Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - The Deepest Position Group in Iowa football history? And Hawkeye Hoops transfer buzz

Episode Date: April 11, 2023

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Time to talk some football. We're going to get into spring practice as we take a look at each of the position groups. Today, the deepest, the defensive line. We talk about just how deep this Iowa team is and what it means for Hawkeye football. A Iowa women's basketball player has entered the transfer portal. Jatea Wettering is in the portal, and that means there's a scholarship open. What does that mean for Lisa Bluter's group? And the latest on the men's side.

All today on Locked on Hawkeyes. Locked on Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome in once again. 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 get your podcasts. Apple, Google, Stitcher,er you name it we are there you can find us on spotify and everywhere else hit a five star while you're there or if you're

on youtube and watching us make sure you hit that subscribe button it helps us get in front of more hawkeye fans well it's a birthday edition yes another year around here in this uh life as a hawkeye fan and, maybe some birthday wishes coming up a little bit later on. But as we get ready for, obviously, the end of spring football, we're about a week and a half away from the conclusion and our opportunity to see the team

actually out on the field. Looking forward to that. Coming up on April 20th, there is so much still to talk about. We're going to talk about the positional groups. In fact, we haven't really taken a deep dive into all the groups, and I'm going to rank them. Well, today, the number one at the top of the list positional group, it's an easy one defensive line. We'll get into that here

momentarily in an Iowa football team. I'm not being hyperbolic. Absolutely goes 12 deep. Remember only four guys play at a time. Never in Iowa football has there been a positional group that I can remember that is this deep. That's how good this group is and has a potential to be absolutely outstanding, even with the loss of a potential first round draft pick in Lucas Van Ness. We'll get into that here today.

Talk a little football with you. The transfer portal continues to buzz. Yesterday was Ben Crickey on the men's side of things. Today, well, in addition by subtraction, if you will. Chatea Wettering has entered the transfer portal and there's been some hand-wringing out there. Iowa women's basketball without an open scholarship, well, how they can be recruiting. I've tried to calm your nerves, but here we are. Now it is official. There is an open scholarship. What does that mean for the women's basketball program? We will get into that. And with a potential target off the board, it looks like in Jordan Minor,

where does Iowa men's team turn in that? We'll get into all that today, but I want to talk about this football team and what they have up front because the more research that I've been doing, the more depth and knowledge that we get on this defensive front for Iowa football this year, the more crazy that it is. First of all, you start off with the returns this year. Joe Evans, Noah Shannon, two guys that absolutely would have had opportunities if not hearing their name called in the NFL draft in the sixth, seventh round, absolutely would have had opportunities at the next level to get into a camp, to see what they can do and see if they could stick with the right team. They absolutely had that pedigree. But instead, they made the decision to come back.

And as we've talked about a lot with the transfer portal in basketball this week, well, the same thing here for football. NIL and the Iowa Swarm made it happen and made the money happen for both Noah Shannon and Joe Evans to return. So you got a couple of very experienced players starting things off. We know what Joe Evans can do off the edge. He's a playmaker. He's done that throughout his career.

He has also turned himself into a more complete player. He's not just that edge rusher, not just a pass rush specialist. There's a lot more to his game. He's become much better against the run and obviously elevated himself to becoming a one-down player where he's become a three-down player at defensive end. And then Noah Shannon in the middle. Look, never going to have eye-popping numbers. We've seen that throughout what Iowa does in their front

and those defensive tackles, but certainly has been an impactful player and a guy that started to play his best football in the season, his last season, and I think even more growth that is in front of him. But those are the guys coming back for an extra season, kind of a bonus year. Deontay Craig, what we saw out of him last year, he's got those long arms. He's 6'3", but he's got to have wingspan of 6'7", 6'8". He's just crazy long arms, can get to the quarterback.

He got that on the other side of Joe Evans. Also, Aaron Graves. We just saw him last year as a true freshman, played in the middle there. Oh boy, he really popped. Logan Lee comes back for another year. You hope health is certainly going to be there. Why Abe Black? There's a player that when he has been out there, he's got a chance. Six foot five, he's got to understand leverage a little bit better, but you continue to hear people rave about him in terms of athleticism with the biggest frame, if you will, for the defensive lineman and what he still can be.

