Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa Baseball season ends, Caitlin Clark effect, Can Iowa land Grant Nelson?

Episode Date: June 7, 2023

Trent Condon is back for another edition of the Locked On Hawkeye Podcast.Iowa Baseball season ends comes to an end, so Trent reflects back on the season and the run in the Regionals against Indiana State and North Carolina and some of the great positives that the Hawkeye baseball team had even with the questions that surrounded the team with the players that sat out awaiting word on the NCAA on their elegibility.The Caitlin Clark effect is real. Trent talks about her day in Principal Park, the environment along with her basketball camp in West Des Moines plus an opportunity for her to play in the pro am at the John Deere Classic.Can Iowa land Grant Nelson? It's not looking good. Trent tackles that question.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!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 TWO THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED 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

Iowa baseball sees its season come to a close as they fall to Indiana State in the regionals. We break things down, look towards the future. Can Iowa land Grant Nelson as a real possibility for one of the top basketball transfers out there? And the Caitlin Clark effect, it is real. All today with a new look on Locked on Hawkeyes. 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. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We're available wherever you get podcasts, and you can also find us on YouTube. While you're there, make sure you hit the subscribe button. This episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook, official sportsbook of Lockdown. Make every moment more. Visit fanduel.com slash lockdown today to get started. Well, it was a disappointing end to an incredible Iowa baseball season as the Hawkeyes go down at the hands of Indiana State. Got off to a great

start on Friday evening as we came to you on that day as the games were just beginning with our podcast, as we were out at Exile with the launch of the new beer. And I will tell you, they're just something special, right, about what we get time in and time out with this Iowa baseball team when they get to the NCAA tournament. We know the limitations of the program in comparison to the teams down south, the advantages that they have down there with what they're able to put together, their time in and time out, what they're

able to do as it pertains to practice time, getting on the field, getting work done outside, just being able to practice in the elements. It's something as a Northern school, you don't have yet. Rick Heller delivered yet another outstanding season this year. It was just so much fun to see what this Iowa team was and what they were able to do throughout the course of the season. And not only to do that, but also to have this happen in a year where they lost four players. They had to play shorthanded throughout the course of the back third of the season, and they didn't have their best hitter, another arm out of the bullpen,

a second arm out of the bullpen, and both backup catchers. 44 wins, one of the tops in program history. Runner-up in the Big Ten tournament. A third-place finish in the regular season. And to do this with all the tumult that they went through is just an incredible job, once again, out of Rick Heller. Now, this should come as no surprise. We know what kind of coach Coach Heller is and what he's been able to do with this program, time in and time out.

But you look at the draw that they got starting with North Carolina a very up and down season for Carolina they had some series losses that left you scratching your head and we saw Iowa was the better team I mean this is a team that has been to the college world series this is a team that is an incredibly successful ACC program and Iowa was just better and you go back after the win on Friday and you're there on Saturday night and you're cruising along and Brody Brecht was outstanding and we've talked about a Brody so much in a future first round draft pick in the MLB draft coming up in 2024 maybe even in the top 10 and we could go even higher that's the kind of upside and that's the kind of way that

people believe that Brody Brecht is as a prospect, but you have that happening. Now you have him out there at 109 pitches and the decision to pull him in the eighth inning. Look, you have to do that. You just do. He is already at a career high at the collegiate level in terms of pitches. He's never thrown that many pitches before. You just can't throw them out there to throw him out there. It just, it doesn't make sense to go that route. So what you do is exactly what they did. You go to your bullpen, a bullpen that has been very solid throughout the course of the season. He got hit. Now the problem, and we saw this play out once again, and we've seen this play out for Iowa when they have advanced to the NCAA tournament. The advantages of winning those first two games are just so immense.

I mean, it's seemingly unmeasurable how good it is. Now, we have numbers. And you win the first two games of a regional, a four-team regional, in the current structure of the NCAA tournament. We know it is approaching 90% of the time. The team that goes 2-0 advances on and gets out of the region and moves to Super Regionals. But we saw the way that it played out. You go to Sunday then. After you get up, play early. After you play the night game, you're right back at it

right away on Sunday. And though Iowa got the victory, it was not easy. Ty Langenberg goes out there. He gets hit with a shot right back up the middle, right away. It looked like, well, his day is over and maybe Iowa season is over. And instead, he went out there after taking that shot, looking like he was going to be incredibly impactful, threw a couple of warmup pitches and he was right back out there. Tip of the ball cap to the central Iowa kid and Langenberg getting back out there and gutting out a gutty performance from this team. But again, the amount of pitches that it's going to be. Langenberg would be the guy that would have been pitching then on Sunday night against the winner of North Carolina, Indiana State, if Iowa would have held on on Saturday evening. That's not the way it played out.

