Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa's Receiving Corps UNLEASHES Hidden Potential | Can Gronowski ELEVATE Passing Attack to NEW HEIGHTS?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hawkeye quarterback Mark Gronowski working out with his receivers. Are they ready to pop in 2025? You are locked on Hawkeyes your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes Part of the Locked On Podcast Network your team every day podcast network, your team every day. And 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 find podcasts.

Starting point is 00:00:33 You can also watch us on YouTube. Make sure you hit that subscribe button while you're there. If you're listening on the podcast side, five star reviews. Today's episode of Lockdown Hawkeyes is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, app create an account and use code Lockdown college for $20 off your first purchase as mentioned on track condon been covering the Hawkeyes for over 20 years on the radio

Starting point is 00:00:53 You can hear me currently on the Iowa sports radio network We have stations fan across the state Sioux City the Quad City Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and our flagship 106.3 KX, you know you can hear me weekdays from noon till two. Well today we're going to talk a little bit about Caitlin Clark, an injury once again keeping her out, a different injury, but is it all coming back to the same thing? We will get into that. We'll also be joined by David Eichholt, a look back at his look at open practice for Iowa basketball last week. We'll get his perspective on what he saw on the hardwood with Ben McCollum's squad. But something interesting I thought the other day as there was a tweet that was put out

Starting point is 00:01:32 of Mark Gronowski hanging out with a number of his receivers. He is in North Texas in a facility and he is hanging out with Jeff Christensen. You might remember that name, his son Jake Christiansen was a Hawkeye quarterback in the mid-aughts to the late aughts before moving on to Eastern Illinois. He was a great hope for many people, didn't pan out at a high level, but certainly good to see him out there,

Starting point is 00:01:59 former NFL quarterback and helping out a Hawkeye in Mark Gronowski. And you can understand the connection, Illinois guys, Naperville, obviously for Gronowski, as we've talked about in the past in the connection there, as they were working out in a facility down in North Texas, which I thought was very interesting. You know, this is, this is not us in high school going out to the park and throwing some routes with your wide receivers, right? A little bit different the way that they have set up there and in the NIL era the ability to have a little extra money to make your way down and to be able to work out in different areas of the country. But Mark Gronowski

Starting point is 00:02:33 is there working out with four guys, four other guys that are in the picture. Addison Estrenga, Tieden, Sam Phillips, KJ Parker, and Jacob Gill. And it led to, at least for me, a little speculation. Some speculation about some names on this list that we're wondering about. And I think you start with Addison Estrenga. Addison Estrenga now taking over at that tight end position. A guy that has been around, has been making some plays, and has been though in a backup role. He's popped a couple of different times. We've seen him get in the end zone last year, had two touchdowns in 2023, 31 catches in

Starting point is 00:03:16 that decrepit offense of 2023. So I guess that's a high watermark, right? It's something that you can get excited about. I just wonder if there's another gear. And last year the tight end position, even with Luke Lachey coming back off the injury, and I think we could see Luke Lachey wasn't completely at 100% a year ago.

Starting point is 00:03:32 But that aside, if Addison Asstranga, 6'4", 250 pounds, he's got some wheels, he can make some moves. If he's got another air, another gear that he can get up into and take that jump. And good to see him obviously there working out with Mark Grunowski. The other part of the tight end position wasn't in this picture, but we're going to see this year from Zach Wirtworth, another guy that showed some signs, showed a few things. And then he gave it to the young guys and kind of Thomas Meyer hit the ground running and jump out and help this team at the tight end position

Starting point is 00:04:06 and one of those young tight ends is going to be able to step up. The other guys in the picture from the wide receiver position you have Sam Phillips. Start with Sam Phillips. In from Chattanooga, speed to burn, highly productive at UT Chattanooga. Now you're taking a step up obviously in competition, going from the FC ranks up to the FCS ranks, excuse me, to the FBS ranks, but this guy definitely has size. Now he's little, and if you saw him at all at the open practice in spring,

Starting point is 00:04:37 that's something that jumps off. He is not a tall guy by any means. Looking at his highlight package though, he was a guy that was able to go up in space, got leaping ability, and can go up and make some plays, but his speed element adding something that Iowa hasn't had, certainly recently, in the offense. KJ Parker is out of this group, maybe the most intriguing guy, just because we've continued to hear now about KJ Parker the last two seasons. We heard about him as he showed up on campus last year, people wondering if he was gonna be able to find a role.

