Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Oliver Martin is coming home, give the kid a break! | Bakari Evelyn is a huge grab for Iowa | Does Isaiah Moss make sense for Kansas?

Episode Date: June 11, 2019

Iowa lands an Iowa City on the transfer portal and Hawkeye fans seem to be split. I break down why that's ridiculous and why we should be excited about Oliver Martin. Segment two has us diving into the announcement that graduate transfer guard Bakari Evelyn would be joining the Hawks and segment three has us touching on some smaller news including the Isaiah Moss transfer saga. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are listening to the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast, your daily podcast covering the Iowa Hawkeyes for the Locked On Sports Network, hosted by Andrew Wade, editor at dearoldgold.com. Welcome to a Tuesday morning edition of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. I'm your host, Andrew Wade, editor over at dearoldgold.com, and my apologies for not getting you an episode on Monday morning. I was at a bachelor party all weekend, unable to really record, and really didn't feel like doing it Sunday as well. Monday morning, I had to fly out for a work trip.

So again, apologies for not getting you an episode earlier in this week, but we do have a great episode coming at you today. A lot of big news happening over the last 24 hours. Oliver Martin basically officially going to the Iowa Hawkeyes. Bakari Evelyn, a graduate transfer guard, is going to be going to the Iowa Hawkeyes as well. And then some small tidbits that we're going to cover as well on the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast for today's show. Today's show is brought to you in part by Hotels.com.

Don't hate like your friend's trip. Book your own with Hotels.com and get rewarded basically everywhere. Hotels.com. Be there. Do that. Get rewarded. All right, just a couple quick housekeeping items before we jump into today's episode. Like I do every single time we have an episode, I want to make sure I'm giving you some of

the things I need you to know before you tune into the rest of the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. First and foremost, make sure if you are downloading and listening to this for the very first time that you go and find this podcast wherever you downloaded it at, whether that is Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or the brand new podcasting app, Himalaya. Go there, like, subscribe, and review the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. That's how it helps me grow as well, lets other people find this great podcast covering the Iowa Hawkeyes, and I would really appreciate it as well. And if you haven't heard of Himalaya, before I kind of jump into some more stuff,

Himalaya is fantastic. I personally love it. I listen to podcasts all the time, and I listen to them through Himalaya. They have these special podcast curators who help you find the podcast you want to listen to based off your likes and preferences. So if you haven't listened and used the Himalaya podcast app, go download that app in your app store and listen to the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast through that. If you are tuning in for the very first time, make sure to check out some of our previous episodes. We've had some really great guests on the show. We had Nicholas Bayer on here. We've had a lot of the Iowa United basketball team joining the show to talk about their experience playing college basketball and what they're most excited about playing for

the Iowa United. We've also had Drew Tate and Ricky Sanzy. And on tomorrow's show, we have Jeff Horner coming on. So lots of great content, lots of great guests that we've had on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. So definitely make sure to go check those out as well. And if you are on Twitter or Facebook, make sure to follow us at Lockdown Iowa on Twitter and Lockdown Hawkeyes on Facebook. That's how you're going to get in the know about when we're going to have episodes.

I try to let everyone know when I'm not going to be posting an episode or when I am going to be posting an episode and when those episodes actually post. That way you're not sitting there looking and scrolling and trying to find it in your podcast app each day. So let's jump into it though. Again, we have a great episode on today's show of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. Part one, we're going to talk about Oliver Martin. On segment number two, we're going to talk about Bakari Evelyn.

And on segment number three, we're going to be covering some of the other news and tidbits in Iowa Hawkeye Nation, including Isaiah Moss transferring, Theo Johnson and Connor McLaughlin showing up at Iowa for an official visit, and Kevin Kasper's son coming to the Hawks for a visit, and then also talk a little bit about the Iowa Hawkeyes' draw in the ACC Big Ten Challenge where Iowa is getting Syracuse. So on segment number one, though, Connor Martin. This is some big news and a lot of controversial kind of discussions around it. I know I got some, some flack on Twitter from, you know, obviously trolls and

whatnot who are a little bit, uh, thought it was funny that I found it pretentious and pathetic that people were making fun of this 20 year old college kid. Um, Oliver Martin made a mistake. He chose to go to Michigan and you know what? He didn't like it. And he's deciding to come to Iowa. And I've seen a lot of people on Twitter get pretty pissed off about it and say, well, he didn't choose Iowa the first time. We don't want him, that kind of stuff. First of all, don't be stupid. This kid would be the top-rated wide receiver that the Iowa Hawkeyes have gotten, I would

