Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa bball commit Tony Perkins joins the show to talk about his recruitment and his future with the Iowa basketball team

Episode Date: October 29, 2019

We are joined on the show by the Iowa Hawkeye men's basketball team's class of 2020 three-star SG commit Tony Perkins. He tells us about his recruiting process, what type of game he will be bringing to the Hawks, and why he chose the Iowa Hawkeyes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I thank God I was born on the good arms of the Midwest, and not on the battlefields of the U.S. It's a time of panic, and it's intercepted! It's picked off right away! Intercepted by Marty Hooker! Pick six! Eight seconds into the game! Buffen sets up deep in the pocket, goes down the field for Smith!

Oh! He's got it! Smith! Touchdown. 85 yards. High on. Touchdown, 10. Taking a shot in the end zone.

It is caught. No offense. Touchdown. That's either one or you have it. Go ahead and three. Yes. Two-point lead for the Hawkeyes podcast, your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Locked On Sports Network.

As always, I am one of your hosts, Andrew Wade. I'm not joined here by my co-host, Zach Cohen, because we've got a special episode coming at you today. We actually have Iowa Hawkeye commit Tony Perkins joining the show. If you're not familiar with Tony, if you have not been following the basketball recruiting front, you definitely want to get in the loop right now because in the past couple weeks, Iowa has gained three more commitments to their class of 2020, including Tony Perkins, a 6'4", 185-pound, three-star shooting guard out of Indiana. Fantastic player.

Got to watch his tape because this guy can shoot, he can dribble, and he can dunk. Again, you've got to check out this kid. Fantastic guy to talk to, and you're going to really love the interview with him as he kind of dives into what he enjoyed about the Iowa Hawkeye basketball program, what he enjoyed about the visit to Iowa City, why he likes Fran McCaffrey, why he chose Iowa, and why he's excited to be a Hawk. So we're going to be covering all that on today's episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast when we jump to that interview here in a few seconds.

Before we do that, though, make sure to like, review, and subscribe wherever you downloaded this podcast at, whether that is Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or the brand new Himalaya Podcast app. We're going to be having other great interviews coming up. Like we said, Tony is a fantastic kid. Great that we were able to get him on the show. We've had some great interviews in the past as well. You know, Ricky Stanzi.

We've had Matt Vandenberg, Julian Vander Velde. Lots of great guys we've had on the show. It's only going to keep continuing as we continue to grow the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Also, make sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. We've got some weekly hype videos dropping from Iowa Addict. He's on Twitter, Iowa Addict. He's creating weekly hype videos for us that we're dropping on Instagram and Twitter

for each Iowa football game. So make sure to follow us there as well. Some great content we are also posting there. But hey, let's jump right into it. I know you're kind of waiting for this. Let's have a conversation with Tony Perkins and get to know one of the newest members of the Iowa basketball program right now. All right, I am joined here by recent Iowa Hawkeye commit, Tony Perkins.

Tony, glad to have you on the show. Excited to have you on the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. How are you doing today, man? Good. How are you? I'm doing great, man. It's been quite a whirlwind for you, though, this past couple weeks with the whole recruiting process going on with Iowa.

What's that been like for you? It's been really great. It's finally over, so I'm happy. Was it pretty stressful? Yes sir. Was it nice to get that offer from Iowa though? Was that an offer you were expecting or looking forward to or what was that like? It was really something I was expecting to get. Well not really expecting but I played in front of them during the summer and liked my

game and then after they had interest in me, I just stepped my game up better. And then it led into the offer. Awesome. So you've been talking to them for a couple months now, and then they finally came to fruition, right? Yeah. Awesome. And so you went on site – when I say on site, you went to Iowa City

just last weekend, I believe, for the Purdue game. What was that visit like? What really drew you to the campus or to Iowa? The community and how they come together as a team and how the community supports all sports in Iowa City. Absolutely, man. And have you ever been to Iowa before? No, that's my first time. What were your thoughts on Iowa? You can be completely honest, man. No judgment here.

I'm from Iowa, and there's definitely some interesting parts. This thing is pretty fun, actually. So, I mean, you got the good part of Iowa City. The state of Iowa is fun in general, but definitely different being in Indiana versus Iowa. So, as far as meeting Fran McCaffrey, what are your thoughts on him as a coach? What has he told you about his plans for you on the team and what really drew

you to him as a head coach? He wanted me, he basically talked to me about how I fit in the program and telling me what kind of player I will be and tell me what position I will be in and things such like that. He's a great guy, great coach, and I'm glad to be surrounded around him

and him being my head coach for the next four years. Definitely, man. You just mentioned four years. Has there been any talk about are you expecting to get some big minutes the following season, or is it kind of a wait-and-see approach at this point to see who's going to be in the program and who's not? Of course you want to play your freshman year, but if I don't, then hopefully after years after that I'll get more playing time.