Starting point is 00:05:05 And he's been kind of the buzz guy of the spring and into the summer. You know, when you're talking about really under the radar guys, it seems like KJ Parker is one of those guys that continues to come up. And then finally, Jacob Gil, who was a godsend for Iowa a year ago,

Starting point is 00:05:20 after just what we've gone through at the wide receiver position, to see a guy that was out there Do what he was doing? knew how to run routes I mean we had a guy that comes in with what 16 career catches from Northwestern and we were excited about it because He played wide receiver in the big ten at a minimum makes it better than what I was saw a year ago Jacob Gill 35 catches 411 yards, two touchdowns.

Starting point is 00:05:48 And when you're looking at the production this season, I'm not asking him for doublet, but can Jacob Gill now get up to 50 catches? Maybe push that 411 yards up closer to 600 yards per catch up to more like 13. And double up the touchdowns up to four. You know, if that's your dependable guy and obviously the other weapons that they have outside from Reese Vanderzee, who burst down to the scene a year ago. Seth Anderson, as we continue to wait for him to get healthy. We saw a little bit of Dayton Howard a year ago.

Starting point is 00:06:14 Caden Weijin, who they're apparently going to be using in this offense. It gets the gears turning just a little bit about what this wide receiver crew can be and what it's gonna be for Mark Grunowski coming up this season. But just an interesting one there and just a little bit about what this wide receiver crew can be and what it's going to be for Mark Grunowski coming up this season. But just an interesting one there and just a little nugget for you. Let's get into some basketball. Coming up next, David Eicholtz is going to join us.

Starting point is 00:06:33 His thoughts on what he saw at the open practice last week over at the Iowa basketball facility will get his perspective on what he saw firsthand for Ben McCollum squad. We'll do that next as we continue on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Have you ever decided last minute, time to head to a ball game with friends or family? Maybe it's game day and you suddenly realize you wanna be in the stands.

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Starting point is 00:07:53 Terms apply, again, create an account and redeem code LOCKDOWNCOLEGE for $20 off. Download the Game Time app today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed Got a couple of Hawkeye things I want to run past you Start right here the decommitment from cash Herrera kind of the big news of the week When you look at that, I know they're been rumblings for a while the big news of the week. When you look at that, I know there have been rumblings for a while. Did it begin with Iowa going after, was it Peyton Falcone, the quarterback from Pennsylvania? Is that maybe where the relationship started to sour a little bit?

Starting point is 00:08:36 I'll say this. I think he was, even when cash committed, Iowa made it abundantly clear that they were going to take two quarterbacks in class. So they were like, hey, like this is still the plan We want you but just you know, we want to and honestly, I didn't agree with the decision because look at the portal right now Right and it's honestly all about this season if Mark Gronowski has a massive year and raises his stock Yes And helps change that Iowa passing offense like do you know how big of a flex it is going to be for him to walk into an NFL meeting and be like, look, look what the Iowa offense did with me at the helm. And here's what they've done before. Yeah. You know, Tim Wester is

Starting point is 00:09:12 obviously helping and, uh, but you know, you can go out and get a high transfer quarterback. Oh, you mean Grunowski helped get receivers over six, 700 yards and in five or six or seven touchdowns. Okay. Well now you can go sell something to a receiver in the portal, maybe a little bit more talent there. Right. So I think that's kind of the main focus, but the relationship was always good. But obviously cash for era stock rose. And he's been committed since I think last October got Michigan state offered,

Starting point is 00:09:39 uh, Indiana offered. And honestly, I think that's where he's going to go. I think he's getting flipped to Indiana. Uh, and he's set to take an official visit there this weekend. I think that's where he's going to go. I think he's getting flipped to Indiana. Uh, and he's set to take an official visit there this weekend. I think he's get committed, but from everything I've been told through a variety of sources, I think this, this was more Iowa's decision to cut because we know how they are with visiting schools. And it's so funny to me too, how Iowa got so much flack for that at the time.