want to say, almost ever. So I'll need to check on the math there, check on the ratings there. But I'd want to say Oliver Martin would be the top-rated wide receiver the Iowa Hawkeyes have ever recruited in the era of three, four, five stars and the internet. So first off, that is stupid. We definitely want this kid. He'll be very good for the Iowa football program. If he's available to play this year, he's going to be a great asset for Nate Stanley. If he cannot play until next year, he's going to be a great asset for whoever wins that quarterback job in the 2020 quarterback battle. This kid is 6'1 foot one 200 pounds he can play the slot he can play outside

if we need him to and i think i really like what we've seen from nico rangini and tyrone tracy so far in the slot through spring practice but oliver martin is a proven kid he had 11 catches last year in a michigan offense he was expected to have an even bigger presence in the offense this year it sounds like michigan coaches were trying really hard to keep him in their program, and he ultimately decided to leave. So that speaks volumes to what kind of player he is, what kind of player they expected him to be, and what kind of presence they expected him to have in the offense playing with Shea Patterson, one of the top-rated senior quarterbacks in the country. So first off, I think he could add a lot of depth and talent to the wide receiver room.

Secondly, Iowa doesn't really typically have great wide receivers, so why not attempt to hit another home run here and get another great guy in there? If he is unable to play this year, now you have him for two more years. So Brandon Smith and Amir Smith-Marset, they're juniors this year. They'll be seniors next year. That means we'll have Oliver Martin for an extra year after that. If he's able to play this year, that just adds the wide receiver depth in that room. And I think Brian Ferencz is looking at expanding the offense and really going, going to be incorporating some of those spread concepts that we've seen in

the past. Some of the quarterbacks they've been bringing in have had the, you know, opportunity to throw the ball and chuck it around a lot. You know, Peyton Mansell, Spencer Petras, Alex Padilla, playing in some of those non-traditional offenses or spread offenses in high school. There's an opportunity for them to kind of do that when they get to the college level as well, especially if we have a decent group of wide receivers. If we have four or five talented wide receivers, that's fantastic.

And keep in mind, we lost two tight ends this past year. There's targets that need to go around. So having another great player in that room will be helpful. Addressing the situation with people and whatnot, first off, just keep in mind that this kid is a kid. He's a college kid. Again, people make mistakes. If you're pissed off because he chose Michigan, first off, I think that's kind of garbage because as a college, as a high schooler really, he's able to choose wherever the hell he wants to go. And if he doesn't choose Iowa, that doesn't mean that he hates the Hawks. It doesn't mean he hates the state of Iowa.

It's his right to go somewhere else, right? So first off, back off for that. I think that's absolutely ridiculous. He chose to go to Michigan for whatever reason. I don't know, okay? And to be honest, Iowa's wide receiver room has never been typically great. You don't see a lot of Iowa wide receivers getting drafted. You do of Iowa wide receivers getting drafted. You do see some Michigan receivers getting drafted. So if that is your ultimate goal, sometimes it makes sense to go the route where you think you're going to be an NFL prospect. Just like tight ends are starting to kind of flood into the Iowa football program, that's

similar to wide receivers getting the hell away from the Iowa football program. So historically, they haven't been that great. Secondly, if you're getting mad at the kid for choosing to leave and come to Iowa, back off again. The kid made a freaking mistake. He decided that he wants to change that mistake and come back to Iowa City. All the power to him. If Kirk Ferencz wants him, I believe in Kirk and I believe in this kid, and I'm really excited to watch him play. You didn't hear that much crap being talked to Jared Uthoff for leaving and coming back. He was an All-American. Adam Hluska did the same thing coming to Iowa later.

There's been some really great success stories of guys who spurned the Iowa Hawkeye program before coming back. If you want to get even more in-depth, people are pretty excited about this Bakari Evelyn signing. He spurned the Hawks twice. Iowa recruited him. He didn't go there. They recruited him after he decided to transfer from Nebraska. He didn't go there. They finally recruited them again this third time and he finally went to the Hawks. So I think it's kind of bull crap that people are talking so much crap on a college kid. And I get a little bit, and I don't want to talk crap on this

specific podcast, but there's some former Iowa football players who are a little bit upset about it. And to each their own, their opinion. I know they worked their absolute butts off to be an Iowa Hawkeye, and I get where they're coming from in the sense that they feel like they lived and bled for the Iowa Hawkeyes, and they feel like Oliver Martin isn't doing that by coming back two years later. But again, he's a college kid. He made a mistake, and he wants to correct that. I think he deserves to get a chance to correct that and play for the black and gold and see how awesome he is. So I could talk about this for a while,

but I'm not going to go into too many more details on the Oliver Martin situation. We're obviously going to be keeping you posted as the information comes out about when he will be eligible. I think there is a possibility that he will be able to get a transfer waiver. If you look at some of the quarterbacks who have transferred out, whether it is Tate Martell or Justin Fields, they found ways to get around the rule where you have to sit out an entire year.