And still maybe just scratching the surface of what kind of player Ethan Hurkett, a guy that when he has been healthy, he's been another one that's been able to get to the quarterback. We just saw a little bit of Maxwell Wellen, but people rave about him. So we're already eight deep, right? We're already eight deep. When we talk about this team and what they have. These are the guys that were listed as the, in the two deep that came out this spring as your starter. So you have that component. All right, we're eight deep. And I think you can all in varying degrees, they're very good to excellent about any of these guys. Well, this is what else now that we're adding to the mix. Caden Crawford, well-decorated kid from Kansas came in with some big-time offers.

He redshirted last year. What is he going to add to the mix? They bring in Jackson Filer. He was one of the best sack-getters in all of JUCO football a year ago. A dowling kid. You know the motor's going to be running. And absolutely, with the pedigree also, his dad, a former Iowa fullback back in the day,

Jackson Filer, could he carve out a role? Maybe it's 10, 12, 15 snaps a game, but I think there's a place for a guy like Jackson Filer as that third down rush specialist. You continue on. Some other names that you have to talk about. We saw a little bit of Jeremiah Pittman a year ago during his redshirt freshman campaign.

Big guy in the middle, I think can help out. Chris Reeves, huge frame on the outside. Could he give anything in his final season? And maybe the most impactful of the new guys or new names for this year is Ontario Thompson. He comes in from Iowa Western Community College, Dubuque kid. Just one season over there. He was impactful. He was a top 50 player nationally in the JUCO rankings, regardless of position across the

board. He's another guy. Plug and play, helping out maybe the inside that they're going to use with him. That is 12 deep. And I'm not absolutely being hyperbolic here. 12 guys that you feel confident that not can just feel a little. Not that can just be okay. These guys are all impactful players at varying degrees.

This defensive line, I have never seen anything before at any position to have this much talent. Iowa, well, it happens year after year and the way they teach it and the way that they are year after year is so fundamentally sound. We hear the other coaches talk about, well, you know what you're going to get out of them. You know what they're going to do. And at times it's looked at as a negative offensively, defensively, that's a good thing. Iowa in incredible shape. My number one position group for this season in football

is that defensive line. And we have seen just how good they are and how good they still can be getting to the quarterback. Huge numbers a year ago. I think that increases this year. More depth. That means more opportunity for guys to get out there. And you know what?

If you're only going to play 20, 25 snaps, you can go out there and understand. I'm going to give it my all every single time. Going back to 2010 and the hands on the hips that we saw for majoring Claiborne. And we saw they didn't have the depth up front. Though they were very talented, the depth wasn't there and led to them wearing down. That is not going to be the case this year. They can afford injury because of the depth of the team. They have built their feet of this team.

What they do up front and what they do defensively, it all starts up front. And Iowa's as good a position as they have ever been on that side. We will continue. The Transfer Portal continues to heat up. The Iowa women have an open scholarship. We're talking Transfer Portal, both men's and women's, when we continue here,

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Trent Conant back with you once again here on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks as always for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. As we continue here, the Hawkeye conversation over to some basketball talk. And what are the consternation that has been out there for a segment of the population that you've seen online, be it social media, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or on the message boards out there is, well, Iowa doesn't have an open scholarship. How could they be in the transfer portal

looking for somebody? Well, we found out today, A, that's no longer true. Chitae Wettering has entered the transfer portal. That news first reported by Chantel Jennings of The Athletic. So she is departing. Today, A, that's no longer true. Chitaia Wettering has entered the transfer portal. That news first reported by Chantel Jennings of The Athletic. So she is departing. She is going to be looking for a new home, and that means, yes, there is an open scholarship. Now, we also told you yesterday that Iowa didn't have to have a scholarship available in order to make something happen.

With NIL, with the collective, they could have made it possible and plausible that they could bring in a player as a walk-on, yet they still get money to pay for that scholarship and even more on top of it. That was still a possibility. That was something that is out there. Well, I think the apple of many people's eye right now is Lauren Betts.