But I want to come in, work hard, and try to get a chance to start and hopefully get minutes. Definitely, man. And at 6'4", you've got some good size. Are they looking at you as maybe a 1, 2, or a 3? and hopefully get minutes. The one and the two. I work on everything, drive the basket um which part of the game which part of your game do you like the most or which part of the game do you work on the most um i work on everything but mostly i love to get steals and done just show my hops off but if i have to shoot it then i'm willing to shoot i'm willing to do

anything to score yeah man we um i was looking through some of your some of yours you know post on twitter and i saw some stuff with you going between the legs um is that something you kind of work on and on just for fun? I mean, let's take a step back. When was the first time you ever dunked a basketball? April, summer. How tall were you then? Six foot.

Oh, man. All right. So you've been able to dunk for quite some time. About how many dunks do you throw down in a single game? Depends. Probably around three to four. Dang, man. All right, well, I'm excited to see that in an Iowa Hawkeye uniform.

And one of the other things you mentioned was the fact that you do like to get steals and kind of the breakaway dunks. Is defense something you pride yourself on as well? Yeah. I can't let my man get over 15 points. Can't do it. I love it it man and uh like i said we talked about it already but at 6'4 you have the ability to probably guard multiple positions right um yeah so do you do you feel like you could even match up on a bigger guy like a 6'8 6'9

kind of guy and use your quickness and speed to be a mismatch for them? Yeah, I always play against taller guys. We were in, like, AU in school, and I always guarded them. The tallest person I've guarded was 7'1", so it's not a big problem. What was that like, guarding a 7'1 guy? That is quite the height difference. It was very difficult, but I just sat in front of them and had my team help me from behind. So every time I tried to throw it up, my taller teammate would come from behind and steal it if it was a switch or anything.

So it wasn't that bad, but it could be bad. Yeah. Well, that's exciting, man. I know with Iowa's kind of scheme, they do oftentimes have, you know, they're going to do a lot of switching on defense. On offense, they're going to be very versatile and let the big guys, you know, step out and shoot threes, and some of the small guys are going to be able to drive in. So I think just from talking to you, that makes a lot of sense, and your fit is, you know, going to work really well with the Iowa Hawkeyes. Coming into your senior year, what are kind of your goals

for the next couple months for your final season of high school basketball? My final goal is to lead my team to stay state i'm trying to go undefeated this year and just make everybody surrounding me as teammates and coaches better i love it man and is there anything in particular that you're going to work on with your game to get ready for the next level right so i mean obviously you want to win you want to win say or get to state with your high school basketball team you want to be a good leader um is there anything that you're you're thinking okay this might not be something i need in high school but i want to work on it so that when i get to iowa i'm already a step ahead of the game um working more on ball screens there's a lot of ball screens and

uh very good moving out the ball so i continue to work it on that and extending my range and just being a um great point guard and shooting guard. I love it, man. So, being, you know, you were the second commit in the class of 2020. There has now been two other commits, the Murray Twins. Have you had any conversations with the other commits in the class of 2020? Yeah, the Murray Twins are actually on a visit with me. And we really connected and we really became good friends.

And we talked a lot on the visit, and that's pretty much it. Do you think that was a big draw for – was that kind of nice for you, at least, to be able to meet some of the other guys that you're going to potentially be playing, you know, basketball with for four or five years? Yeah, it was great because then we could start that connection as we met and then lead it on to the four years we were there. Yeah.

from an outsider's perspective, what do you think he brings to the Hawks this year? He's a great player, great shooter, great everything. Everything you can ask for, he gives. And he's a pretty cool guy, being around him. Didn't really do much but talk about basketball, talk about life, and he's giving me advice about college life and just helping me out for my future. Definitely, man. And during your visit, typically you guys get to go to the football games. It sounds like you'll go over to Coach McCaffrey's house, watch some football games,

or go to the football game and you'll play some basketball afterwards. What was your visit like? Do you want to walk me through that a little bit? When we first got there, we got there. Coach Dillard drove us to the hotel. We didn't really do much. We went out to eat, talked, and Bakari was there. I went with him.

We went to his house, talked, and played the video game for a while. And I went back to the hotel, and that was pretty much it. And then we went to the football game the next day, got to meet a lot of administrators, and that was pretty much it. I love men. Growing up in Indiana, did you used to have a favorite college program, maybe either Indiana or even a Purdue by chance? No, never was a top Indiana college for me.

That's good, man. That's what I like to hear. That's a great answer. Awesome. So it sounds like your visit went well. Are you planning on getting back on campus anytime before you actually enroll at the University of Iowa? Yeah, I will definitely try to. Awesome man. And just for the Iowa Hawkeye fans out there, if you had to tell them one thing about you, what would it be, man?

One thing would be... It could be multiple. I mean, just something that I think from an Iowa basketball perspective, from a fan perspective, we don't know a lot about you guys coming in to the program, other than what we read on the internet, so I'm just curious what are some things that you would love for Iowa fans

to know about you? I'm a winner. I love to compete. I love to help anybody around me and surrounding me out. I love to be a leader. I'm just willing to make anyone and everyone happy. I love it, man.

Well, I'm really excited to see you play in an Iowa Hawkeye uniform. I just have a couple less basketball-focused questions, more just kind of get-to-know-you type of stuff. What is your favorite thing to do outside of basketball, man? Either, I'd say play video games or watch movies. What's your favorite video game? Either 2K or Call of Duty.

