Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa Women March to the Sweet 16, Spencer Lee's Hawkeye career comes to an end

Episode Date: March 20, 2023

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The Iowa women punched their ticket into the Sweet 16. But not only that, the path to a Final Four, a lot more realistic when this tournament began. Plus, Spencer Lee falls as Iowa finishes second in NCAA wrestling. All coming up today on Locked on Hawkeyes. 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 single day. We're available wherever you get podcasts. You can also find us on YouTube. While you're there, make sure you hit that subscribe button. Let's us know whenever we got a new episode out there for you and lets us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. As we get into it here today, Iowa back in the Sweet 16 in women's basketball

after a hard-fought victory against Georgia. They get it done and pick up the victory 74-66. We'll break that down. Also a little bit about Spencer Lee and the Iowa wrestling team over the weekend. A second place finish. Some good stories. Some disappointing ones including the loss in the semifinals to Spencer Lee. And just an odd scenario how it played out. Spencer Lee not bouncing back and deciding to medically forfeit his way out of the tournament, finishing in sixth place in his last go-through. Some thoughts on that as well coming up today. Spring football right around the corner.

Don't worry, we've got a lot of football content coming up for you as football begins. And a final pro day also for the Iowa football team. As always, thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Let's get into it here and talk about that Iowa women's team. What a crowd. In fact, that's where I want to start today. That environment inside of Carver Hawkeye Arena with 15,000 fans in attendance, just a jam-packed building, just seeing the good, incredible crowd,

the support that this women's program continues to get from the Hawkeye fan base. It is a sight to behold. And yes, you have a generational player. You have a player that, and Kaitlyn Clark will be remembered for a long time, and she is worth the price of admission. She is worth flipping price of admission. She is worth flipping on your television to watch.

And as they get ready now to make their way out to Seattle, you know, there's going to be a whole lot of people that are going to do the exact same thing. She is must watch television. That's what she's become. If you're a sports fan, that's what Caitlin Clark is. And it's incredible that we continue to be at this point on our way after being named to the All-American Team National Player of the Year Award. Those are going to be coming around the corner and on and on and on.

This win may be more difficult than people envision. And you saw the draw come out. You get the 7-10 over there with Florida State and Georgia. And I was concerned about this Georgia team, not just what they have with Coach Abe over there, a Hawkeye alum. She coming back home, you know that this was going to be extra important to have an opportunity to be coaching her team there. Started her career at Georgia, ended up at the University of Iowa. She was there towards the early 90s is the time that she was there. A couple of years later is when Iowa ultimately went to their last final four in 1993 and that's another piece here but but kudos to you that crowd you know we

hear so many times during men's basketball you know that the crowd just isn't very good but you've been in Carver for wrestling matches and just what that environment can be what this women's basketball program has been now over the last couple of seasons and the environments that are there. And at times, the fan base really willing this team that every time it felt like, boy, Georgia's going to get over the hump. They're going to get back and maybe take the lead. And the crowd just wouldn't let it happen. It was a sight to behold.

Credit to everybody out there that was in the building. You absolutely made a difference in this one. Georgia, they're tough. They're gritty. They force turnovers. Iowa in the game, 17 turnovers overall turns in off of those turnovers into 21 second chance points, points off turnovers for Georgia in the game. Bulldogs didn't shoot it very well. Iowa did shoot it pretty well for the outside. In fact, in the first half, credit to not what we talk about normally in the big two with Kaitlin Clark and Monica Zanano. That's not the case.

In fact, it was the play of Gabby Marshall, who has just been shooting the crap out of the ball. And really the only good thing that came off out of that loss to Maryland that they had here about three, four weeks back now was that she finally started to hit some shots in that game and it has continued and she's been red hot ever since both her and Warnock in the first half of the game they're the ones that kept Georgia at bay you know Georgia raced out to that early lead what was it 15-12 at one point Iowa responded 10-0 run they got the And then, I mean, the dogfight was on. It was just back and forth.

And that Bulldog squad, I was really impressed by the way that they played, the toughness that they had, the tenacity. Now, got out of hand there late in the basketball game as well. And you had some chippiness. You had some hard fouls. And it was not just, you know, there was more than that. It was cheap. It was dirty.

There were some dirty plays at the end of the game from the Georgia side. You hate to see a well-played college basketball game end up in that fashion, but ultimately that's how I saw it. It was not just a heat of the moment kind of thing. There was a little bit more to that, and that's disappointing to see from that angle. But the great news is that Iowa gets the win. After a year ago, that loss to Creighton in the round of 32, another banged out crowd there at Carver. And the disappointment, the way that that ended in that fashion, had opportunities late in the game and just

couldn't make it happen. And that's going to happen. Even at home, there's going to be those kind of moments. And I think that doubt crept into my mind a couple of times in the second half of the game, but they kept responding. Every time Georgia would get up three or four, I would have a little mini run back at them and push it back up to seven or eight. Really could never get above that during the second half of the game, but it was that kind of matchup. Kaitlyn Clark, she got it going in the second half.