So it becomes a bullpen game. That's the way Iowa had to go. And then not only that, even if they would have found a way to win the game on Sunday, then he kind of come back and he got beat Indiana State a second time on Monday. It's so tough. And the depth of arms that you need to make that happen. It's just something Iowa just doesn't have. And when you lose a couple of guys, if the guys weren't suspended, the four players that are out for suspension, waiting the NCAA's decision and good luck knowing when that's going to come down and that inept organization. But as those four guys continue to await any kind of justification, what is going to happen and what is going to be played out here, they're sitting,

they're waiting. Well, Keaton Anthony probably would have started the game against Indiana State on Sunday. I know Keaton Anthony, we know what kind of incredible talent he is as an offensive player. He's not an elite level pitcher, but he's pretty solid. He's a guy that started midweek games for Iowa this year.

He would probably be their number four starter. Didn't have that. Cade Moss is out there playing every inning. Behind the plate, he is out there and just grinding out there. Maybe a little bit more help could have been something. As we see the bullpen imploding at times and the hit batsmen, 10 of them against Indiana State, that leaves you wondering, man, what could have been?

What it was was a great season. Another great season for Rick Heller, and that shouldn't come as a surprise. What he has done year in and year out, 30 wins. It's going to happen every year. It's inevitable. I was going to win 30 baseball games because that's what they do. And this year, 44 victories on the season. And then in short, the disappointing part is, oh, Indiana State,

you got to give credit to the Sycamores. They're a tick better than Iowa. Not much better, but a tick better. They win the season series two games to one. Iowa won the opener way back in February as the season opened up there. But you're left with a lot of what-ifs, and I think that's going to be a big part of the memory of this Iowa baseball season.

Plenty of successes, but what could have been? Speaking of that, Indiana State, I don't know if you saw the news. Remember, they were the number 14 overall seed. That means not only an opportunity to host here in the regionals, since Arkansas got knocked off on the other side of the bracket, well, it looked like they were going to be able to host in the super regionals against TCU. Not the case.

Special Olympics of Indiana are going to be in Terre Haute. They did not have the staffing available to make that happen. Man, what a tough blow that is. Iowa baseball, they're doing their own renovations and coming up at Dwayne Banks Field, they're going to be putting a lot in and maybe one day, one of these regionals is going to be hosted by the Hawkeyes and maybe they can get to a top 16 seed. If that happens, oh boy, that's going to be a lot of fun. Iowa City with a regional, how amazing that would be. We continue here on the lockdown hawkeyes podcast from that

we had a little basketball a little baseball coming together caitlin clark she was in our fine city here of des moines over the weekend signing autographs out of the iowa cubs the caitlin clark effect it is real plus more iowa basketball can i will land one of the biggest transfers available on the market in Grant Nelson? We'll get into that as we roll through here. It's a Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Today's episode of Locked On Hawkeyes is brought to you by FanDuel.

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Now, I know there's a ton of you out there on the audio side, but on the video side, if you're one of our youtube watchers you're seeing we got some new bells and whistles over here hey hit us up in the comment section what you think of it and uh we will get you hooked up as well here still playing with them trying to figure everything else but certainly excited about the new graphics package that we have and if you are normally just an audio listener, give it a look over there. Hit that subscribe button and it'll also let you know when we are available each and every day. So on Saturday, as I'm watching Iowa-Indiana State in the NCAA tournament, it was also my daughter's eighth birthday. And what are we going to do? Well, if you've been following along with us

and everydayers, you certainly know this. we made a trip, my daughter and I, down to the Final Four. Didn't go there as a media member. I went there as a fan and took my daughter down there, just getting into basketball, enjoying the sport, living in West Des Moines, Caitlin Clark's from here. There were a lot of connections, and we had an incredible time. I mean, that Friday night victory against South Carolina in the Final Four

is one of probably the highlights of my Hawkeye fandom. It's right up there. It's right out there with some of the great wins. And I've told you in the past, being there in 2009 in the Whiteout for Iowa beating Penn State for the second consecutive year. I've been there for all of 2002, including the road win against Michigan. I've been there for all of 2002, including the road win against Michigan. I've been there for the big wins at home against Ohio State a couple of years back in the woodshed, 55-24. I've been to so many of the big events, and certainly football, but that win against South Carolina, that for me was so unexpected. The way that they played and to be able to share that with my daughter was just a wonderful experience.

