Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Kris Murray declares for the NBA Draft, The Williams duo is going to beat down defenses, and Iowa Football has a brand new recruit!!

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome back to another episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast, your daily podcast covering your eyes on the Locked On Podcast Network. I want to thank you all 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. As always, I am your host, Wright Hillpiper, and before we get into things today, I want

Starting point is 00:00:50 to address the audio quality issue that I have been hearing about since I started and took over this podcast. I sincerely apologize for this. I'm not sure what's going on. I did just get a brand new microphone courtesy of my Uncle Andrew. So thanks to my Uncle Andrew for that. So I don't believe it is a microphone issue. It may be a streaming issue with how I record the podcast. So I'm going to try my best to try and figure that out. Hopefully today's episode is a little bit better on that side of things. Hopefully my

Starting point is 00:01:22 content is still good. It's just an audio issue. So the first thing I want to talk about today is Chris Murray. Now, as you know, his brother Keegan Murray has already announced that he is declaring for the NBA draft. And now today, as of Thursday, Chris Murray has now declared for the NBA draft just weeks after his brother announced that he was declaring for the draft. Chris Murray announced today, as I mentioned, that he will also be declaring for the draft, but Murray's announcement came with a little bit of an interesting addition. Murray will not be hiring a draft agent, meaning that he is still eligible to play at the college level for the Hawkeyes next season if he chooses to, and we'll get into a little bit of why I think

Starting point is 00:02:05 he will come back to the Hawkeyes here in a minute. But along with his decision not to hire a draft agent, Murray will still be able to go through the entire draft process, including the NBA scouting combine, in order to gain a better understanding of how he is viewed by NBA teams. Now, Murray made his announcement via Twitter and Instagram today saying, quote, I have big plans for next year and this experience will help me do that. So before you start to think, start to freak out and start to think that Iowa is going to be losing another star player for next season, the way that Murray worded his statement and by the fact that he has chosen not to hire a draft agent kind of hints that he will or that

Starting point is 00:02:45 he still plans to play for Iowa next year. In response to Murray's announcement, head Iowa men's basketball coach Fran McCaffrey said in a statement, quote, we fully support Chris using this opportunity to receive NBA feedback. Chris took great strides and really came into his own last season. He is going through this process with a professional approach and we are excited to see his game grow to another level. Now, as I said earlier, because Murray has decided to declare for the draft does not mean that he will choose to stay in the NBA draft yet or not. Now, I believe that he will make a final decision after he has heard feedback from the teams on whether or not they think he will make a good addition to the NBA or if they think he is not quite ready yet.

Starting point is 00:03:30 Now, keep in mind that the deadline for college players who are still eligible for another year of college play to make a decision on whether or not they are going to stick with the draft is June 1st, and that is also the date of when the official order for the draft will be announced. Now, along with the quote that I mentioned earlier, Murray also mentioned in his announcement via Twitter and Instagram, as I said, quote, my focus is being able to grow as a player in every possible way. The opportunity to get feedback and the experience working out for NBA teams will help me become the best player I can possibly be and take my game to the next level. Once again, the way he worded this announcement can be left

Starting point is 00:04:11 up to the interpretation of fans, the public, and content creators such as myself, but my take on Murray's announcement is that he's already made the decision not to play in the NBA next season based off of the fact that he left his eligibility open. Now, it really could go either way, but personally, I do not think that Murray is even considering sticking with the draft at this point. I don't think that that's on his mind. I think that regardless of the feedback that he hears from NBA teams during the combine, he will choose to come back and play for Iowa next year because with how many departures Iowa has had, including his brother Keegan Murray, Murray is pretty much guaranteed a lead role on the team next year. And I don't think that he's

Starting point is 00:04:56 going to give something up as significant as a full game presence throughout the year, game presence throughout the year just to try his hand at the next level. Obviously, once again, it could go either way, but from my personal opinion, he's not going to the NBA. Now, this may be a hot take, but just hear me out. I think that there is a 0% chance that we will see Chris Murray in the NBA draft when the time comes. Zero chance. And I've got a lot of things to back that up. As I mentioned, he did not hire a draft agent and he said in his announcement that he just wants to go work out for these teams. He doesn't want to go and play at the next level. Even say, say a head coach like, like Steve Kerr for the Bulls, say, say he says that Chris Murray is one of the best draft prospects he's ever seen in his entire time coaching. And that he thinks

