Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa Football lands high upside DE Devan Kennedy, Caitlin Clark wins another award

Episode Date: June 27, 2023

Trent Condon returns with another Locked on Hawkeyes Podcast.Iowa Football lands high upside DE Devan Kennedy from the state of Arizona, Trent talks about his commitment, who they beat and why Arizona could be a new good recruiting spot for Hawkeye football going forward.Iowa also picks up a commitment from Athlete Graham Eben, is it as a scholarship player or as a preferred walk on? The latest on that front and where does Eben project as a player.The new Hawkeye football roster is out and Trent lets you know about the numbers for some of the impact incoming freshman and transfers.Plus, Caitlin Clark wins another awardSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! FanDuel Make 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

Iowa picks up two new scholarship players. Well, one for sure and one we're still waiting on. Plus, Kaitlyn Clark, she wins the prestigious Honda Cup Award. Plus, we got new numbers for the incoming players and the freshmen all coming up today. You are Locked On Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey, welcome in. I'm Trent Condon, and this is the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast.

Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We're available wherever you get podcasts. You can also find us on YouTube. Make sure you hit that subscribe button while you're there. It helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. And a big thank you to everybody out there hitting that subscribe button. Over 2,000 people now with us here on Lockdown Hawkeyes on the YouTube page. A big thank you making this possible as we get ready for football season.

Well, certainly an interesting time as Iowa comes off their big recruiting weekend and the continued murmurs about what this class is going to look like and how good things went last weekend. So Iowa picks up their first commitment from the weekend, and that comes in a three-star defensive end, kind of a developmental player in Devin Kennedy. Now, I really like this pickup for a myriad of different reasons. You start with bloodlines, and there is just something about guys that have that historic angle to them, guys that had either a dad that played football, the athletic

background, a college athlete, those kind of things. That I think is something that is so undervalued at times in the recruiting realm. When you look at Kennedy, his dad, Jimmy Kennedy, you say, man, I know that name. Well, you should. He was a great player for Penn State back in the day. A huge defensive lineman, went on to be a first round pick in the NFL draft. And the other thing is Kennedy had a Penn State offer. Now we don't know if it was still committable. We don't know at this point in time if he was a little bit lower on their list and they were kind of slow playing him, something like that. But what we do know is Penn State was interested in to get a guy like this, certainly a developmental player. So what we know about Kennedy is that he started playing football very late. This was not a guy

that has been a football player. He'll play pop order football and has been out there. That is not the case. He just picked up football a couple of years ago and already did have the D1 offers that he has. That is incredibly compelling. He's put on 40 pounds of weight since last August we're talking about a guy in 10 months time that has put the work in in the weight room to change his body and turn himself into a division one prospect you look at the stats from last year you watch a little bit of the film and there wasn't a ton of it out there but the little bit that I was able to see you can see that this is still an incredibly raw player. This guy has a lot of room still to grow, but that's a great part about it. You know, in the Iowa system and what Iowa does and what they grind in practice after practice,

and we see this show up time in and time out, what you see from this squad and what they do with these developmental players is they take the raw stuff. And that's what he has. I mean, athleticism, raw upside. You look at a guy that came in like a Lucas Van Ness. You look at a Deontay Craig currently on the team. Those guys that have the raw physical skills. And then you teach them how to be a football player. And he absolutely has that kind of ability.

And so much growth that is going to be a part of his game. So that's a part of it. I think that is very exciting. Look, this is not going to be a guy you anticipate that is going to be a part of his game. So that's a part of it. I think that is very exciting. Look, this is not going to be a guy you anticipate that's going to hit the ground running and he's out there being a rotational player when he shows up on campus in 2024. I mean, that's just not realistic for who he is at this point in time. But with the ability, what Iowa does year in, year out, putting the work in. This is an absolute home run commitment to get out of this class. The other, another intriguing part of this commitment of Kennedy is where he comes from. This is a guy from Arizona and Iowa has tried to get in there a little bit.

They've dabbled at times. Remember a couple of years back, they were after Eli Sanders, who ended up at Iowa State. He was a Boise State commit. I was looking at another running back, and they went that direction, and they tried. They have at least dipped their toe into the waters of Arizona. Not a whole lot of waters there. What, Lake Havasu? That's what we're talking about. But what they have done is they have tried a little bit. So this is LeVar Woods, one of his territories. He recruits Northwest Iowa. He does the west side of the state.