She finishes the game with 22 points, but 12 assists. I think that's when Iowa basketball is at its best, is when Kaitlin's out there distributing at that kind of level, when she's at the 10, 11, 12 assist mark. When she is that good, this is when Iowa basketball is at its best. Kate Martin was not great offensively in the game. Know what she can do on the defensive end of the floor. She didn't shoot it real well.

Didn't have many opportunities, just four shots. And that zone defense also that Georgia employed really gave Iowa some trouble there. They switched things up a little bit. They got Kaitlyn into the high post. They did some things with her and get some action and moving the ball into the corners with her in the high post. I thought that was a really good coaching job by Coach Bluter and the staff making that adjustment going out there.

But in a game where you're playing without the sixth player of the year in the Big Ten in Hannah Stolke, we know what a difference maker she is. We know just how skilled she is around the rim, her ability to beat most girls up the floor, and her speed that she plays at as a post player. She's a different weapon that Iowa just does not have somebody like that with that size and the speed and the agility that she has. She turned her ankle right at the end of practice. It sounded like the other day. does not have somebody like that with that size and the speed and the agility that she has she

turned her ankle right at the end of practice it sounded like the other day tried to give it a go wasn't able to that hurt them then he coupled that with molly davis going down early her first time off the bench she gets rolled up on she turns her ankle looked really ugly you were really concerned about her she comes back over there it was good to see no ice on it, nothing like that, but she was not able to go the rest of the game. So for all intents and purposes, this was a five-player team. That's what they played with, but were able to get the victory, punched their ticket to the Sweet 16.

Now, oh, suddenly that path looks a whole lot better. I didn't believe when the bracket came out that Iowa could make a Final Four. Being honest, I didn't see that being a came out that Iowa could make a final four. Being honest, I didn't see that being a realistic possibility. Now Stanford's out. Iowa's got a chance. We'll talk about that path for them. Some wrestling talk as well as we roll through here on a Monday edition. It's the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Today's episode of the lockdown hawkeyes podcast is brought to you by built bar the built march madness bracket is here we know you have a favorite bar or puff and now is your time to make it count go to built march madness.com you can vote for your favorites now we've talked

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of more Hawkeye fans. So after Iowa gets the win against Georgia, they're into the Sweet 16. They'll be heading out to Seattle next week and getting ready to await the winner of the matchup coming up this evening as we will see the matchup between the number three seed Duke and the six seed Colorado. Saw Duke a year ago. If you remember, they played in the ACC Big Ten Challenge. Also remember, though, Iowa was coming off a COVID pause.

They were supposed to play a game against Drake. That didn't happen. The team had not practiced together in weeks going into that game. I wouldn't play well. Kaitlyn Clark did not play well in that game. You got to remember just what they were going through at that time, the pause that they were going through.

I think you're going to see a different team if it is Duke or Colorado, whoever is there in Seattle waiting them. I'd love to see a big crowd out there. Hey, Washington people, Seattle people, stand up, make your way over there to Old Key Arena. And that's where they'll be playing that one as there'll be two regions that'll be out there along with two that'll be played down in South Carolina. So that is the setup this year.

A little bit of a change instead of the four regional matches. They're going to have two of the regions in each of those two spots for the Sweet 16 and ultimately for the Elite Eight. Now, if it's Duke, it's going to be a tough matchup, but we'll see. We'll talk about that as the week goes on. And after we see that Colorado Duke game, we'll break things down a little bit more and the matchup that the Lady Hawkeyes are going to be facing off against. But before we get into that, the loss that Stanford sustained on Sunday night to Ole Miss. Ole Miss absolutely grinded them, much like that Stanford sustained on Sunday night to Ole Miss. Ole Miss absolutely grinded them, much like that Georgia team and SEC team. I mean, they bullied them.