Starting point is 00:05:59 that he will make a great addition to the NBA at whatever team that he, you know, at whatever team that may draft him. He's not going to the NBA. It's not going to happen. Not this year, not this year, at least he will next year. He will, he will be in the draft next year. Not this year. I just don't see it happening. I don't see any sort of, you know, kind of situation where he would be like, yeah, it's time to, you know, unlace my shoes at Iowa. I don't want to play here anymore. I think it's in my best, or I think it's in my best interest to go ahead and play in the NBA and make millions of dollars when I could be getting more experience at the college level with guys who are still, you know, at his sort of a realm of play,

Starting point is 00:06:42 if you want to say it like that. And don't get me wrong, Chris Murray is definitely a solid basketball player. And I think that he could succeed at the NBA level if he were to choose to go to the NBA, but it's not going to happen. Okay. And you can disagree with me all you want. It's just my opinion. No way, not a chance, not this year, not this year, maybe next year, but definitely not this year. The next thing that I want to talk about is LaShawn Williams, who is currently a sophomore running back at the University of Iowa for the football team. Not LaShawn Daniels, my co-host, great guy, but not the same guy. Still a running back, but not the same guy. Before we get into that, I want to talk about Bilt Bart. Now, normally this is around the time of the year, around April, where I've pretty much

Starting point is 00:07:28 given up on all of my New Year's resolutions, but no, not this year. This year, I'm sticking to my resolution to eat right thanks to Bilt Bar. It almost feels like it's not really a resolution at all because they're actually enjoyable to eat. And if you haven't tried the puffs, you need to. If you haven't, you are missing out on one of Bilt Bar's best tasting bars. Puffs are the first ever protein infused marshmallow. Yes, you heard that right. That comfort food that you have around the campfire, around this time of year, going into summer, protein infused now. Absolutely insane. They're fluffy. They're delicious. They're delicious. They're light. They're airy. They're not just a protein bar. It's a dessert. They are covered in 100% real

Starting point is 00:08:11 chocolate. Puffs are a fan favorite with some incredible flavors, including a cinnamon churro, a coconut marshmallow, and a banana cream pie. They are so good. These are going to be your new favorite. I guarantee it. All Bilt Bars are covered in 100% real chocolate. As I mentioned, yes, the puffs are included in that. They are low calorie, high in protein. You can replace your candy bars with these. You can replace your protein bars with these. You can replace your protein shakes with these. There's no need. You don't need them anymore. These are better. A typical candy bar can have anywhere from 200 to 300 calories. Not Bilt Bar. Bilt Bar, most Bilt

Starting point is 00:08:45 Bars contain 130 calories, four grams of sugar, four net carbs, and 17 grams of protein. Go to Bilt.com, scroll down to the macros chart. You'll be absolutely blown away at how much protein, how little calories, how much fiber, and how little carbs are in this candy bar. And, you know, normal candy bars have around 240 calories, 30 grams of sugar, and dozens of carbs. I mean, dozens. Go take a look at a Snickers or a Twix. It's absolutely insane. And with some incredible flavors, including mint brownie, coconut, coconut almond, and all new for the month of April, white chocolate cookies and cream. They're all delicious and new flavors are coming out all of the time.

Starting point is 00:09:25 I think a flavor, I think probably my favorite flavor right now is probably the mint brownie, just because I love the thin mint Girl Scout cookies. But hopefully they, you know, they come out with some new flavors soon because I'm so, so excited to try them. At Built Bar, they are all about the taste. They make it delicious first, and then they figure out how to make it healthy, which is something that no other protein does. And I don't know how, but they pull it off every single time with every single flavor. Now, go to Built.com, use the promo code LOCKED15 and get 15% off of your order. Once again, that promo code is LOCKED15, L-O-C-K-E-D, 1-5, for 15% off at Bilt.com. Go check it out right now.