He does those things. But another area is Arizona because of his background. LeVar Woods, a longtime member of the Arizona Cardinals, a person that is well-known in that area. Still highly respected guy, which is no surprise because of what a great person LeVar is and what a great coach he has been. But you have that component. You go in there and you find these kind of players. You find the guys that are a little under-recruited, a guy that can hop in a plane and find his way to

Iowa City. If Iowa can just dabble a little bit. Look, we know Florida is a changing dynamic. And one interesting note that I do wonder about, look, Iowa very rarely beats Florida State, Miami, Florida for any prospects down in the Sunshine State. It just, it doesn't happen very often. But they have been able to bring in that next tier of guy, that next tier of guy that, you know, has maybe some low level SEC, ACC offers, wants to get a little bit further away from home, understanding Iowa maybe is a better program for them. And they've had success bringing in those kind of players from the state of Florida.

Well, now you've got another team that Iowa usually butts heads with in the state that has jumped up a level in Central Florida. And now they're up into the Big 12. And does that make it a little bit more difficult for those kind of prospects that are deciding between Iowa and Central Florida staying close to home? But knowing Central Florida, well, back in the day, 20 years ago, they were played in the in the Mac and now they're in the Big 12 after playing in the American and they've been all over the place.

So you do wonder if it becomes a little bit more difficult. Same thing in Texas and the continued infiltration of the SEC. Texas making the move to the SEC starting next season. Now, they weren't beating Texas, but again, we're talking about that next tier. The Texas Techs, the TCUs, those kind of programs that I was after. Now Houston is involved in the Big 12. So maybe Texas, Florida, at least dynamically, is changing a little bit. And this is an idea. Let's see if we can find a new territory. I would try to do this with Georgia.

It didn't work out incredibly well outside of Tyler Goodson. Had a couple of flame outs there. Didn't have the success that they hoped for in Georgia. Maybe this is a new recording territory in Arizona that Iowa can tap into. And this is not something that they're going to be bringing in

five, six, seven prospects a year. But one or two, find the right guys. Find the ones that fit Iowa football. I think this is an absolute home run, and it sounds like it is just getting started. More information on the class of 2024. There is still more going on, including a possibility of almost everybody that was on campus this past weekend taking their official visit, becoming Iowa Hawkeyes. That is out there.

Iowa also picked up another commitment from the Northwest portion of the state of Iowa. Is it a scholarship? Is it a walk-on? We'll talk about that. Plus, Kaitlyn Clark, she wins a big award, no surprise. And I'm going to tell you the reason that we just need to enjoy this upcoming season.

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Trent Conant back with you once again here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. As always, thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. So another commitment comes yesterday in the form of two-star athlete Graham Eben. Another guy, Northwest Iowa. Iowa continues to tap in out there. They've done an outstanding job with that and bringing in a lot of different prospects from Northwest Iowa and a couple of teammates as well, a lot of different prospects from Northwest Iowa and a couple of

teammates as well, a possibility of Eben. But what you have in Eben is a player that the question remains, was this a scholarship? Was this a preferred walk-on? Everything that I've heard to this point, it is a preferred walk-on. You look at when he had offers and he had offers from South Dakota State, schools like that at the FCS level, and every time that he got an offer, he would tweet it out. And to think that he would get an Iowa offer and not tweet that out, maybe a little bit short-sighted there. So Eben comes in from his high school.

His dad is his high school coach. What they see from him, so he played running back a season ago, played defense on the other side of safety is I think they're looking at him as being a guy that they're going to build up, that they're going to kind of put him together to be a guy that is going to add some weight. He's going to be a guy that gets up in, you know, to that 230 pound range and it can be versatile either as an outside linebacker or maybe even at that cash position. Now, we've seen Iowa use different kind of skill sets at the cash position. We saw last year a whole lot of Sebastian Castro.

He's a little bit of that bigger guy, right? A little bit thicker out there. He can do things. We've seen the other side, Dave Belton, more of your traditional defensive back, and that's something that has been big at doing it that way. I think they love the versatility of that position, and depending both on matchup and what they have in the other positions that they can kind of mix and match and do what they will. If you need, you know, a little bit bigger guy, you can go or the route of Castro. And I think that's what even would be.

If you need a little more athleticism out there, feel like you need some more speed, you can go with a guy that's a little bit more of a safety type prospect. And that's the way that you can build it. And you can really put together a defense that has the versatility that you need today in today's college football. With so many spread offenses, so many teams that are spreading you out, even teams that, yes, are run-based, but still running it out of shotgun, out of the spread. That is something that you need, that versatility. It has been an absolute godsend to the Iowa defense. And since they've implemented the cash position, just look how much more the defense has improved.

Defense was always great, going back to Norm Parker and into today with Bill Parker. But after they implemented that cash position, it has taken it to a completely another level, a level that, frankly, I didn't think that they would get it. To think that Iowa football was going to get to this level where consistently, year after year, we're talking about, at minimum, a top 10 defense in all of the land, year after year after year, that's unthinkable.