Starting point is 00:10:04 And now everybody else does it. It's in their standard, right? You have to with all the money that's being thrown around. Yeah, I totally agree with the decision to be like, no, you can't go visit anywhere else. Because they're going to tell you, hey, you know, this is what we got for you. And I was not getting into a bidding war with people, man. Like, and that goes for basketball as well. They're not going to do that.

Starting point is 00:10:22 Did the Wake Forest transfer that they got this April, did that also change the equation a little bit, or maybe put it this way as they're looking at another now quarterback for the class of two, 2026, if they don't find the right guy, does that kind of change things? That's where it gets interesting because he's got four years of eligibility. Right. Going to be the most next year, right? As of right now with the way the roster set up, it is going to be the most next year, right? As of right now with the way the roster set up,

Starting point is 00:10:48 it is going to be the most open quarterback battle probably since I started covering the beat in 2018. Would you agree that? I mean, I do think the Wake Forest guy is gonna be a very under the radar dark horse pick to be next year starting quarterback. I mean, his high school accolades were incredible. Georgia kid, Jeremy Heklinski is his name. Little bit, she's shorter.

Starting point is 00:11:05 That's the thing. But I don't think it matters. I think with the way Iowa ran its previous offense, I think you needed a taller quarterback at the time. But he can use his legs shorter guy gets rid of the ball quickly. He can make throws at all three levels. If you watch his highlight reel from

Starting point is 00:11:18 high school, I mean, he was he was a stud and a very tough competition. I think he was a high three star by us now. Four star, probably the height heard him in that department a little bit. But he's a he was a stud and a very tough competition. I think he was a high three star by us now, four star probably the height hurt him in that department a little bit. But he's a, he was a very sneaky under the radar. I think good transfer portal addition. I think again, you got to go back

Starting point is 00:11:33 and give Tim Wester a lot of credit, man, because he's completely revitalized that quarterback room. There's no quarterback for last year's roster that went through spring football. Well, Brendan Sullivan, but we knew that Sullivan was going to probably leave. And again, nobody blamed him. Not at all.

Starting point is 00:11:49 Be great to have him in a backup role behind Grunowski, but he certainly saw the writing on the wall and for his final year of eligibility, I definitely understand him looking for a home as he did down in New Orleans. That's a pretty good way to spend your final year of college too, down in New Orleans at Tulane. Final thing for you on the Hawkeye front. Um, David yesterday open practice. So we go back to a couple of days ago, you see coach McCollum hooping.

Starting point is 00:12:13 And he's got some handles, man. He burnt Cooper de Jean. You know, we're the same age. You think I could look like that off the floor? I mean, I got, I see your jumper. Wow. My jumper smooth. Is it?

Starting point is 00:12:22 It's the handles aren't there. Oh yeah. Well, I mean, that's why you got a spot up shooter. I don't think I'm going to be guarding Cooper de Jean. We'll just put it that way. I see your jumper. Wow. My jumper smooth. Is it? It's the handles aren't there anymore. Oh yeah. Well, I mean, that's why you got a spot up shooter. I don't think I'm going to be guarding Cooper Dejean. We'll just put it that way. I don't think the lateral quickness is there anymore. Well, it's never there to be.

Starting point is 00:12:31 Well, like I said, I was a little bit, I mean, I figured Ben could still hoop, but like again, he burnt Cooper. The only reason why he got blocked is it's Cooper freaking Dejean. But you got to see the team in action yesterday at an open practice, a half hour. Actually, they gave us more than that.

Starting point is 00:12:44 We were about 50 minutes. Nice. Yeah. Give us a couple of maybe top of the fold takeaways that you had. Number one, Brendan Halzen was not practicing, he had a sleeve on his leg. He will be back soon for the most part. Alvaro Fulgaras, the Robert Morris transfer is going to be a very prominent piece of this puzzle. He is now with the team currently. He is over in Spain preparing for the under 20 worlds. It's high level competition.