One of the things that kind of pointing in Oliver Martin's direction of being able to play this year is the fact that Michigan's offensive coordinator left partway through his time at Michigan, so that might be an opportunity for him to get a transfer waiver and to play immediately, which would be a huge boost for the Iowa Hawkeyes. So I'll keep you posted on all that, try to keep you up to date and give you my opinions and all that. But I appreciate you tuning in for segment number one. Just a quick reminder that on segment number two, we're going to be talking about the Bakari Evelyn signing. Getting that graduate transfer was absolutely

phenomenal for the Iowa Hawkeyes, who've kind of been suffering some crappy times as of late. So we're going to do that after a few messages from our sponsors, starting with a message from twillery.com. And if you have not heard of Twillery, make sure to check them out. They are a fantastic dress shirt company. And we have a fantastic promotion as well. In addition to that going on in conjunction with them right now, you can get a shirt from Twillery.com. You actually get $25 off your purchase from Twillery.com using the code LOCKEDON. There's a limited time Father's Day special as well. Enjoy a free set of bottle opener collar stays. Only valid until June 16th, so make sure to get on that right now. And let me tell you, these shirts are freaking phenomenal.

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After those messages from our sponsors, again, I appreciate everyone for tuning into the show, and I appreciate our sponsors for helping sponsor the show. Without them, we couldn't have and provide you a Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. For segment number two, we're going to be talking about Bakari Evelyn. For those of you who have not been paying too much attention to Iowa basketball with all the news that is going on with Oliver Martin, the Iowa Hawkeyes did sign a graduate transfer guard in Bakari Evelyn, and I think it was a huge addition, one that was much needed. There hasn't been a lot of good news going around for the Iowa basketball program,

so getting a guy like Bakari Evelyn is absolutely great for Fran McCaffrey and the Iowa basketball team. He is a graduate transfer guard from Valparaiso. Bakari Evelyn is absolutely great for Fran McCaffrey and the Iowa basketball team. He is a graduate transfer guard from Valparaiso. He's a guy who can play both the one and the two, although he's historically kind of played the one. At 6'2", he kind of has a size to do both. But I think with nothing else, it gives the Iowa Hawkeyes some flexibility and some depth.

Going into the season prior to that signing, I thought maybe Joe Toussaint's going to be a guy who's going to be playing a lot more minutes than expected. We're going to see a lot of time from CJ Frederick. But getting a guy like Bakari Evelyn gives the Hawks some flexibility. Maybe you put Evelyn at the 2 and Connor at the 1. Maybe you put Evelyn at the 1. You have Connor McCaffrey coming in and Joe Toussaint, maybe red shirts, or only gets 5 to 10 minutes a game, kind of putting him in low-pressure situations. Whatever it is, now there's a little bit more flexibility

when you have a guy like Evelyn, who is a veteran player, has played college basketball for three years, had to sit out one year, has played in the Big Ten. He played for Nebraska originally before transferring to Valparaiso, sitting out a year, playing two years the past two seasons in the Missouri Valley Conference, and now transferring again. He wants an opportunity to play in an NCAA tournament, and I think he feels like he can do that with the Hawks. And he also had a great relationship. Iowa's recruited him, like I said,

on segment number one. They've recruited him twice in addition to this third time as well. So he has some familiarity with the coaching staff. He's excited to play with the Iowa Hawkeyes, and I'm really excited to have him. What he offers in terms of kind of his game is really offensively. He can score. He's kind of an up-and-down three-point shooter, but I think that will change when he gets a little bit more spacing playing with some other great shooters in the Iowa Hawkeyes. This past season, he played 28.1 minutes per game and scored 8.4 points per game while dishing out 2.1 assists.