They made it tough on them. Stanford, so skilled. They had a lot of size on their team. That was a matchup I just didn't like for Iowa watching the Stanford team this year. Well, they're out. Now, Ole Miss beat them. You wonder about that. And then also in the bracket, awaiting on the bottom side of that

when you look at what is called the Seattle 4 region. That is what it is dubbed. It'll also be the winner of the Texas Louisville game. They'll be awaiting and facing Ole Miss in the Sweet 16. So if Iowa does get two in a lead eight, it'll be the winner of Texas and Louisville against Ole Miss, and then the winner of that one will face off in the Elite 8. The path is a lot easier. It just is. And sometimes these are things that are going to happen in 30 years. 30 years. That is how far and how long it has been since Iowa has made a Final Four. And this program,

what has developed now over the last, well, I say the last couple of years with Kaitlin Clark, but this has been building for a long time. And, you know, they made that first kind of step forward when they got CM Logic. She was a top 10 player nationally, got her out of Wisconsin. She was an incredible player, do everything kind of player on the boards, great passer. She could score. I mean, she could do so many different things. And the program kind of took a step forward at that point in time. We saw them ascending up there. Lisa Bluter's had a lot of success.

And now what we've seen, going back to Meg Augustin, sitting out here today with the Elite Eight run that they had, still getting over that final hump. It's going to be difficult. It's not to say that it isn't, but this path, it makes me believe a whole lot more and it wasn't to deride this program or anything like that but some of those teams it comes down to matchups and the matchups i didn't love now the path is real and it's really exciting time for women's basketball also want to talk a little wrestling here before we wrap

things up spencer lee falling in the semi-fin as he got stuck there. One of the just most crazy instances that I can remember in collegiate wrestling. So it's happening on the semifinal round on Friday night and flip it on, get ready to go. There's of course, March Madness going on. There's women's games going on. There's a ton happening at that time. And if you would have told me that Spencer Lee was going to get stuck like that, I just, I couldn't believe it. 53 straight wins. He was wrestling at such a high level. We'll talk about that as we come back here to wrap things up and just a quick peek at some football here on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. some football here on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast.

Today's episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast is brought to you by FanDuel. Well, the tournament is heating up and now it's the perfect time to download FanDuel, America's number one sports book, because new customers, you can still get a no sweat first bet up to $1,000. That's bonus bets back into your account if sweat first bet up to one thousand dollars that's bonus bets back into your account if your first bet doesn't win just download the fan duel sportsbook app it's safe secure and super easy to use that he can bet on everything money line point scores three pointers trade they got you covered there at fan duel so already looking at these Sweet 16 matchups coming up in the next round as we get to Thursday in the Sweet 16.

Michigan State, they're the only lower-seeded team that is favored. They're a slight favorite over Kansas State. Really like that one. We went 4-1 on our picks on Sunday, so feeling pretty good going into the Sweet 16. I think Florida Atlantic is a live dog against Tennessee. Now, admittedly, I thought Tennessee was going to lose to Louisiana. Louisiana got the cover. Thank you, Raging Cajuns, for that one.

Ultimately didn't get the win, and then they just took Duke completely out of it. They were the tougher team in that one. Florida Atlantic, though, that's a real team. We're going to be grabbing the points there. FanDuel also lets you combine your bets for a chance at a bigger payout with same-game parlays. So don't miss your chance at a no-swe sweat first bet up to $1,000 in bonus bets when you go to fanduel.com slash lockdown.

Again, fanduel.com slash lockdown to learn more. Make every moment more with FanDuel, their official sports betting partner of the NBA. Trent Conant back with you one final time here on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. That's what we do on the network, not just Hawkeyes. It doesn't matter. I'm a Twins

fan. I love what they're doing over there. Nash, he moved on to a new job, but already great work happening there. I'm a Bears fan. Got that covered. Your team every day, locked on across the network. We got locked on college basketball, locked on NFL drafts, so much going on. And we have you covered here on the network.

So as we get back into the Hawkeyes and we get into the wrestling team, as the season comes to a close, a second place finish, which realistically was what was going to happen, right? It just, Penn State, such a behemoth. We needed them to fall back a little bit. And though maybe they certainly did not wrestle a perfect tournament. You had a couple of guys upset, though they also had a couple of guys that made a run to the finals.

We had to have Penn State have a struggle of a tournament. And the Hawkeyes had to wrestle perfectly, and that didn't happen. And we get into Spencer Lee and getting caught. Spencer Lee has been such a figure of this Iowa wrestling program for the last half decade, and what he has meant also to the program as a whole. Helping deliver a national championship would have been another in 2020 if that ultimately was not canceled because of the pandemic. And what he meant, you know, we talk about

Kaitlyn Clark so much and what she means to the community and women's basketball fans and just basketball fans in general and the new people that she's bringing in. And Spencer Lee, he was that kind of person as well. And we have these two iconic people going through our athletic department, our athletic programs here recently, and to see it end in that fashion. Now, Saturday morning, as I get the email from the University of Iowa, it was very odd to me the way that the press release was handled. Now, this very well could be reading way too much into something that doesn't need that much reading into, right?