Starting point is 00:13:06 I think Ben and company are very supportive of that because he's still playing against top tier competition. The one player that really surprised me, I should say, incoming freshman Tate Sage. Oh, yeah. There were times he was the best player on the floor. Wow. Yeah. He hit jumpers, had a couple of freshman mistakes, a lot of effort on defense for the most part. Uh, good passer gave a lot of, uh, has a couple of big steals, hit some big

Starting point is 00:13:31 shots, athletic finishes. Uh, cam was incredibly athletic. It's on throw down a couple of alleles by the way, Hawkeye insiders, 20 minutes of highlights from that practice. So you can go check that out as well. Bennett starts his pen. It starts, man. He nothing speeds him up is incredible He just plays in such a role within himself. It's really fun to watch. I think Isaiah Howard He's still piecing it together. I think he could be a ton of upsides crazy high if he can piece it together Cale combs is going to be the other primary ball handler assuming the roster stays at this point We did talk to Luke Barnwell and Connor Wheeler after the other primary ball handler, assuming the roster stays at this point. We did talk to Luke Barnwell and Connor Wheeler after the practice and they said, you know

Starting point is 00:14:08 what? They're still open the idea of taking another guy because with the way the international market works, but again, with the way everything is right now with even getting visas and that's not just college basketball. Like we don't need to go off topic, but that's just what it is right now. You can do that down the hall. Yeah, exactly. But again, it's still worth noting that that's why part of the reason it's going

Starting point is 00:14:26 to be difficult to get, uh, you know, international guys and obviously the academic portion is difficult as well. But the one thing that popped out to me, and I don't want to harp on, on frame of Caffrey in the previous regime. I solely want to focus on Ben McCollum. The physicality on defense, man. Different. They is so different.

Starting point is 00:14:43 No space for ball handlers. They, they call out action screen and Ben McCollum is an intense coach. Oh yeah. His voice reigns over everyone. Everybody responds to the yes coach. Yes, sir. Like he has everything in line right now. We watched him spend six minutes talking about angles to take on on ball and off ball screen action. And he went in depth, got down like show this is why this is why. And I'm like, it's great that he's showing it. I was a little bit surprised he was showing that in front of us. Yeah. Cause you know how some coaches get really weird about certain things. Like I thought we were going to get a lot of stretching, a lot of free throw shooting. We got like 30 minutes of live action. That's awesome.

Starting point is 00:15:21 I'm stopping it. Situational play defense, defense. I do think that they still need that big sort of presence. I think to put it on Trevin, is it is it Jarek? Yurik. Yurik. Is he okay? Yeah, Yurik. Yurik. He did have some really good flashes yesterday. The game's still a little bit fast for him right now. And I guess the last quick point, Tavian Banks had a few threes. Oh really? Yeah. He looked comfortable and Connor Wheeler told us after that he'd been shooting the ball really well.

Starting point is 00:15:49 And if banks can transition to that three role while still being physical in the post and play that four or five, his versatility and his stock is going to really rise with me when we talk about final rotational players or guys you want down the stretch, but he's playing a lot of three right now. And I think that's going to be really, really interesting to watch, especially since, you know, still got Cooper Koch back. Yes. The only scholarship guy from last year's team, but it was, it was really,

Starting point is 00:16:13 really interesting to watch. That's David Eichel joining us from Hawkeyeinsider.com. That was from last week, had an opportunity to catch up with David, wanted to get that to everybody out there and get a little listen to that one. I heard at the beginning of the interview as he was talking about something that has now happened as cash Herrera has made his commitment to Indiana. But thanks as always to David for his time as we continue here on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Um, Caitlin Clark, it's been a frustrating sophomore year in the WNBA for her.

Starting point is 00:16:45 Another injury does not play last night in the game for the Fever against the LA Sparks. Likelihood though, nothing has been announced yet. Don't anticipate she's gonna play Friday against Dallas. But this is not going well. And what's the reason for it? We'll talk a little CC. Caitlin Clark when we come back on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Trincona back with you one final time. This is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast, your daily Hawkeye podcast. Each and every day we got your team covered. Mention next week,

Starting point is 00:17:20 I am going to be on vacation. Do still have some episodes coming your way. We will be talking about a couple of the opponents for Iowa coming up next year. We'll be talking with Jacob goings locked on Hoosiers and also on the lockdown ducks front will be joined by Spencer McLaughlin. That's coming your way next week on the program. Before we start to ramp up, I will also be in Las Vegas for Big Ten football media days. Full coverage from Las Vegas coming up in a couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to that and looking forward to going out and seeing all the people in Vegas and having a good time out there while doing a little bit of work and that'll be coming your way here in the third week of July. Let's talk about 22CC, Caitlin Clark. And after the shooting performance that we saw earlier in the week, one of 23 in our

Starting point is 00:18:06 last 23 three point attempts, though the team won against Seattle a couple of nights ago, you could tell that she was off. And I didn't think it was anything at a huge level. You look at the 0 for 6, I mean, four of those dirt were just off by millimeters, right? She was close. Now she was also off on quite a bit of the shots, but she's been wrapped up. She's got a groin injury.

