Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Keegan Murray projected to go top 5 in the draft, Iowa's D-Line has some big guys with even bigger voices, and what position is Alex Mota going to play?

Episode Date: April 11, 2022

It's well known that Keegan Murray is one of the greatest draft prospects to ever come out of Iowa. Today we'll talk about whether or not he will be selected within the top 5 in the upcoming draft. It's pretty much a sure bet that he will be taken within the top 10 but we still don't quite know where he will end up. Will it be with the Trailblazers? Will it be with the Magic?Iowa's Defensive Linemen are all pretty big dudes but it's not their size that's making headlines in college football news today. Today's it's all about how much of an influence they have when it comes to the tone in the locker room. Iowa's D-Line is made up of guys who all have a lot of experience on the team but now they're taking on the role of coach more so rather than just players.Alex Mota is a hot topic in the Hawkeye community as of late and yet we still don't know for sure what position he will play. It makes sense to keep him at his preferred position, that being Wide Receiver, but he's also been a very solid Defensive Back thought his high school career.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.Athletic GreensAthletic Greens is going to give you a FREE 1 year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase. All you have to do is visit athleticgreens.com/COLLEGE.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Will Keegan Murray be a top 10 pick in the NBA draft? We'll talk about that on today's Locked on Hawkeyes podcast, your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Locked on Podcast Network. As always, I'm your host, Ray Hillpiper. And before we get into things today, I want to take the time to thank all of you for making the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast your first listen every single day. You can find the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast for free wherever you get your podcasts at and also on YouTube by searching Locked On Hawkeyes.

So the first thing I want to talk about today is Keegan Murray. As you know, one of Iowa's standout players, a standout forward for the Hawkeyes. So the first thing I want to talk about today is Keegan Murray. As you know, one of Iowa's standout players, a standout forward for the Hawkeyes this past season. He did declare for the NBA draft. So we're going to talk about whether or not I think he is going to be a top 10 pick in the upcoming draft. As you know, last season, his sophomore season, he averaged 23.5 points per game, 8.7 rebounds per game. As a sophomore, he was a finalist for the John R. Wooden Award, as well as the Nye Smith Trophy, and was a unanimous All-Big Ten first team player. Now, USA Today has put out their post-NCAA tournament mock draft, and as of right now, Murray is projected to go to the Trail Blazers with the

number six pick in the draft. Obviously, there's no guarantee that Portland will still have the number six pick once the draft rolls around, but Murray would fit in really, really well with the Blazers if he did end up in Portland. And I'm sure the Locked on Blazers podcast has talked about that a little bit. Go check them out. Absolutely great podcast, part of the Lockdown Network. Go check them out. I'm sure they've talked about this already, but with Damian Lillard still recovering from his injury and the fact that Portland has lacked a reliable small and power forward this season, Murray would be a very, very solid option if they do have the opportunity to take him when the time comes. This past season for the Hawkeyes, Murray shot 39.8% from beyond the arc, so there's no doubt that he's going to be able to put up some numbers,

regardless of where he ends up, and there's little to no doubt that he will be taken inside the top 10. Once again, whether or not Portland is still going to have that number 6 pick, once the draft rolls around, we'll have to wait and see. With the NBA's lottery system, they might not. It's looking like they will, but there's always a chance that he could be taken before the Blazers have the opportunity to get their hands on him. Bleacher Report, ESPN, and The Ringer have Murray projected to be taken at fifth overall in their mock drafts.

And as of right now, that would mean that he's headed to Orlando to play for the Magic. Now, if Murray is taken in the first round, he will be the first Hawkeye to be selected in the first round since Ricky Davis was taken with the 21st pick by the Hornets back in the 1998 MLB draft, excuse me, MLB draft, NBA draft. And we should have a better idea of when Murray will be selected, when the draft order is set on the 17th of May. And of course, the draft is set to take place on the 23rd of June. Personally, I think that Murray will fit in best with Portland. They've been a consistent playoff team

the last couple of seasons. I still think that he would do just fine with the Magic. I don't think that he will get as much playing time in his rookie season as he would with the Blazers. I think that if he's able to start his career in Portland, regardless of whether he stays there for the rest of his career, I think that if he starts there, then I think he'll be able to put up some better numbers and he'll have a better chance of becoming more of a standout player early on in his first couple of seasons. Once again, like I said, they've lacked a small and power forward during this season and Lillard is still coming off of an injury so maybe maybe he'll get some more playing time in Portland than he would in Orlando but