The previous year, he had 12.6 points a game and also had 1.4 steals a game. So, again, some versatility there, some ability to score and slash. The only thing I'm kind of concerned about is his defensive ability, or should I say his defensive liability. He posted a negative defensive plus minus in all three seasons. Excuse me, in two seasons. One season was completely neutral, but still the defensive skills are not necessarily there. And I think we've seen that with Jordan Bohannon as well,

where you don't get that defensive stopper at point guard. We're not really going to be upgrading at that position if Jordan Bohannon isn't there. I think that's another important thing to bring up as well, is if Bohannon does actually come back, this just makes the depth chart even better for the Iowa Hawkeyes again, because Bohannon can play the one or the two. McCaffrey, his size could be the one or the two, but I think his skill set lends more to the one. You know, Bakari could be one or two. Again, that gives you a lot more flexibility of where to play, guys, and playing your best lineups.

And also not missing out when you need to put the second lineup in. You're not going to miss out with talent. You're going to have a guy in Bakari Evelyn who has started 40 games in college basketball, all with, you know, Valparaiso. The last season he only started about half the games, but still a guy with a lot of starters experience, has played some big-time programs and some big-time situations. So I think it's overall a great signing for the Iowa Hawkeyes. I'm hoping that they make one more surprise signing throughout the summer.

There's still a few guys left on the transfer market, and I think they do have another scholarship spot open. So I'm hoping. I got my fingers crossed, they bring in one more guy. I think that would make me feel a lot more confident going into the season that they have two more kind of veteran guys to play for the Iowa Hawkeye basketball program. That'll do it, though, for segment number two. We do have a few messages from our sponsors coming up after this, but on segment number three, we're going to be going through some quick tidbits of the Iowa Hawkeyes,

talking about Isaiah Moss, talking about a couple of the guys who are looking into the Iowa Hawkeyes football program. So we're going to be doing that after a few messages from our sponsors. All right, we are back with segment number three. The first thing I want to cover on today's show, and just a quick reminder that if you do like what you're hearing, if you have liked what you've heard, make sure to follow us, like us and subscribe wherever you downloaded this podcast at, whether that is on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or the brand new Himalaya Podcast app that is free, easy to use, and comes with personally curated playlists just for your listening pleasure. Segment number three, though,

Isaiah Moss is transferring to Kansas after decommitting from Arkansas. And I think the big thing to note here is that at the end of the day, he still hasn't even graduated from Iowa. So there's a lot of things still moving. Arkansas decided to sign another shooting guard after they signed Isaiah Moss. And I personally feel like that was a big reason why he decided to end up not going to Arkansas. Kansas as well just lost Quentin Grimes, a five-star shooting guard. He was, I believe, their number three or four score this past season. He actually decided to transfer after entering his name into the NBA draft. They didn't want him really. He needed to come back for a year and

get some more playing time. Decided to get the hell out of Kansas. So now they have a kind of a void opening up at the shooting guard position. I think it makes a lot more sense for Isaiah Moss. If he wants that exposure, if he wants the ability to play in some big-time games, Kansas is a team that has some really strong, strong front-court talent that they could use a guy like Isaiah Moss to space that floor. They could be playing in a Sweet 16 or an Elite 8 game next year. Right now they're ranked top 10 in the nation according to multiple media outlets. So a good opportunity for him to get some exposure,

play under a legendary head coach, play for a legendary program who's always been historically very good. So I'm excited to watch him play with Kansas, and I'm excited to watch him kick the crap out of Iowa State. One of the things to note as well is the Jayhawks right now, in terms of returning players, only have one guy who shot over 31% in consistent minutes. So they really need some three-point shooters. It's kind of like exactly the opposite of the Iowa Hawkeyes, who have a ton of three-point shooting talent. Kansas doesn't have that, and they need that to space the floor. So Isaiah Moss is a great addition for them.

On the basketball note as well, Iowa did get their Big Ten ACC Challenge matchup. They're going to be playing Syracuse up in New York. I think it's a great opportunity. I think this non-conference schedule is looking tougher and tougher by the day. Last year, they got Pitt. Actually, it was a lot harder game than it should have been, but Syracuse is going to be a talented team that they're going to need to play early in the season. I think getting a win there would be huge. Getting a win on a pretty aggressive away court playing at Syracuse, that's going to be a good opportunity for the Hawks to kind of get in the feel of conference play

as they head into conference play. Typically, you're not going to get some of those hostile away environments until you get to conference play, but they're going to get that early in December playing in the ACC Big Ten Challenge. So lots of fun for the Iowa Hawkeyes in this relatively challenging non-conference schedule. They also are going to likely play Texas Tech. They're going to be playing Creighton in the Las Vegas Invitational. So lots of fun coming up for the Iowa basketball team, really stacking that schedule, which could be a good or a bad thing. If they get off to a strong start, it could be a magical season. If they get off to a slow start, it could be a little