Starting point is 00:18:29 And the question is, does that go hand in hand with the injury that she was dealing with earlier in the season with the quad injury? And overcompensation very well could be a possibility as we know with injuries. I mean, we go back to game seven of the NBA finals, right? What happened when Tyrese Halliburton, who was dealing with a calf injury, which in turn possibly led to the Achilles injury. And I'm not a doctor, and I will not play one here on the podcast. However,

Starting point is 00:18:56 speculation is that those kinds of injuries, it would make sense. Overcompensating leads to another injury that is happening there. Something else though to maybe put in the back of your mind is she came into the season looking different physically. She added weight, she added strength to her frame and if that is something, if there's some kind of correlation that could be happening there. It has been from the standards that were expected from Indiana, a disappointing season. We obviously know the importance of Kaitlyn to that team, but you couple it with the other components. D'Wanna Bonner leaving the team now after getting cut,

Starting point is 00:19:31 and possibility of some things happening in her personal life that has led to, this has not been a very happy experience. Now, the fever go out and get the third all time leading score in WNBA history, and Bonner, I think if they got something, she's also 37, and she looked like she was 37 in long stretches of this season. He still had the belief that Caitlin Clark is going to be fine, that she's going to figure

Starting point is 00:19:54 things out, that she's going to find a way to get it done. But there's also times that she doesn't look like she's having a whole lot of fun. I know that's kind of part of her personality. There are times that she has got the stiff upper lip, right? Putting out the jaw, doing those kinds of things that make Cece what she is, but it has not been the season that many people anticipated.

Starting point is 00:20:14 They were the second or third betting choice, depending on where you're looking at coming into the season to win a WNBA title. Get healthy. Now they have the Commissioner's Cup Championship game coming up on Tuesday. And I would anticipate the WNBA more than anything wants her to play after Sunday outside of that game on Tuesday.

Starting point is 00:20:32 There isn't another game to be played again until Thursday. It's a gap. The gap when there's not a ton going on sport wise and it's an opportunity to get a lot of eyeballs on the WNBA and specifically on Caitlin Clark. But this is a big picture. And Windows can close very quickly in any sport as we see year after year after year. The ability is there. With Minnesota dealing with their own injury with Collier, they're still a shot for this team to make a run. Liberty are really good, they haven't played great lately. Lynx have been outstanding before the collier injury and

Starting point is 00:21:07 Then after that it's a lot of question marks But ultimately you have to get Caitlin Clark healthy It gets some of that joy back and seeing the smiles and seeing the logo 3 is actually going down Well, she was getting her shot that flip to the left Fade to the left. That's her shot. They haven't been falling Hopefully it is just as simple as a little bit of time off the hardwood. She's gonna be good to go. Let's hope that is the case. This is Lockdown Hawkeyes, your daily Iowa podcast, your team every day. Thanks everybody out there for listening in. Again, hit that five star review if you're listening on the podcast side.

Starting point is 00:21:40 It really does help us with the metrics and getting the SEO and everything else that goes along with it If you're watching on YouTube hit subscribe It's what you can do to help us out and get us in front of more Hawkeye fans So the shout out to you every day is with us each and every day couldn't do it without you who join us on a daily Basis next week vacation time still gonna have content coming your way and then we'll be back full bore the week after that Have a great weekend. We will talk to you again next week with some crossover editions of Lockdown Hawkeyes, previewing a couple of football matchups next season

Starting point is 00:22:11 with the Hoosiers and the Ducks, a couple of important ones for Iowa football, certainly for next season. Thanks for being with us to making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Until then, go Hawks.

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Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa's Receiving Corps UNLEASHES Hidden Potential | Can Gronowski ELEVATE Passing Attack to NEW HEIGHTS?

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