Yeah, you knew you were going to have great defenses. Think of, for us old-timers out there, we hearken back to some of the great defenses of Iowa. You think of 2004 and that team, the last Big Ten champion that the Hawkeyes had. We talk about that defense a ton, but that was one year. You know, 2002, that was not a great defense that they had that season. And there's been different years. This now is turnkey. Year after year, they are playing at this level.

And I think a lot to be said about what they are and how they've done that and the cash position is certainly a big big part of that so intriguing there again Graham Eben sounds like he is a preferred walk-on not a scholarship so Iowa officially at the recruiting class we will get official word I'm sure pretty soon on that one and the David I. Colts and Sean Box over at 24-7. Blair Sanderson and Tom Kakert at Hawkeye Report. Guys that do a great job in the recruiting realm. I'm sure we'll get official confirmation one way or the other of what that is. What Iowa has right now in this recruiting class is really big.

We talked about who the next commitment is going to be. I made my prediction on Rashad Godfrey. He hasn't committed yet, but Godfrey, Lucas, Jalen Watson in the defensive backfield. It sounds like all three of those guys are very close to making their Hawkeye commitment. We talked about Parker on the offensive side and on and on and on. That weekend that Iowa just had, if it comes to fruition and the way that many people, myself included, believe that this is, this is going to be as fruitful of a recruiting weekend as Iowa has had. A real possibility that basically every player that took an official visit this weekend

that was there is going to commit to the Hawkeyes. That doesn't happen very often. Credit to the staff, the way that it's put together, how good they are of meeting with families, meeting with the players, putting together, making this a special weekend and doing it at a time where campus is a little bit slower. We know the summertime. Now, I love my summers in Iowa City. There was something special about Iowa City in the summer. You didn't have as many people around. You get in and out of the bars a little bit easier. So much fun in Iowa City. I know my idea of fun may be a little bit different than football players. They got work to be doing.

I was just doing it 12 ounces at a time. But the way that Iowa City is at that time, it's different than what it is when season comes. But it sounds like an incredibly fruitful idea on that one. One more football note. Love this as we get the numbers for the incoming freshmen and not just incoming freshmen now, but with the transfer portal, we also get what these guys are going to be wearing for the grad transfers and the transfer portal candidates that have come into the Hawkeye program. I am a number nerd, as you hear me talk about with FanDuel and my sports

betting. I love to bet and numbers are a part of that. And I don't know what it is, but looking at that roster, seeing what the newbies are, it's something that excites me. So here's a couple of ones to keep your eye on. Guys that we're going to see this season, I believe, out there on the field. And get you ready so you don't have to have that roster. So let's all put this in the back of our minds and get ready as they trot out on the field. Game one this season, Labor Day weekend.

Going to be bringing my son Jack to his first game this season. A little three-year-old. My daughter's been to quite a few games in the past, but we're going to have a family affair coming up Labor Day as the Hawkeyes trot out on the field. Now, I think the one that we're going to be looking forward to maybe the most is, well, of course, the quarterback. Yes, we know Cade McNamara, he's going to be wearing number 12, but we knew that going back to spring. These are the

ones that we didn't know about. We're going to be looking for number three. Number three is Caleb Brown, the Ohio State transfer as big of a wide receiver candidate that they have ever had on campus. This is big time. We're going to be looking for number three out there and making some big plays. Another one to keep your eye on, incoming freshman Terrell Washington Jr. Remember, he came in for spring practice. He's a guy that they believe is very versatile. They can use him not just as a running back, but kind of that swing position. We think of the good plays that we saw from Tyler Goodson, a guy like that, doing things out of the backfield. Akram Wadley, that kind of athlete that not as just Tyler Goodson, a guy like that, doing things out of the backfield. Akram Wadley, that kind of athlete that not is just a running back,

but he can do a couple of different things out there, use him in jet sweep, get him out wide, maybe split him out at the slot position, do some different things. And I think he's got a chance this year, maybe getting a little bit of reps in a very good running back room. Maybe they can find a few plays for him, get him out there for the four games and still maintain that red shirt status. Here's another one for you. You're going to see him in the middle and it's going to be looking much different than the hulking Jack Campbell. And that is the new middle linebacker in Nick Jackson. He's going to be wearing number 10.

How about that? Middle linebacker wearing number 10. Oh boy. That is going to look a little bit different out there in the middle. Excited to see Nick Jackson out there. Couple of other ones. How about number 32? That is going to be Ben Keeter, the world champion wrestler. And also he is, of course, an outstanding football player. I think he's a guy that maybe can help out on special teams this year.

We've talked in the past about ultimately what he is. Is it a linebacker? Does he have his hand on the ground and become a defensive end? It's linebacker for right now. Keep an eye out. Number 32 for this year in Ben Keeter. We talked about for you every day.