Starting point is 00:10:09 They are absolutely amazing. Now, now that we've talked about Bilt Bar, I want to talk about LaShawn Williams. As I mentioned, he is a sophomore running back at Iowa, redshirted his freshman year, and only played three games last season. And now, although he only played three games last season for the Hawkeyes, it's starting to sound like he's going to be getting a lot more playing time in the upcoming season in the backfield for Iowa's offense. Now, keep in mind that Williams only stands at about 5'10", 205 pounds as a sophomore, so he's not the biggest guy in the world, okay? Right now, it seems like the only thing that he may have trouble with in the upcoming

Starting point is 00:10:45 season is blocking those blitzing linebackers that naturally are going to be a lot bigger and a lot stronger, a lot taller than he is. And that's not to discredit LaShawn at all. I'm sure he's a very, very strong individual. He's playing D1 college football, obviously. He's strong. But these linebackers are massive, massive dudes, especially at the D1 level. Now, Williams said in an interview about how spring practice has been going, quote, there's a lot more than just running the ball. Recognizing blitzers, play formations, how the D linemen are going to slide. There's a lot more tips and tricks that I need to learn.

Starting point is 00:11:22 Now, once again, I mentioned he redshirted his freshman year. After redshirting in 2020, only playing three games last season, Williams is now going to be a part of a sort of tag team situation. If you're a fan of the WWE, you know what that is. I was when I was younger. He's going to be a fan, or excuse me, he's going to be a part of a tag team situation with Gavin Williams at the running back spot this upcoming season for the Hawkeyes. Both Gavin and LeShawn are going to have a lot on their plate and some very, very large shoes to fill since Tyler Goodson had left

Starting point is 00:11:51 Iowa in the hopes of being drafted in this year's NFL draft. As you know, Tyler Goodson put up over a thousand yards rushing for the Hawkeyes last season. He was an absolute stud, so there are some very, very large shoes to fill there. When asked about how he felt about sharing the running back responsibilities with Gavin, LeSean said, quote, it gives us both the opportunity to show what we can do. Nobody comes into division one football. Nobody who comes into division one football, excuse me, wants to sit behind anybody. Obviously you've, you just have to learn to mature and learn that the guy in front of you is just as good as you are. So learn as much as you can and your time will come, which is

Starting point is 00:12:31 absolutely true. Nobody that comes into Division I football, nobody that comes into any level of football wants to sit behind somebody. It doesn't matter if you're in fifth and sixth grade playing tackle football for the first time or if you are in the NFL in grade playing tackle football for the first time, or if you are in the NFL in your rookie season, you don't want to sit behind somebody who you think you are better than. It's just, it's kind of a, it's an extremely frustrating situation. And, you know, he only played three games last season, but I think he's going to be able to do a lot more this year. Last year during the Citrus Bowl versus Kentucky, both LaShawn and Gavin had the opportunity to show college football what they could kind of, you know, do in the backfield, how they could perform since Goodson elected to skip the game

Starting point is 00:13:14 due to the upcoming draft. Ultimately, Gavin had a total of 98 yards and LaShawn had 42 yards on 10 carries. Do the quick math there. That's 4.2 yards a carry. That's not that bad for one game. When asked about his performance in the Citrus Bowl, LeSean seemed less than pleased, which, yeah, he only had 42 yards, but he was trading off carries with, you know, Gavin as well, who had 98. So it's not like he was expected to go out there and put up 300 yards rushing in one game But he was still extremely displeased with his performance saying quote I feel like I could have made a couple people miss instead of just running them over. It's all right It's just a start. I'm not going to say that's all me

Starting point is 00:13:58 I can shake too. I love I love the way he talks his vocabulary is amazing to me But in the citrus bowl, it just looked like I was an aggressive guy. I love the way he talks. His vocabulary is amazing to me. But in the Citrus Bowl, it just looked like I was an aggressive guy. I got a lot, excuse me, I've got a little shake to me. You'll see it this year. But if it does get downhill, I can do that too. I'm comfortable running at all. Inside, outside, whatever you need. Any run game takes patience.