Played basketball in high school with Addison O'Grady. You got a connection there. Part of Team USA with Kaitlyn Clark back a couple of years back. You have that connection. She was the number one player a couple of years back in her recruiting class. She's six foot seven.

She rebounds it well. She can score. She's incredibly athletic around the rim. She does a lot of things that would absolutely amaze Monica Sinano. And congratulations to her hearing her name called in the WNBA draft and how cool that was.

LA Sparks and Magic Johnson talking about her. Just an incredible moment. But I know that's a lot of people's apple of their eye. Now, there are some people out there that think maybe the ship has already sailed.

A lot of people either pointing to Colorado, where she's from, where she played high school basketball with, excuse me, Addison O'Grady. But UCLA appears to be the front runner. Now, Iowa's going to continue to try. They're going to do everything possible, maybe try to get her in for a visit

and see if they'd be able to set things up a little bit that way. That's still a possibility that they're working, but right now it appears that UCLA is the favorite. Maybe Colorado's the second choice. Iowa's still trying to get involved with many people's number one target in Lauren Betts. Couple other names for you I want to throw out there. Another one, Lauren Ware from Arizona. She's six foot five. Finally kind of came into her own a little bit more this year. Has the size

that you look for. She also has a Midwest connection. She grew up in North Dakota, was from Bismarck. So there's something there. Maybe an opportunity to come a little bit closer to home, going from North Dakota to Arizona, some culture shock there, coming back home, put it together this year. She does have a couple of years of eligibility also remaining. Injuries have also, along with the COVID year, something to look at there. Another name that has been bandied about, Camille Hobby, 6'3", from NC State. Another one starting to come a little bit better this year.

You saw her, of course, in the matchup between Iowa and NC State this past season. Not the size that we're talking about, that 6'5", 6'7", range, but at 6'3", post player, definitely can help out. Maybe a 1-2 combo there. And we've talked about Anissa Morrow. It looks like more and more she is looking South Carolina. A lot of playing time, obviously, available after they have four different players drafted in the WNBA draft. A possibility there. Even UConn's been talked about. Not a whole lot of buzz right now with Morrow, but some names out there. Iowa's going to continue to work it. There's going to be candidates. There's going to be people that want to play at Iowa. The good news though for the people that were concerned about it, I told you didn't have to be, but that were concerned, there is now an open scholarship

for this Iowa women's basketball team. We jump over to the men's team when we come back. What is the latest on the front? Ben Kricke is in. What about the other options that are out there? Well, it looked like there were two guys coming on a visit. Now that is down to one. We'll give you the details as we continue on Locked on Hawkeyes.

down to one. We'll give you the details as we continue on Lockdown Hawkeyes. Back with you one final time here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Alright, let's get into it and jump into the men's side. Ben Kricke talked about this a lot in yesterday's podcast. If you missed it, go back. Make sure you download that episode. Get into a little bit what he

is as a player, an incredible post-up player, very good with his back of the basket, deft with using both hands, an improving game from the outside. But from the get-go of the transfer portal, I was been looking to pair a couple of guys together, two bigs to come in and two guys that also compliment themselves pretty well. Now with Kricke, a guy that's a little bit more under the rim type of player, the hope, at least for me, that Jordan Minor was going to be the guy that they would be able to pair him with. And it sounded like that was somebody that kind of that

next grouping we saw last weekend. Crickey came in along with Rink Mass. They got the commitment from Crickey and looked like that's kind of who they wanted out of those two guys Jordan Miner maybe appeared to be the guy that they had a little bit higher in their next tier of list so BJ Mack is the other name back to Miner for a second apologies it looks like Virginia is going to be his destination a lot of crystal balls out there and the like that are pointing that direction the thing that I like so much about Jordan Miner was yeah he was a guy that could do a little bit of things around the rim he was his post post-scorer, and he could do that, scored an incredibly high level in the Northeast Conference.