As you remember last week, we saw the first pictures of Rusty Feth and his Hawkeye black and gold looking number good. They're looking good out there. He's going to help out at the guard position in the interior of the offensive line. He is number 60 out there on the field. So those are some of the names I think you have an opportunity to see this year.

Also, speaking of number three, yes, Caleb Brown will be wearing number three. Also, Marco Lyon as the incoming freshman quarterback will be wearing number three. I think that tells you they don't think that Marco Lyon as is going to play this year. That's okay. Red shirt season because well, if they're both wearing number three, Marco Lyon as and Kayla Brown can't play at the same time, but with numbers and a look at the roster and he can find all of them. They are updated over at the Hawkeye football roster right now on the Hawkeye sports website, Wrapping things up and look at this, Kaitlyn Clark, she wins another award. We'll do that as we continue on Locked on Hawkeyes.

Trent, kind of back with you one final time on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Your team every day. That's what we do here on the Lockdown Network. And, of course, if you have a favorite NFL team, NBA, MLB, NHL, a shout-out to Lockdown Twins. Listen to that one every single day. I'll be getting back into the Bears coming up here for my fandom.

Nor Stars or Nor More, but Lockdown Minnesota, they got that covered too with the Lockdown Wild. Doesn't matter your team, we got you covered here on Lockdown. And also, Lockdown Big Ten, a new host over there, excited to get back into the swing of things and looking forward to that continuing on as we continue caitlin clark with another trophy to add to her already amazing trophy case and this is the honda cup award this is awarded to the college athlete of the year all sports and caitlin

clark wins it now first of all just to be the player that was nominated from basketball, pretty good. I mean, we saw Leah Boston last year and what she was, of course, Angel Reese and on and on. Just getting the coveted spot out of women's basketball, that's pretty good in its own right. And then to win the award and seeing Jan Jensen and Lisa Bluter there with her, seeing the excitement that they had for her as she was getting the trophy, the fun that they were having with it, seeing Kaitlyn Arthur. Now, here's a couple of things. First of all, Kaitlyn's putting in the work.

And Chet Leistekau from the Register had a sit-down with her earlier in the spring, late spring, I guess it was, about a month ago, and really cool just hearing her talk about what she's doing, some workout videos that came out of it. She's yoked. I mean, she's adding weight. She's adding strength, and you can see that just holding that trophy and just how strong she continues to be

and the continued development of her physically. From what she was as a freshman, a skinny little freshman out there, to what we saw this past season, and now what she's becoming, the work is definitely being done by Kaitlyn Clark. But the second part is just this. This is going to be a season where there are going to be plenty of people out there as women's college basketball moved to a different stratosphere this past season. We saw the numbers for the Final Four, for the National Championship game, the eyeballs that watch Kaitlyn Clark.

Well, when more people are watching, there's going to be more people that are going to be making a name for themselves, or at least trying to. And we saw this certainly during the Final Four. We saw this in the LSU game, is there's going to be a certain population that is going to go out there and they're going to nitpick every single thing that Kaitlyn Clark does. Because it is becoming more of a national sport, because more people are interested in the sport, are going to be watching Kaitlin Clark and this

Iowa Hawkeye team. And the expectations are going to be as big as maybe they've ever been. And certainly in recent history for Iowa women's basketball, because all of these things are going to be out there, there's going to be plenty of negativity around it. What I say to you as a fan, as somebody that loves watching Caitlin play and loves watching this women's basketball program and what they have built into is just enjoy it. There's going to be so much negativity. There's going to be those people, the blow potatoes that are going to try to get their names out there and try to become a social media sensation and try to get clicks and do those different things. Don't worry about those people. Enjoy Kaitlyn Clark. This is a once in a lifetime player. We are never going to see anything like this again in our life. This very well could be

the final go around for Kaitlyn Clark in the Hawkeye black and gold. Just enjoy it. Don't fall down those rabbit holes. Don't give those people the oxygen that they need to survive. Enjoy, Caitlin. Enjoy this team for what they are. It will be a much better viewing experience for you. It'll keep your blood pressure down as we get a little bit older. That's important to enjoy what we have with Caitlin Clark. Hey, enjoyed this one today. A lot of fun as we break things down some football little basketball caitlin clark with another big award and talked about the incoming players as well we got you covered coming up thursday we have you covered it will be our throwback thursday

that's right you everydayers we have a look back at some of the great teams in iowa history i gave you my favorite team the the 2002 Iowa football team. We will talk football. We will talk basketball here throughout these summer months on a throwback Thursday coming to your feed on Thursday here on Locked on Hawkeyes. Plus more on the football recruiting, more commitments anticipated. You know we got you covered here on Locked on Hawkeyes.

We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Go Hawks.