Well, she turns eight. What you want to do? Let's go to the Iowa Cubs game. So watching the game, Iowa, Indiana State, have it up on the TV and all right, it's time to go. Now, I also had to break the news that this was not going to be probably the place that we were going to be able to get Caitlin's autograph. We saw some media throughout the course of the day.

In fact, I stopped down there to grab some tickets on Saturday afternoon at about 2.30, 3 o'clock, right in that range. And there are already well over 100 people waiting in line. That was three hours before, more than three hours before first pitch. People were waiting to get the Kaitlin Clark bobblehead. People were waiting to get in the building. It was a banged out crowd for a minor league baseball game with the Iowa Cubs. And that's what Kaitlin Clark can deliver. Also talked to a parent that had a daughter that went to her basketball camp here in Des Moines last week. And one thing that they mentioned, the daughter has gone to a ton of camps, loves Caitlin Clark, as we know there's a lot of people that love Caitlin Clark

and what she does on the basketball floor. But a lot of times these new endeavors, and especially these basketball camps that are thrown together, that was not the case here. Caitlin Clark's basketball camp was well run. It was well organized. It was something that was not just thrown together, strewn together to make a couple of bucks. And another great thing to see. Now, there's so much pressure on this young woman and what she's going through day to day.

Then the news comes out earlier this week that she's going to be over the John Deere Classic. Yes, I understand it's on the Illinois side of the border, but it's our golf tournament. We're going to take it here in the state of Iowa. And she's going to be playing in the Pro-Am with Zach Johnson on Wednesday. Zach Johnson, a huge Hawkeye fan. Yes, he played at Drake, but his fandom for Hawkeye sports in general is through the roof. And the support that he lends, the Ryder Cup captain, she's going to be playing with him. Really, really cool. And just shows you what she means to the

state. I know for a lot of fans, it has been maybe a frustrating offseason. First of all, the decisions. Zanano, her eligibility was up. She goes off to the WNBA draft. And though she didn't make the sparks, got drafted. And McKenna Warnock, who is such a huge, huge important piece because of her, the versatility that she played with, the ability to play inside, guard bigs, guard people out on the wing, her ability to knock down shots. And she made the choice. It's time for dental school.

And sorry, you can't go to dental school and also be a student athlete in the amount of time that you need to invest to play in the Big Ten level. It's just not realistic. With the transfer portal, with the amount of funds that was coming in to the Hawkeye Swarm and specifically being earmarked to go to women's basketball, I know there were a lot of people out there that believed that we were going to see Iowa hit the portal hard and get some of the big names. And you see what LSU, the team that beat

the Hawkeyes in the National Championship game, what they were able to do, that's led to some frustrations. Well, just think of this. Yeah, I know you're frustrated. I know you're mad. But then think about the competitor. Think of Kaitlyn Clark

think about the player that she is and the way that she is built think she's resting on a laurels you think that she's just counting that NIL money and is going to be happy about it there's still higher levels that she can go look at the Pony ponytail girl that we saw when she showed up on campus three years ago

and what she's transformed into today. Think about what we saw from her freshman and sophomore years where she's falling on the floor and she's taking ill-advised shots and she's all over the place. There's still another level that Kaitlyn Clark can go. And yes, it would have been great to go out there and get a top portal candidate but don't forget year after year what jan jensen does with post players and this isn't just some

recent phenomenon this is year after year after year the developmental aspect that goes into it and arsenal grady she's going to be a whole lot better than the player that you saw this year. Stolke, we saw great things out of her last season, and you're going to see even more coming up this season. And her athletic ability, the speed that she plays with, her ability to catch in traffic, she is going to be a dynamic player, and she's going to only get better this season. You can be upset that they weren't able to find something on the portal. The other thing you have to remember is you can't just force people to show up in Iowa City. And for

a lot of people, they don't want to play with Caitlin Clark. I think it's idiotic myself, but there are plenty of people that say, I want to be the star. I want to have the ball. We're not just talking about LSU. We're talking about across the country. I want my shots. I want my points. I want my points. I want my accolades. More, more, more. We know when Kaitlyn Clark's there, you're not going to get that. And because of that, I get the frustration, but understand still what we have here.

Gabby Marshall is going to be back. You got post-presidents that are coming back. And most importantly, Kaitlyn Clark is back for her fourth season. Don't get all upset about what isn't there. Remember what is. Iowa's got another chance to make another deep run this year. And is LSU too big? Well, people said that about South Carolina this year,

didn't they? And the Hawks beat them. We wrap things up on the other side. More basketball talk. out in South Carolina this year, didn't they? And the Hawks beat them. We wrap things up on the other side. More basketball talk. Iowa after one of the top candidates in the transfer portal, Grant Nelson. Do they have a shot? Not looking great.