Starting point is 00:14:24 You can't just hit hard. A great running back has to set everything up. All good running backs have to have good patience. At the end of the day, it's just running the ball and that's what I'm best at. It's just natural to me. And that's absolutely true. Running back is one of the most patient positions in the entire, in the entire game of football. I'd say top three most patient positions, positions where you have to let the play develop a little bit, is running back, quarterback, and linebacker, which linebacker, obviously, the position that Williams is going to be going up against this upcoming season as a running back. You kind of just have to sit there, especially

Starting point is 00:15:03 if you're not getting the ball. You have to sit there and wait for somebody to come at you. And as I mentioned earlier, these linebackers at the D1 level are massive, massive dudes. You get guys who are the same size as tight ends, just maybe a little bit slower and have less good hands. These guys are 6'5", 6'6", 6'7", 240, 250 pounds. These are massive, massive dudes. And Williams just kind of has to sit back there and wait for one to come running at him. That or a D lineman who are also naturally very, very, very big dudes. He just kind of has to sit back there and wait for somebody to come.

Starting point is 00:15:38 He can't like, well, I mean, obviously, depending on the play, he could go pick up a block, depending on, you know, what the formation calls for. But a lot of the time he's just going to be sitting back there waiting for somebody to come rush at the quarterback. Talked about that a little bit, a couple of days ago, whoever the quarterback for Iowa is going to be. Um, he kind of just has to sit back there and wait for something to happen. Wait for the play develop, wait for the play to develop, excuse me. And, you know, wait for this big old monstrous linebacker D lineman to come at him running full speed.

Starting point is 00:16:11 And these guys are not slow either. Most of them are not, they're running at, you know, maybe a little less than 20 miles an hour, you know, coming, coming down the field, ready to hit him. He's just, he just has to be patient, patient, patient, wait for these guys to come to him and wait for the opportunity to happen. I think that's the only thing that he's going to struggle with. I don't think he's going to struggle with handling the ball, carrying the football. Obviously, all running backs have a problem once or twice a year with fumbles. That just happens. It's part of the game. But I think where he's going to struggle the most and where he has struggled the most is being able to block guys that are that big. It's much,

Starting point is 00:16:50 much harder when you're a small running back like him. He's about five foot ten. He really just has to sit back there, wait for things to develop and kind of wait and see what happens. Now, before we get into the story of the day, I want to talk about BetOnline. BetOnline.net is your number one source for all of 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 Major League Baseball season, which opening day has come and gone. BetOnline is your continued source for all of your sporting wagering information from live betting to playoffs to esports and more. Head to the website today or use your mobile device to learn more about the trends and action. BetOnline where the game starts.

Starting point is 00:17:34 Again, that is BetOnline.net. Now, time for the story of the day. Today's story is about Iowa's newest football recruit, Christian Bentanker. Now, I'm going to tell you straight up, I'm going to butcher that name a few times, okay? It's just going to happen. It's a complicated last name. If he's listening, he might not be. He probably isn't, but if he is listening, I apologize, Christian. It's just going to happen. Actually, tell you what. I'm just going to call him Christian for the rest of the podcast. I'm going to call him Christian. So Iowa's newest football recruit, Christian Bentanker.

Starting point is 00:18:20 Christian is a 6'5", 240-pound sophomore out of Marion Central Catholic High School in Woodstock, Illinois. And no, he does not live at Max Yazger's farm. That is in New York. Not all of you are going to get that joke, but trust me, it's hilarious. Okay? Just trust me. Anyways, Christian had his second visit with Iowa's head football coach, Kirk Ferentz, today. The first one was back in January for Iowa's Junior Day, and during this visit, Ferentz decided to offer the sophomore tight end a scholarship. Yes, he plays tight end. He's a big boy. Christian spoke in an interview about the visit saying,

