Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa Football recruiting board, How good is Iowa Athletics?, Jack McCaffery leaving Iowa?

Episode Date: June 15, 2023

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We're a week away from Iowa football, their biggest recruiting weekend of the year. We talk about some of the prospects that will be making their visit to Iowa City. How good is Iowa athletics, the athletics program as a whole? We've got some financial numbers to break down. Also, a look at the way that other Big Ten media takes a look at the Hawkeyes. And Iowa basketball, Jack McCaffrey, maybe not a lot for Iowa. A lot of people anticipated. Story on that one. All today,

you are locked on Hawkeyes. Your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team, 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. While you're there, hit that subscribe button. Helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. Today's episode is brought to you by Bird Dogs. Go to birddogs.com slash lock and they'll throw in a free custom Bird Dogs Yeti style tumbler with every order. Get things started here today and a lot of talk about Iowa football and the future of the Iowa football program. Obviously, Iowa football getting ready for their big tailgate weekend when they bring in a bunch of prospects

for the class of 2024, 2025. A lot of the guys that have already committed to the program are going to be making their official visits coming up that weekend. And this is kind of, if you will, the lifeblood of what athletics are going to be and what we're going to see making their official visits coming up that weekend. And this is kind of, if you will, the lifeblood of what athletics are going to be and what we're going to see next weekend. So, you know, it has been interesting normally at this time and the change in the recruiting

calendar that we're seeing Iowa pick up a commitment. That seems like every week at this point has not been the case. In fact, Iowa has not received a commitment on the football field in over a month now. Now that will change. I anticipate we're going to see a few more people jump aboard. But mention that recruiting weekend and what's going to be happening coming up starting next Friday, the 23rd. So you have guys that are already committed to the Hawkeyes

that will be on campus. That will be guys like Cody Fox, the big four-star offensive lineman from East Buck. Derek Weiskopf will be here for his official visit. Cam Buffington will be here. Will Nolan is going to be on campus for his initial. The quarterback of this class, James Rezar from down in Florida, he will be here.

Brody McCaslin, one of the offensive line prospects from Illinois. They got a slew of them. Drew Campbell, Jack Campbell's little brother, he will be here for his official visit. Brevin Dahl will also be there. If you missed it, you can go back at a conversation with Brevin after he made his commitment. Xavier Williams, Preston Reese, all going to be here. Josh Genachowski. So basically the recruiting classes, the guys that are committed that have not taken official visits, a lot of them are going to be making that the case. But there are a couple other prospects that I was after that very well could translate into commitments coming up next weekend.

Jalen Watson is one of those names from out in Ohio. Iowa with a really good chance on him. KJ Parker is an intriguing prospect, an athlete from over in Illinois. Cincinnati also involved for his services. Reese Van Der Zee, a wide receiver, or maybe someone that grows into a tight end down to, it sounds like Iowa or Iowa State for his services. I know over on three, they have their recruiting prediction machine

and it's very much in favor of the Hawkeyes in that one. But I have heard that Van Der Zee is really like, even as somebody that grew up in a big hotbed of Hawkeyes and a background there, that Iowa State has at least been able to sell them what they've done in the past with some big wide receivers. So that is what's going on. A few more names.

We'll continue to talk about them here in the coming week leading into those visits and what we're going to see. Gavin Hoffman, tight end, is going to be on campus. And probably the biggest one of the uncommitted guys that will be coming for an official is Eric Karner. So he's the young man that was, as a tight end, committed to play Purdue, decommitted, and all of a sudden saw his recruiting stock go through the roof. So Michigan State's involved. I was involved. He's got an Alabama offer. I mean, he's got big time offers all across the country.

His coach, Matt Bowen, that's definitely got to help the former Hawkeye and NFL player now doing his work for ESPN, having him as a coach, maybe a little leg up there for the Hawkeyes, but obviously it's going to come down to Eric Harner and what he decides on that one. But he'll be on his official and a big opportunity for Iowa to get one of the top tight ends in the class that has some of the best offers you're going to find, certainly for a guy that's still only rated a three-star by a lot of the recruiting services. Florida, Texas A&M, Alabama involved, and yet still just a three-star sometimes doesn't make a ton of sense. So that is what is happening on the football front.

Big look at the recruiting and what is happening in the lifeblood. Let's hope we get some commitments here for the Hawkeyes and start to fill out that class a little bit. Anything where you have to be overly concerned at this point, something that you have to start freaking out that Iowa doesn't have, you know, the guys that you're looking forward to and not have the big class set up already, but one to keep an eye on.

We continue the conversation. Before we do, though, come to you with a heavy heart today. A roommate of mine at Iowa and one of our tailgate group passed away. And very difficult, obviously, talking about the Hawkeyes and knowing our love of the Hawkeyes and the conversations we've had over the last 25 years. Just tough time. It really is. And just know for everybody out there, there's always people out there that are willing to listen. And if you're somebody that needs help, absolutely find it. But a little bit difficult today, but we will get our way through it. We got some news on the horizon as well. We're going to take a look at Iowa athletics and something interesting.