I mean, that's also a piece of this. But for a two-sentence, three-line press release to be sent out after somebody this iconic, somebody this important is put out there, it left a lot of people questioning what is going on here. Is this something that the coaching staff, the athletic department is disappointed in? Is there an injury lingering there? Now, the sounds of things that that is not the case,

that there's nothing that you have to worry about, that the ACL repairs that he has gone through, that something went wrong there. But you didn't see that he added the brace. He had that big wrap back on their leg again towards the end of the season. A lot of speculation about that. And that's what it leads to. But I was just surprised that in the press release, there wasn't more, that there wasn't a quote from him there wasn't a coach a quote from coach brands that we didn't see kind of a list of the accomplishments that he had because that's normally the way that these press releases are again it's speculation it's it was just an odd way to see it handled in that fashion that was great to hear that he was there supporting his

teammates as they were wrestling in the consolation round. Guys tried to come back for third. We got to see some good performances there on Saturday morning into the afternoon. And guys fighting their way up the podium after already becoming All-Americans and finishing in the top eight and trying to work their way up.

That was good to see that he was there. Because again, that speculation was out there. What is going on? I know there's going to be more of the story and more that's certainly going to come out, but just, just a terrible end to an incredible season for Spencer Lee. Now the motivation obviously for him is to become an Olympic wrestler and ultimately win Olympic gold. And people believe in people that know wrestling a whole lot better than I do. They believe that he has the kind of talent that it's going to take.

I mean, think of the great wrestlers that have gone through the Iowa Wrestling Room, great wrestlers in general that have gone through great collegiate careers and didn't get to that ultimate pinnacle of winning a gold medal in the Olympic round. It is an absolute grind. And the physical toll that has already gone through and the body that happens in wrestling. And for a guy like Spencer Lee, it has to keep the weight down. I mean, this is, this is not like an off season or basketball. You can put the ball away for a couple of weeks and go do your thing or football. And you're letting everything kind of regenerate itself.

If you will, this is 365 days where you have to be at your absolute best and you have to be working on your body and the physical nature that it's going through and what he's going to be. That is something that we will be keeping an eye on. But I just want to talk a little bit about him. We'll talk more about the future of Iowa wrestling here in the coming days and weeks, and we'll look forward to the program. It's going to be a weird one next year as well. I mean, you think about it., obviously 2024 will be another Olympic year. The people that'll be working to get to the Olympic team, we're going to see a bunch of wrestlers that are going to be out there and

making the decision to not compete collegially next season because of that. So though Penn State is a loaded roster, again, there are possibilities some guys are not going to be a part of that program across the country. So it's going to be just a different kind of are not going to be a part of that program across the country so gonna be just a different kind of year one to keep an eye on and iowa is gonna be involved you'd have to anticipate again in the transfer portal you know they've done that recently we saw real woods make it to the championship ultimately didn't get there i was stringed though of having guys in the finals that continued again this season. That was great to see, but over three overall from the state of Iowa, as we saw three wrestlers there and all of them lose in the championship

round, but overall, you know, second place finish. It's a trophy. It's not the trophy that they want. Got to find a way to run down Penn state. They've taken it to another level.

And finally, Iowa football, it'll be pro day. We will see some of the top end prospects, not going to be doing much. You're not going to see Lucas Van Ness out there going through everything. But for that next tier guy, the guys that are trying to become free agents, maybe getting a shot at the next level, even a late round draft pick. I mean, this is going to be the time that they're going to have their best opportunity. The guys that were not invited to Indianapolis as well. This is their opportunity to shine. So there'll be some good stories that are going to talk about that.

We will get into that. Spring football is beginning. We got a ton of football content coming your way here in the coming weeks. We got to talk about Iowa basketball. We will be continuing to preview the women's team as they make the run to the Sweet 16. And hopefully they'll continue on here for a couple of weeks. Iowa baseball, they get a sweep over the weekend as they get it done against South Dakota State. Had to play one of the games down by Kansas City.

Came back home, played a doubleheader. Get three victories against the Jackrabbits. And now a 15-3 on the season. A chance to be in really good shape before Big Ten play begins. And it begins with a big one as they'll get Maryland in the opening round. So that's coming up right around the corner. We got you covered here with a lot of Hawkeye type. Your team every day on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast.

And as always, thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen today. For your second listen, make sure you check out our new podcast, Locked On College Basketball. Our experts, Isaac Shade and Annie Patton, bringing you everything you need to know on and off the floor. Plus, hear from the big namename experts, coaches, and players throughout the basketball landscape. Locked On College Basketball, available on YouTube

and wherever you get podcasts. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Let's keep stories in Hawkeye lore, and we will talk to you then. More football talk around the corner, and a whole lot more here on Locked On Hawkeyes. Go Hawks!