Starting point is 00:18:50 quote, the conversation was amazing. We talked a little more about me and football for the future. And then he said that I earned a scholarship. I was super excited and it was a super nice experience. Christian, I'm sure you are a super guy. That was a terrible joke. Don't listen to that one. We got there in the morning and I got to see practice. Then after practice, we talked to a couple of the coaches and got some food. After that, we talked to Coach Hodge and then Coach Ferentz where I got the offer. Finally, we had a little photo shoot and had a tour of the game field. The offer from Iowa is now the fourth offer that Christian has received. He has also received other scholarship offers from the likes of Iowa State, Nebraska, and Penn

Starting point is 00:19:32 State. As a sophomore at Marion Central Catholic, Christian put up some extremely impressive numbers, especially for a tight end and being as young as he is. He racked up a total of 53 catches for 1,165 yards and 16 touchdowns. I'm very, very curious to see if Christian will actually end up at Iowa because Iowa tends to be a school that produces some pretty decent talent at the tight end position. Most notably and most successfully, George Kittle, who currently plays for my favorite NFL team, the San Francisco 49ers. If you didn't know that, now you do. I'd like to see him come to Iowa if he decides to do that. Obviously, he's only a sophomore. He's in the recruiting class of 2024. So it's going to be

Starting point is 00:20:15 a while before he decides whether or not to come to Iowa. Obviously, the day or the day after that he announces his commitment, I will report on it because I'm on top of everything. Of course. Anyways, I I'd like to see him come to Iowa because I think Iowa really knows how to develop that position. As I mentioned with George Kittle, I think he would be a great addition to Iowa's offense and being six foot five and two 40 as a sophomore in high school. This kid is not exactly a plump 240, if you know what I mean. He's a built 240.

Starting point is 00:20:51 This kid is a big kid. I saw a picture of him standing next to Coach Ferentz. And granted, Coach Ferentz is a fairly tall dude. But this kid is massive. And I talk about all of Iowa's recruits like that. They're always massive, massive dudes at these positions. Christian's a little bit different. He is not slow either.

Starting point is 00:21:11 I got to see some of his game film. He's not a slow dude either at 6'5", 240. We'll have to wait and see if he does decide to come to Iowa in the future. As I mentioned, I will be the first to announce whether or not he has decided to come to Iowa or wherever that is. And I mentioned George Kittle. Now I have some, I guess it's not really exciting news yet, but I have set a goal for myself that by the end of the summer, I want George Kittle on this podcast. Will it happen? Maybe not. Am I going to try? Absolutely. I'm going to be out there on Twitter, on Instagram, in both my personal

Starting point is 00:21:52 accounts and the Locked on Iowa accounts, reaching out to him, reaching out to his agent, trying to figure out if I can get him on the podcast. He is personally my favorite player in the NFL and he plays for my favorite team. He played for my favorite college, the Iowa Hawkeyes. So I'm really excited about this. I really want to get him on the podcast by the end of August. That is my personal goal. So we'll see if that happens. If it does, oh man, is that going to be a good episode? I cannot wait to pick his brain about some different things, his experience at Iowa and all that sort of thing. So that is the episode for today. I thank you all for tuning in.

Starting point is 00:22:29 Once again, I apologize for the audio issues that we've been having recently. Hopefully I'm getting those things figured out. I'm tweaking a few things here and there, trying to get them figured out. But the only way that I can do that is by recording. So make sure you are staying up to date with Locked on Hawkeyes, whether you listen on Spotify or on Apple Podcasts or on YouTube. Once again, YouTube will be coming back up soon. I believe the first video episode is going to be either Monday or Tuesday. I am currently at home for Easter break, so I didn't want to do video just quite yet. So, that will happen when I get back to college and I'm in my apartment. So once again, you can follow me on Twitter and on Instagram at ryehill, W-R-I-H-I-L. And you can follow the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast at Locked on Iowa on Twitter and on Instagram as well. Thanks for tuning in today, guys, and we will see you all tomorrow.

Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Kris Murray declares for the NBA Draft, The Williams duo is going to beat down defenses, and Iowa Football has a brand new recruit!!

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