That's as we roll through here on Locked on Hawkeyes. Trent Conant back with you one final time on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. So starting on the program later in the week, we're going to have a throwback Thursday. And we're going to take a look back here during the summer months of some of, excuse me, my favorite teams in Hawkeye history. Not sure exactly where I go. In fact, hit us in the comments section. You can also find me on Twitter at Trent Condon, C-O-N-D-O-N. And when you're there, let me know some of the teams that you'd like me to relive.

You know, for most of them, there's so many great high moments and then there's the low moments. My earliest favorite team was the 86-87 Iowa basketball team. Undefeated start, 18-0 to begin the year. Number one ranking in the country. 30-5 overall. But the end leaves a sour taste in the mouth. 2002 Iowa football.

11-1 in the regular season. Orange Bowl was a lot of fun. Drank a lot of beer. About got tackled and fell out of the upper deck of the Orange Bowl. I guess it was Joe Robbie Pro Player Stadium, whatever it was called at the time. But a good time. Even a loss to USC. Now there's not many that culminate ultimately with great moments how about 2004 Capital One ended well early in the season you also had that loss to Arizona State but we're going to go back

what season would you like me to hear about and I'm only going to go back to my memories sorry old timers out there sorry Mr. Bisgard not going to be able to go back to the 1950s anything like that I'm going to be able to go back to the 1950s, anything like that. I'm going to go where my memories go. And my earliest memories are 1985.

I was at kindergarten. That's where the Hawkeye fandom really geared up. Pretty good season for it. Remember bits and pieces and fill in the gaps. But we're going to do that. So hit us up in the comments section on YouTube or on Twitter at Trent Condon. Let me know which of the great teams of Hawkeye past almost 40 years now you would like me to cover and talk about here as we'll do some

throwback Thursday for you every dayers coming up on the Thursday program. Wrapping things up and not great news on the Grant Nelson front. So as you heard, when we were out at Exile Brewing for the Swarm Golden Ale launch party, I had a big thank you to Exile for having us out there. One thing that came away from that is we also talked with David Eichel from 24-7,

who stopped in to join us. And at the time, early Friday evening, late afternoon, things were looking really good for Grant Nelson, the North Dakota State transfer. So Nelson is a player, 6'10", 6'11", versatile,

really bouncy, springy, athletic. He was going to be more than likely a second-round NBA draft pick, decided to come back for another year. And there was a list that was put out initially where four schools were listed. It was Alabama, it was Baylor, it was Iowa, and it was a list that was put out initially where four schools were listed. It was Alabama, it was Baylor, it was Iowa, and it was Florida State. Those were kind of the initial ones. Well, it doesn't sound great right now.

And according to Brad Heinrichs from the Iowa Swarm Collective, who runs the Iowa Swarm, right now he does not have a visit scheduled to Iowa. So no visit scheduled, that's a problem. Hard to get a commitment when a guy's not going to visit. He's looking right now at Arkansas, who's got a slew of NIL money, and Alabama, whose NIL collective is also in really good shape. Now can that change? Absolutely. And you know what the sell job for Iowa's going to be.

Look at what we've done with forwards. Look what we did with Luka Garza. Look what we did with Chris Murray. Look what we did with Keegan Murray. Look what we can do for you. You're going to be our best player. You're going to fit in. You're going to get the ball.

We're going to put you in a position not only to succeed and put up numbers, but what they have also proven over the last three years is they put guys in the league. And not just the last three, really the last five years. We put guys in the league. Arkansas can say the same. Bama can say the same. But neither of those teams can sell what Iowa can as it pertains to an offense that is going to be custom-made for a player with his kind of skill set. More work needs to be done. Fran, Gatins, the rest of the staff, they need to deliver. This is a program changer for this season.

Not overall. But Iowa right now is not an NCAA tournament team. You look at that roster, and they are not. You bring in Grant Nielsen, I think that completely changes the equation. I think Iowa goes from and also ran a team battling to get to 500 to pretty close to a lock to an NCAA tournament team. That's how impactful I believe Nelson can be. Keep going out there. Keep donating to the Iowa Swarm. That is how we get these players. It's a

different environment in college athletics, but that is our new reality. Hey, as always, thanks for making Locked on Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Available wherever you get podcasting. You can also find us on YouTube. Every day as we got you covered, throwback Thursday,

a look back at the great teams in Hawkeye lore. And it's been now a month since Iowa's received a commitment, either football or basketball. That's got to change, right? Well, camp is here and some big camps out there. I think we're going to start to get a little bit more news on the football recruiting front.

And you know, we got you covered here on Lockdown Hawkeyes, your team every day, the Lockdown Network. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Go Hawks.