So all of us here on the Lockdown Channel, Lockdown College Sports Channel, and each of the Big Ten teams went out there and we voted on a bunch of different things. And in the coming weeks, we're going to be talking about some of these surveys that were handed out to us and what the results were. This is not my opinion. This is opinion of other Big Ten brethren, other people and how they value and how they look at athletic programs.

And we're going to talk about offenses and defenses, football, basketball programs. There were questions about that. But what we're hitting today is what people believe about the athletic program as a whole across the Big Ten and at the University of Iowa. How well is Iowa athletics regarded? We're going to get into that as we roll through here. This is the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Today's episode of Lockdown Hawkeyes brought to you by Bird Dogs. Bird Dogs, they are comfortable. They are sweet. They are exactly

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The versatility that you get with Bird Dogs is through the roof. Plus, you get that Tumblr. If you are just joining us for the first time, with every order at birddogs.com slash lockedoncollege, you're going to get a free Yeti-style Tumblr with your order.

Again, birddogs.com slash lockedoncollege, and you'll get that free Yeti-style tumbler. You don't want to take your bird dogs off. We promise you. Trey Cotten back with you again here on LockedOnHawkeyes. Thanks for making LockedOnHawkeyes your first listen every day. So I mentioned we take a look at the Big Ten and kind of where we sit. Look, the big budget programs that are out there, the Ohio States, the Michigans, the Penn States of the Big Ten, they operate at a different level than what the Hawkeyes do. But one thing that I

maintain, and after the athletic director job opened up after the retirement from Gary Barta, it's one thing that I mentioned and I think bears repeating because for Iowa athletics, yeah, we are the smallest state in the Big Ten landscape. And yes, we are one of the ones that have to deal with another Power Five program inside our state borders. Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, they don't have to deal with something like Iowa has, having a Big 12 team in the same state, a small population state, a state that was getting so much better high school-wise as it pertains to D1 athletes. It's not sustainable just doing things in-state and doing it with another one that you've got to battle against for a lot of recruits. But, you know, Iowa, I found this incredibly interesting.

So this is rankings from everybody on the Lockdown Big Ten part of the Lockdown College Network. Everybody voted on all these different things. And this is what we're going to talk about today. And it's this. Where Iowa stacks up in comparison to the rest of the Big Ten. So as we put up the graphic there, you see it. Iowa comes in at number five. Michigan, the number one athletic program.

Number two, Ohio State. Penn State comes in at number five. Michigan, the number one athletic program. Number two, Ohio State. Penn State comes in at number three. And number four is Wisconsin. But they are right there. And it's crazy to see Iowa up that high with some of the difficult nature that Iowa has to go through, right? In comparison to the other ones,

some of the negatives that we mentioned there. It is different, and yet Iowa is battling at the top. Another interesting note, as it pertains to just the way that this sets up all the way through, and I thought it was also very interesting when we looked at this, is the overall athletic program and the success that Iowa has had with football over the last five years. They're right up there with right behind Michigan and Ohio State as it pertains to wins. What we see with the basketball program. Yes, we would love to see more March success. I get that. But year in, year out, a consistent winner under Fran McCaffrey. Women's basketball, but not just that. You get into the Olympic sports

and the successes that we've seen. Obviously wrestling, you throw them in the mix. What we've seen with women's basketball, what we've seen even the field hockey team and on and on and on. It's just the success after success after success that has been happening in this athletic department and people are noticing,

not just here in the state of Iowa, but across the Big Ten, people are noticing what they can do. So there your top five Michigan at number one Ohio State two Penn State three Wisconsin four and Iowa five let's go one through 14 let's uh continue Indiana at number six maybe it's just the football team and some of their disappointments for what has happened obviously at the basketball floor and not getting to the level that many people, myself included, believe Indiana should be on a yearly basis. Michigan State at number seven.

Maryland comes in at number eight. Number nine is Illinois, followed by Nebraska. And then you wrap it up with Northwestern, Purdue, Minnesota, and Rutgers at number 14. But there's also things that we can take a look at this and see how it sets up and the financials of it. And that's another big piece of what's happening financially with this. So the Big Ten and the SEC combined have top $2 billion in athletic revenue. Where does Iowa fit in that?

Well, number one in all the country country in all the land this past year was ohio state they brought in 256 million dollars in revenue people say we don't have money to pay the athletes that aside iowa comes in at number 21 in the country, 151 million. Nebraska, they're behind them at number 26, 143. Iowa State, 111 million. And also in-state, 170th in the country is UNI. But at the top, you have Ohio State, Texas, Alabama, Michigan, Georgia. So where does Iowa place kind of around that? And that's why I've said, speaking of that athletic director job, it is so important for Iowa to make this a national search, to go out there and find the best candidate, not play little guy, not play, you know what, we're just

little old Iowa. No, this is a great job. This is one of the best jobs in the country. And you see it with revenue, 151 million. That's more revenue brought in than Wisconsin and Illinois and Washington and Louisville and Nebraska is mentioned, South Carolina, Missouri of the SEC, on and on and on. Iowa is right up there. I mean, they're punching in a big weight class. That's why it is important for this athletic director job to get this right and know that there are going to be a lot of people that want this job. It needs to be a national search.