obviously at this point if either one of those teams still has those picks the fifth and sixth picks when it comes to the draft I would be surprised because the way that the NBA's lottery system goes it's personally it doesn't make any sense to me because the way that the NBA's lottery system goes, it's personally, it doesn't make any sense to me. Like the way that they do things, it's just a little, it's a little too complicated. Like it's more complicated than it needs to be. But regardless of that, I think that his best spot will be with the Blazers. If you want to hear more about the Blazers and how, you know and how they're trying to go about this whole draft and recruitment process, go check out the Locked on Blazers podcast.

They run a great podcast over there. Once again, that's Locked on Blazers. I'm sure they've talked about Murray a little bit since he is projected to be taken sixth overall. But once again, Bleacher Report, ESPN, and The Ringer all have Murray being taken at fifth overall. Once again, that means he'd be with the Magic. I don't want to see him with the Magic. It just, it doesn't seem like the right fit. Obviously, they're going to, I mean, they're going to take him if they can. He's a good enough player that they're going to want him on their team, regardless of whether he'll start as a rookie or not. But like I said, we'll have a better idea of, you know, when, or excuse me, we'll have a better idea of where he's going to be at on, on the 17th of May when the order is set. I think

that once the order is set, we'll have, we'll, we'll probably know for sure whether or not he will be in Portland or not. But regardless of that, we will just have to wait and see. Now, I also want to talk about Iowa's D linemen. They have really had a little bit bigger of a voice in the locker room this offseason than previous seasons. So we're going to talk about that. But before we talk about that, I want to talk about Bilt Bar. Yes, Bilt Bar. This is the time of the year where I've pretty much given up on all of my New Year's resolutions. I don't usually have very many, but this year I've chose to stick to eating right. I want to stay in shape. I want to look good, you know, and I can do that

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They're all delicious and they have new flavors coming out all the time. So if you want to check out Built Bar, go to built.com, use our promo code LOCKED15 to get 15% off your order. Once again, that promo code is LOCKED15, L-O-C-K-E-D 15 to get 15% off of your order at checkout. Now, Iowa's D linemen, obviously, you know, their D linemen, Iowa's D linemen are very, very experienced in that there's three seniors and one junior on that D line. John Wagner, Noah Shannon, Logan Lee, and Joe Evans, all very, very experienced guys from this Iowa team. They're all coming back from last season. D-Lions coach for the Hawks, Kelvin Bell, said this week that he's glad that they are stepping up and letting their voices be heard throughout the locker room. He said in a statement this week about his guys, it's nice to hear some of the voices in the room speak up and kind of come into their own voice a

little bit. I treat my room like an open forum. I encourage guys, I encourage discourse. I encourage those guys to speak up. If they're talking, that tells me that they feel comfortable, that they feel accepted, and that they feel some type of significance and they want to contribute. Since last season, there hasn't been much turnover at the D-line spots other than DN Zach. Excuse me, Zach Van Valkenburg,

who being gone, he had 58 tackles and five.5 sacks last season, so he will obviously be a big loss for the Hawkeyes in this upcoming season. But regardless of that, Iowa still has a very, very experienced D-line all throughout. All other D-linemen returning from last season had fairly decent numbers. Wagner, Shannon, and Lee started all 14 games for the Hawkeyes. Wagner, Shannon, and Lee started all 14 games for the Hawkeyes. Lee had 48 tackles, 47, Wagner had 25,

and all three of them combined for seven total sacks. Joe Evans and Lucas Van Ness both had seven sacks of their own. Yahia Black had 18 tackles, and Deontay Craig had 14 tackles of his own as well. So I don't think that Iowa is going to have a problem at any of the D-line position or at any of the D-line positions this upcoming season, just because like based off of how much experience all of these guys have, I don't think that there's any chance that Iowa is going to have any sort of problems at the D-line spots. It just, I don't really see that

happening. You know, having one junior, that's still not really going to affect anything. But Bell also said, quote, there's a lot of guys who have played a lot of football for us who are coming back. That changes the dynamic of the room, and I appreciate that. Those older guys who are leading the way, I kind of know what to expect from them. The improvement I want to see from them isn't necessarily on the field. Don't get me wrong. They can still improve some.