rough next year. So that's it for basketball, though. Just a couple quick things on the football front. Some great recruits coming in this past weekend doing their official visits with the Iowa Hawkeyes. A stud tied in Theo Johnson and a stud tackle on Connor McLaughlin. Highly touted recruits both coming in and watching, kind of being around

the Iowa Hawkeye football program. Theo Johnson, I think it's leaning more and more to coming to Iowa. Obviously having TJ Hawkinson and Noah Fant go in the first round is huge. Theo Johnson I think it's leaning more and more to coming to Iowa obviously having TJ Hawkinson and Noah Fant going the first round is huge Theo Johnson is a big kid and he would be a guy who possibly could see playing time immediately kind of like a Noah Fant-esque type of player being able to get on the field right away and he would be a great one-two punch with Elijah Yelverton a three-star tight end recruiter who's already committed to the Iowa Hawkeyes and has

some really good wide receiver type of skills. Needs to fill out his body a little bit more. But I'm interested to see how the Theo Johnson stuff kind of goes on. It seems like he's been posting a few things on Twitter about Iowa being tight end U. And I think to me that kind of means he's really interested in looking at Theo Johnson. Connor McLaughlin is a guy who I think Iowa needs to get. They haven't signed a true tackle in this class. Last I checked, no, I think actually they might have at this point.

But anyways, Conor McLaughlin would be a great player. He's a four-star tackle out of the Tampa area. Needs to be a little bit bulkier. Right now he's only weighing about 250, so he needs to put on about 50 to 60 more pounds. But he has another year to grow, and playing with Chris Doyle will give him an opportunity to get some more meat on that frame. Also in football news, Kevin Casper, for those of you who do not forget that bleach blonde hair, Kevin Casper's son is actually on the recruiting front now. He's coming to Iowa for a visit in a few weeks.

His name is Kyler Casper. Make sure to check him out on Twitter. He has some great videos. He's been going to a ton of camps lately, starting to build some of that buzz as a wide receiver coming out, and I believe the class of 2021. So kind of interesting to see that that's kind of the case. Maybe have a father-son duo, and I think that's actually going to be a really good topic to cover on the show, some of the great father-son duos that have happened in the past.

Really interesting to kind of think about. Think of A.J. Epineza and Epi Epineza, Anthony Nelson and his father. Lots of really great father-son duos that have played in the Iowa Hawkeye football program. So maybe we'll cover that on a later show. But that will do it, though, for our show today. I appreciate you tuning in on the Tuesday edition of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast, kind of covering all the tidbits of the Iowa Hawkeyes

these past couple days. A lot of things have been going on. Obviously, kind of covering all the tidbits of the Iowa Hawkeyes these past couple of days. A lot of things have been going on. Obviously, I wanted to cover the Oliver Martin stuff, wanted to cover the Bakari Evelyn stuff, and then some minor stuff that we just talked about here on segment number three. Just a quick reminder that today's show was brought to you in part by Hotels.com.

Don't hate like your friend's trip. Book your own with Hotels.com and get rewarded basically everywhere. Hotels.com, be there, do that, get rewarded. And also make sure if you did like this show, I would love it if you go and like, subscribe, and review this show wherever you downloaded that at, whether that is Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify,

or even the brand new podcasting app, Himalaya, where you can actually personalize and curate playlists that make sense for your listening pleasure. Also, if you're on Twitter, make sure to follow us on Twitter at LockedOnIowa. Make sure to interact with us. As long as you're not a douchebag, I'm going to be, you know, I'll interact back with you. If you want to, you know, kindly debate things, I'm happy to do that as well. Just as long as you're a cool person, make sure to follow us on Twitter at LockedOnIowa.

Follow us on Facebook as well at LockedOnHawkeyes. And make sure to tune in to tomorrow's episode. We're going to be having Jeff Horner, former Iowa basketball player and current coach of the Iowa United. He's going to be on the show tomorrow talking about kind of his life, his playing career, what he's doing now, that kind of stuff. So make sure to tune in to that. We're likely going to be doing that as a two-part series.

So coming at you tomorrow, Wednesday morning, and Thursday morning. So again, thank you for tuning in on this episode of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. I hope you have a fantastic day, Hawkeye Nation. Go Hawks! Thank you. you