And that absolutely, I think, shows you just that. These numbers show you that I was up there. And it's no more playing little guy or the little guy of the Big Ten. Uh-uh-uh. Not with the way revenue is absolutely brought in for the Iowa Athletic Department. That is not the way to look at this. Wrapping things up, a little basketball talk and a surprising story from over at 24-7 Sports. Jack McCaffrey put together a nice high school career, of course, the youngest of the McCaffrey

kids. What is happening in his recruiting? He's a lock for Iowa, right? Not so fast. That's as we continue here, Lockdown Hawkeyes. All right, Trent Conner, back with you one final time on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. So as we put a bow on things, this one came as a shock.

I was looking earlier today and bounced around a couple of the websites, and this does not come from David Eichel or Sean Bach, the two writers, over at 24-7. This comes from Travis Barnum over at 24-7, one of their national guys. And he went out there and put together an article. After talking to Jack, I would anticipate maybe at one of the camps. But now as he gets ready for another campaign, he can be contacted by college programs. But not the bumping into people, none of that. The official contact that started a couple nights ago at midnight.

So Jack McCaffrey is ranked number 51 player in the class of 2025. Just finished up his sophomore campaign. Still two more seasons in front of him at the class of 2025. Just finished up his sophomore campaign, still two more seasons in front of him at the high school level. And after what we saw with Connor, what we saw with Patrick, we thought he was going to be a Hawkeye too. Now, he is the most highly regarded of the McCaffreys, at least at this point. Both Connor and Patrick are both top 150 players,

but not a top 50 national player like Jack is. Jack got a beautiful stroke, a lot better looking shot than either of his brothers do, versatile, can play the game, can beat you in a variety of different ways. But he said this in the article about recruiting. Here's the quote from Jack McCaffrey. I don't think I will go there. I made that up in my mind a while ago.

I want to get away from home. I talked to my parents and my brothers about it. I think that's the best thing for me. That stinks as a Hawkeye fan. Get it? Bet in Iowa City, you want to get away. A lot of kids are built differently. Little brother trying to get out of the shadow

of your older brothers. I mean, there's so many different things that it makes sense on the surface, but as a player, he's the best of the bunch. And now we're not going to get the best of the brothers? Yeah, that hurts. Now, still a long ways to go. There's still a lot that is happening, and

we will see if this absolutely is something that turns out to be the case. But something to keep an eye on there. Jack says, I don't think I'll go there. That is the quote from Jack McCaffrey. Let's hope things change. Jack McCaffrey would be a big-time addition to that team. We're talking the future. We're talking 2025.

A long way to go until we get to that point. But an interesting one over at Hawkeye Insider and 24-7 Sports, an article with McCaffrey. He also mentioned that Notre Dame and Ohio State were the two programs that have been interested. The Notre Dame angle with his mom, Margaret, playing at Notre Dame, being a great player there with a fighting Irish. The background, the Catholic background.

Yeah. All that makes a whole lot of sense. The other one, Ohio State, though, found that one also pretty interesting. The Buckeyes maybe getting involved for his services. If he does leave, let's hope it's not a Big Ten school. Let's hope it's something where Iowa doesn't have to play him a couple of times a year. That would not be very much fun. But with that, we are out of time here for today. We'll be back with you next week here on Lockdown Hawkeyes. It was going to be a throwback Thursday today. I just wasn't able to pull it together, but we get something to you on

Friday over the weekend. I will definitely do that. I promise you we're going to do them. It's going to be a fun series. Throwback Thursdays for you every day, as we're going to get those in coming up going forward. But we will talk to you again here later in the week, if not next week. A lot going on as we get more information. One nugget for everybody that stayed through here too. I heard this from a couple of different places here over the last day. We've talked about the gambling investigation and most specifically how it pertains to Iowa football. There was a post from Brad Heinrichs of the Iowa Swarm about a month ago where he mentioned

on a scale of one to 10, it had been relayed to him. It was about a three. Speculation and some rumblings, it's rumors that maybe a guy in the too deep, that was it. Seems to be a little smoke being created right now that maybe it's going to be a little bit more impactful than we originally thought. I haven't heard any names. I haven't heard anything on that front that I can relay to you.

In fact, nothing at all in terms of names have been relayed. The Iowa State case, there's been a lot of names that have been thrown out. That has not been the case with Iowa outside of, obviously, the four baseball players that went through it and had to sit out the rest of the season. We'll see. Is the NCAA ready?

Players lowering up. Not going on there. And we'll keep you covered as we always do here on Locked on Hawkeyes. Talk to you again soon. Thanks for joining us here today. Go Hawks.