The improvement I want to see out of them is in the leadership role, the opportunity to help coach and help young, developed guys, because that's where we've been able to do the last couple of years. And not a lot of people understand the fact that, especially when you're playing at the highest level of college athletics like the Iowa Hawkeyes are at the D1 level in the Big Ten, the older you get, the harder it is to just be a player. Like, yeah, when you're a freshman and a sophomore, maybe even a junior, you're just a player at that point. You're not necessarily going through the motions,

but you're going to practice every day. You're going to lifts. You're going to workouts. You're just trying to focus on bettering yourself as a player so that once you get to that starting spot or once you get to become a senior, you're a senior player who has also taken on some form of quote-unquote involuntary coaching. And you're making sure the guys who will be taking your spot after you're gone know exactly what to do in order to be the best they possibly can be at whatever position it is, whether it's interior, D-line, or D-end, or whatever it is. at whatever position it is, whether it's interior, D-line, or D-end, or whatever it is. These guys for Iowa, like Wagner, Shannon, Lee, and Evans, they all have to be some form of coach in their own way so that these freshmen and sophomores that are coming up behind them are going to know exactly what to do when the time comes for them to step in. And on top of that,

it's not even necessarily like they have to coach them into being able to do what they do after they're gone. But what if they get hurt? You know what I mean? Like there's always a chance that Wagner, Shannon, Lee, and Evans could all go down with injuries this upcoming season. Granted, that would be an absolute travesty and nobody wants that, but there is always a chance that that could happen. And these young guys, these freshmen and sophomores and other juniors are going to have to step up to be able to be in those positions where they can fully take over the responsibilities of these D linemen, these older guys that have been here. They know the process, they know what's going on. They know exactly what

to do every play. These young guys are going to have to step up at some point sooner rather than later, hopefully that they have to be prepared to know exactly what to do. And that's true for any position on the offense or the defense. The young guys have to know exactly what to do. They have to know the game plan in and out. They have to know the playbook inside and out to know exactly what to do. Because if you have a senior guy, say Riley Moss goes down in the middle of the season with another injury and say he misses more than three and a half games. Xavier and Wongpa is going to have to step up into that spot. Granted, we don't quite know where he's going to play at yet. As of right now,

it doesn't seem like he's going to be at that defensive back position. He'll probably be at cash or at safety, but we'll just have to wait and see. That's a story for another day. Say Moss goes down and Wongpa is going to have to step up and be able to step into that role and play exactly the same as Moss did. That's just how it's going to be. And even after Moss is gone, he's going to have to step up and play exactly how Moss did and be that defensive, that Big Ten defensive player, the year caliber player that Moss has been year in and year out. So we'll just have to wait and see how the D-line steps up this season. Although it is nice to see that these guys are taking the initiative to make their voices

heard in the locker room. They're encouraging these young guys. They're not yelling at them when they the locker room. They're encouraging these young guys. They're not yelling at them when they do something wrong. They're encouraging them. They're coaching them. They're student athlete coaches now. Not only are they focusing on their classes, they're focusing on their own side of the sport. They're focusing on bettering themselves every day so that they can get to the best at their position and they're trying to coach these young guys to be the best that they can possibly be. I'm sure it's extremely, extremely stressful, but they're still finding the time to speak up in the locker room, make their voices heard over even skill positions like quarterback or running back. These D linemen are making sure

that their voices are heard because they have been in this program long enough that they know exactly what needs to be said and who needs to hear it at what time. So the story of the day today, Alex Moda, 2023 recruit for the Hawkeyes, talks about what he thinks his role is going to be in the Hawkeyes offense when his time comes. But before that, I want to talk about BetOnline. BetOnline.net is your number one source for all your betting stats and sports info. Find all of the latest sports developments, league reviews, and news,

including this year's basketball playoffs and the start of the Major League Baseball season. Obviously, opening day has come and gone. BetOnline.net is your continued source for all your sporting, wagering information, from live betting to playoffs to esports and more. Personally, I love esports. I can't use BetOnline because I'm not 21. I'm 18. Make sure you are 21 years of age.

