR that he's because he's got to build a roster,

Starting point is 00:18:34 but he's got to fill it. He's got to fill Carver, you know, get people excited about that again. And I believe he understands that a big part of at least year number one for him. Yeah. Even amongst trying to put put a roster together I think what was it last week or I saw it threw out the first match in the baseball game And it was out shaking hands and meeting Hawkeye fans there as well You are have the basketball front the excitement that certainly it feels like it's building back up with Ben McCollum

Starting point is 00:19:01 The football side of things Ken and I as we're going through spring time to time, something pops up. And now I just go back. They have a schedule that doesn't have Michigan doesn't have Ohio state and any normal year Addison that is, well, this is the year, right. But then you look, they got, I'll just match ups against three playoff teams. Indiana, Penn state and Oregon. You play an Iowa state team that played in the conference championship game a year ago.

Starting point is 00:19:25 Yeah, you don't have Ohio State Michigan this year, but this schedule for the Hawkeyes is going to be a bear in football. No doubt about it. I think there's definitely definitely there's always excitement for Iowa football. It's as I'll take a quote from you. I think Ken King football. Yeah, but but yeah, everyone's definitely, definitely excited about to Grunowski coming in and year two, year two under Lester. And I think every, I think excitement about football is always high.

Starting point is 00:19:56 Let me credit the mutual friend of the late Bob Dyer. That's who I borrowed that from, who you know, and I and I worked with and some people would still remember that. That was at the turn of the century with with Bob Dyer. All right, and our final because I don't want to run I don't want to run short on time. We have a hard break. The banquet is coming up on April the 30th. Why don't we just turn over the last minute minute and a half to you to make sure that we get everything in that you want. Whatever you want to promote now is your opportunity out of

Starting point is 00:20:24 supply. Yeah, our Polk County iClub annual spring banquet. So it will be Wednesday, April 30th. Marriott in West Des Moines. That's out on Jordan Creek Parkway. We have lots of different, you can buy tickets online through our website. So that will be Polk iClub.com. Okay, Polk iClub.com. Yep. Yep. And so yeah, comes there is a it's a dinner. So we'll have social hour from 530 to 630. And 630 will be a dinner followed by a program with the coaches Gary Dolphin at seven o'clock. We also, one thing I do want, we also always do a cool raffle.

Starting point is 00:21:07 And this year we will be raffling off two tickets to the Indiana Fever exhibition game at Carver. We also plan to do an auction for two tickets to that game as well. We do have four tickets total. And then we will also have some other cool autographed items from the coaches. I do know one of our items is a Chuck Long autographed, like full-size Hawkeye helmet along with some other autographed items from Hawkeye coaches and players. Good stuff.

Starting point is 00:21:36 Addison, great to meet you. Good luck with your event. Maybe one year, the schedule allows number 22 to join. I guess she would fill the place. That would be a showstopper. Great to meet you. Good luck with your event. Maybe one year, the schedule allows number 22 to join. She would fill the place. She would be a showstopper. My God, she is box office. No doubt about that. That's coming up on the 30th. Again, the website is pokeiclub.com, pokeiclub.com for more information information for all the details. All the event that the people that will be coming so will the it when the McCullum does and I'm going to go on a limousine.

Starting point is 00:22:13 So that is as about and joining us a little conversation about Polk County I club company up on April 30th and again poke I club dot com is where you can find out more details about that event. We continue on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast, and we take a look at the portal a little bit more. Iowa very well could have their answer on the wrestling mat at 197 pounds. And just how bad was this loss? Ooh, for Iowa baseball, this thing is hideous and very well could be the difference between being a tournament team and not. That's next Locked on Hawkeyes. Baseball season's in full swing and there's no better way to get in on the action than with prize picks. The best place for daily

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Starting point is 00:24:03 for being with us as always and for you every day. There's a big thank you to you for being with us each and every day. Your team every day. That's what we do here on the Locked On Network. So, it is time to look at the transfer portal for wrestling and after Stephen Buchanan ends his collegiate career in Iowa City in his final season of eligibility at 197 and brings home a national championship. I was looking to go back and back with just that as they bring in from Warburg

Starting point is 00:24:32 transfer Masomu Eandine. So looking at the profile, well he's already wrestled his eligibility, however, because he began his career at Iowa Lakes and because of Diego Pavia, the most recently Vanderbilt quarterback, and the extra year of eligibility that has been issued in some walks, he's got another year and he's going to use it in Iowa City. So he'll take the track down 380 from Warburg and make it her way to Iowa City to wrestle at 197. And boy, you kind of look at the matchup now on paper between Iowa and Penn State Penn State losing a ton. How much is that

Starting point is 00:25:13 gap closed? Now this is a big jump right going from the division three level all the way to the D1 level yet you look at what he's been able to do and you look at Endine and when he's gone up against some elite level guys and other D. one guys and the opportunities have been a ton but when they've been there he's more than held his own. This feels like it's going to be a transition maybe it's not going to lead to a national championship but do you think all American does that feel like a stretch it certainly does it to me and what he's going to be able to do. Finally what a tough loss tonight for the Iowa baseball team as they fall to Western Illinois. Western Illinois we talked about the midweek game and in fact the one coming up on Wednesday against St. Thomas looked much more difficult than this one was going to be. This is a huge drop and for a team that had dug themselves such a big hole because of the non-conference to lose this one,

Starting point is 00:26:12 a Western Illinois team that came in 10 and 24, five and 10 in the Ohio Valley Conference, to not be able to generate any offense. You lose seven-three, had some opportunities, but just lethargic. Bad games are gonna happen, it's baseball. And it's a sport that is set up in a way that you're gonna see more upsets

Starting point is 00:26:39 than you do in other sports, but it's a tough one to swallow. And for Iowa now, after the huge weekend that they just had, what they were able to do, getting that sweep at Michigan, seemingly having everything come together, and a fall like that, they dropped 12 spots in the RPI. It's not going to be enough to keep them out of the NCAA tournament, that loss alone. But any kind of wiggle room that you had,

Starting point is 00:27:10 it's really going away. You can't afford another one of these now. You have to basically sweep the non-conference games the rest of the way. That means beating St. Thomas, beating UIC. There's only two of them left. But Indiana coming up this weekend, you can't afford a series loss.

Starting point is 00:27:28 And with the nine remaining games in the Big Ten, I think a minimum you've got to be six and three. Got to win at least a game against Oregon State. Because again, what happened in the non-conference put themselves in trouble. I like the resilience of this team. I like the bounce back. And I think they will bounce back in a big way and hopefully play well against ADN at this weekend at home. Well just a tough one. Tough to swallow

Starting point is 00:27:53 after all the good that we've seen out of this Iowa baseball team. Your team every day that's what we do here on the Lockdown Network and thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen today. For your second listen, make sure you check out Lockdown NFL Draft with Damian Parson and Keith Sanchez as your favorite collegiate players get ready. For the next level, get the latest draft rankings, rumors, and news every day. You can find Lockdown NFL Draft on YouTube or wherever

Starting point is 00:28:21 you listen to podcasts. If you are here with us, Lockdown Hawkeyes, hit subscribe on YouTube. Just takes a moment as we are a video podcast. Also on the audio side, five star reviews helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. Thanks for being with us here today. We'll talk to you again tomorrow.

Starting point is 00:28:37 Until then, go Hawks.

Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - INSIDER: Chit Chat Wright TARGETED as Iowa's Next Point Guard | Will She SOLVE Point Guard Worries?

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