But more than anything is out of all these bigs that we've talked about, Miner was the guy that had the most pedigree as a defensive player. Now, Iowa hasn't had a great defensive player in the middle since Adam Woodbury. And even as good as Woodbury was understanding floor spacing, getting guys in the right spot, and what he was there as just such a smart defensive player, his ability to hedge, even with that 7-foot-1 frame,

he was not your prototypical shot blocker. Well, that was Miner. He was also an athlete that Iowa really hasn't had inside with the size and the athletic explosion that he has. Iowa hasn't had it. And that's why I was excited most about Jordan Meyer,

because B.J. Mack, the other guy that's scheduled to come in this weekend, that is not him. He is another under-the-rim type of player. He's a guy that can shoot it incredibly well from the outside, an offensive skill set that will work incredibly well with the Iowa system. He's a guy that will probably come in and average certainly double figures and maybe an opportunity to score 14-16 a game. I think that kind of upside that he has offensively coupled with the Iowa system. I mean, he's a guy that'll probably come in and average certainly double figures and maybe an opportunity to score 14, 16 a game. I think that kind of upside that he has offensively coupled with the Iowa system, he's going to be rared to go. Absolutely. But right

now that looks to be it. According to Brad Heinrich of the Iowa Swarm, the collective that Miner is off the board, Ware is still a go. He is still planning on coming up this weekend for a visit to iowa city he's at alabama next that'll be his next visit has already been at lsu i was also on the mix for him battle the sec we will see but i think a guy that would fit in incredibly well to what they're doing offensively the question is all right so we're talking about a team right now and let's say just for argument's sake that they they get B.J. Mack. Mack, not known as a defender.

Kricke, not known as a defender. Peyton Sanford, not known as a defender. DeSante Bowen, we don't know. What he heard about him, though, it was his playmaking ability at the high school level. There wasn't a whole lot of talk about what he was defensively. Patrick McCaffrey, certainly not known for his defense. The incoming freshman, well, they're just that freshman trying to learn to play in the Big Ten.

They're going to score. Are they going to get any stops? Probably not with the current structure of this team. And that's why Moiner was such a fun player to monitor and hope for. But alas, it does not appear that it's going to be happening. Well, we will continue this week our deep dive into Iowa football. Today, it was the easiest one. My number one position group in Iowa football is the defensive line,

the depth, the playmaking, guys that come back with honors already. This team is absolutely stacked. And just think of what they would be if Lucas Van Ness would have come back for another season. Alas, he'll hear his name called in the first round of the nfl draft well plenty of coverage coming up for that in fact i'm gonna make my way down to kansas city i'm gonna be down there for the opening round of the draft be down there with my radio show by the way you can catch me on the radio every weekday from 11 to 1 on des moines sports station 106.3 kx and oh and you can listen

all across the state all all across the country, all across the world with the iHeartRadio app. Again, 11 to 1. You can also find the podcast. Miller & Condon is the name of the show. We talk plenty of Hawkeyes and a whole lot more in the world of sports. We'll be back with you with our number two team tomorrow in our positional rankings of Iowa football as we go through spring.

No surprise, it will be another defensive position. How long is it going to take before we get to an offensive position? Well, you'll have to listen here in the coming days and week and a half ahead. We lead up into the open practice coming up on April 20th. Hey, it's my birthday today. What am I looking for for a birthday present? All right. Well, we, of course, got to see Iowa make a run to the National Championship of Women's Basketball. 20th hey it's my birthday today what am i looking for for a birthday present all right well we of

course got to see iowa make a run to the national championship of women's basketball i guess a breakthrough i win the whole thing how about a sweet 16 for iowa basketball and another big 10 west championship in fact let's go for the gusto he only turned 43 once so we're going to try to say how about a big 10 championship it's been since 2004 right to say, how about a Big Ten championship? It's been since 2004, right? Last outright, 1985. How about an outright championship? Hey, I'm asking for the moon. What can you do?

Thanks for joining me here today on Locked On Hawkeyes. As always, thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Don't forget, we also, of course, have you covered with the NFL draft with our newsletter. Go to Locked On and check out our newsletter. You can sign up for it. Great information. We got a lot coming up on the Hawkeye prospects and your favorite NFL team with the Locked On NFL draft newsletter.

We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Go Hawks.