If you're going to use BetOnline sports betting, you must be 21 years of age. Head to the website today or use your mobile device to learn more about the trends and action. BetOnline, it's where the game starts. Once again, go to BetOnline.net to check that out. Great website. I've seen it myself before. Once again, I have not used it, but I will end up using it once I am of age. So go check that out at betonline.net. So Alex Moda, he did an interview this past week about what he thought his role was going to be for the Hawkeyes. He talked a little bit, excuse me, I talked a little bit about Moda in my very first Locked on Hawkeyes episode as one of the best 2023 class recruits that Iowa has picked up in this offseason.

A Marion native, Moda has rooted for Iowa since he was little. He grew up rooting for Iowa on Saturdays. And during the recruiting process, though, Iowa State was one of the main schools that saw him solely as a wide receiver, which is his preferred position. As you know, if you go to his recruiting profile on 24-7 sports or huddle or wherever you want to go to find it, he's listed as an athlete because he doesn't just play offense. He doesn't just play defense. He's versatile. He's like a Debo Samuel, but on offense and defense, if you know what I mean. So Moda has expressed that his primary position and his preferred position is at that wide receiver spot, but obviously he can play more than a few different positions on offense and defense.

At first, Iowa thought that Moda, he stands at 6'1", 180 pounds. They thought that he was going to be best at that defensive back position. But with the recruitment of Xavier and Wonkpa, Iowa expressed they want Moda to stick to that wide receiver spot, which is ultimately what made up Moda's mind about where he wanted to go play ball. Apparently, I did not know this until I read about it yesterday, but apparently the day before Moda announced his commitment to Iowa, the coaching staff for the Hawkeyes called him up and they said that they wanted him to play wide receiver. And that was the final straw. The

rest of it was history. He knew that he wanted to play for Iowa, but he also wanted to stick to the position that he wanted to play at, which is at that wide receiver position. Obviously, if he underperforms or if he doesn't perform to where he wants to, he might end up switching back to that defensive back position, hopefully that he can produce in the offense because Iowa's secondary is already so, so strong. They definitely don't need any more guys at that defensive back spot, but we'll have to see how his performance goes when he does get out on the field. And Moda spoke about his decision to attend Iowa and said, quote, it made a huge difference, it being that phone call that I was talking about there earlier. There was a switch up in my brain where I was like, I'm going to Iowa.

Moda also said about his commitment to Iowa, for me it's been amazing. It's been less stressful. I don't have to worry about other coaches texting me. I can stay true to the Iowa Hawkeyes and talk to my family about Iowa. Ultimately, Moda chose Iowa over Iowa State, Wisconsin, and Nebraska, who are all great Big Ten schools. Well, I mean, maybe other than Nebraska. They haven't been great the last couple of years,

but Wisconsin has been consistently good, and so has Iowa State. So it's great that Moda decided to stick with the team that he's been rooting for. And, you know, going back to that quote, I don't have to worry about other coaches texting me, what a problem that's got to be. Just imagine you're sitting in math class one day and you get a text from a football coach. I'll use Nick Saban as an example. Is that such a burden? Really? Is that really such a burden? You're getting texts from D1 football coaches asking you to come on a visit.

And Wisconsin's head football coach went to one of Moda's basketball practices over this past winter to talk to him about football. Like, I get how that could become annoying. But personally for me, I might like the attention a little bit. You know what I mean? But obviously he is very, very excited to be committed to Iowa. And I'm very, very excited to see where he is going to be able to, you know, where he's going to fit in best with Iowa at that wide out position.

Or if he ends up switching to the defensive back position, we'll just have to wait and see. That is your story of the day. Thank you for joining me on today's episode of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. Make sure you go check out me on Twitter, on Instagram, at ryehill, W-R-I-H-I-L. Same for the Instagram and for the Twitter. Make sure you follow Locked on Hawkeyes on Twitter and Instagram as well, at Locked on Iowa.

And make sure you are staying up to date on the episodes on Spotify, on Apple Music, or on YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts at. It's free. It's always been free, and it always will be free. Thanks for joining me on the episode today, guys. I'll talk later.