All right. Did you just get the new Call of Duty then? Yeah. How is it? I've heard some interesting reports about it. Um, it's pretty... It's not like how it used to be. It's very... I want to say, got a lot of new things

that I've never seen before, so it's pretty fun. I love it, man. And you play 2K, you said, so from an NBA perspective, do you have any favorite teams or favorite players or guys that you like to model yourself after? I don't really have a favorite NBA player

that's currently in the NBA. My favorite player all the time is Kobe Bryant, but my favorite team is Lakers because Kobe, so yeah. Man, I was just going to ask you, Kobe or LeBron, but I think it's pretty obvious that that would be Kobe then. Yes, sir. Are you pretty excited about this Lakers team too with Anthony Davis and LeBron?

Yeah. So no Pacers at all? No, no, no, no, no. Not a lot of love for the in-state stuff, man. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. Well, when you were in Iowa City, what were some of the things you liked about the school itself?

So outside of basketball, was there anything that particularly drew you to the actual school, the academic side, or like you said, meeting the administrators, that kind of stuff? Yeah. uh yeah um he let he um one of the guys there told me a lot about how to focus on um mr sanders he told me a lot about a lot of kids come there to study and they helped them well and things like that so yeah and what are you planning on studying um either sports communication or sports broadcasting awesome so if you you know if

a future professional basketball career doesn't work out, what would be your dream job? I'm assuming professional basketball player would be the dream job. Is that correct? Yeah. Yeah. So outside of that, let's say past a professional basketball career, what would be your dream job?

I would try to start my career off being a sports broadcaster, but if not, I would try to leave myself into being a coach awesome man yeah like the coach right you've obviously been playing the game for a long time and you get to learn under Fran McCaffrey and I think you might even notice this but um Fran does a pretty good job of bringing guys back as well he's uh he's pretty loyal to people who played under him and played with him so um definitely a good opportunity for you and so final question from the current program right now, are there any guys in particular that you are really excited about playing

with next year? You know, whether that is, you know, Connor McCaffrey or Patrick McCaffrey or Luca Garza, or any guys in particular that you're really excited about playing with and you think your game meshes up really well with? I'm excited to play with all of them.

After watching that practice, they're all pretty good competitive. I just want to put myself in a position with them and play with all of them after watching them practice they're all pretty good competitive I just want to put myself in a position with them and play with all of them that's going to remain there next year awesome man well dude Tony I absolutely appreciate your time obviously I know it's Sunday

you probably want to watch some football or play some video games just get ready for the week so I don't want to take any more of your time up is there any last things you want to say on the show today? No, sir. Thanks for having me. Absolutely, buddy. Have a great day, Tony.

We'll talk to you later, man. You too. Have a great day. Bye. Talk to you later. All right, and that concludes our interview with Tony Perkins, one of the most recent commits in the Iowa basketball program's class of 2020. Again, a big shout-out to Tony for joining us on the show.

We absolutely appreciate it. He did not need to jump on, but he wanted to. He wanted to talk to us and tell us about what he's going to be doing with the Iowa basketball program and kind of what his goals are in the future and let Iowa basketball fans know a little bit more about one of the newest members of the Iowa basketball family. Make sure to also go follow him. If you are on Twitter, make sure to follow him on Twitter at saucy underscore underscore T that is capital a or excuse me, capital S a U C Y underscore underscore capital T. All right. Follow him on Twitter show Tony Perkins, some love, make sure

to follow him as he goes through his senior year of high school and tries to lead his high school to the state tournament in Indiana. Um, Obviously want to show him the appreciation and give him that support as he enters his final season of high school basketball and gets ready to join the Iowa basketball program. Like I said, though, that'll do it for our episode of the locked on Hawkeyes podcast today. This week is a bi-week,

so I don't have some of the standard content we're going to be having, you know, on typical game weeks. We are going to be doing a basketball preview later in the week. We've got Zach dropping his Big Ten picks and previews on Friday. And then the following week, we're going to jump right back into it, covering the Wisconsin game. A big, big matchup for the Iowa Hawkeyes, an opportunity to really control their destiny

and arguably the most difficult game they have left on their schedule going to Madison, playing a team that's coming off of two straight losses. Wisconsin is going to be hungry. They do not want to lose three straight. This is going to be a great battle between Iowa and Wisconsin, and we're going to be covering all that on next week's episodes of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. If you did like what you heard today, remember, we have lots of great interviews coming up. We've had lots of great interviews in the past.

Make sure to go check those out as well. But you can make sure you always get the content that we drop on a daily basis by going to Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or the brand new Himalaya Podcast app, liking, reviewing, and subscribing to our podcast. You don't necessarily need to like and review, but it definitely helps us out as well. So make sure to do that and subscribe so you can get all the latest episodes of the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. And make sure to do that and subscribe so you can get all the latest episodes of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. And make sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Alright, that'll do it though. Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Have a fantastic day, Hawkeye Nation. And go Hawks! We'll see you next time.