Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Top Punter in the Country leaves Iowa, Hawkeye softball wins a championship, B1G Baseball Bracket set

Episode Date: May 22, 2023

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We kick off a new week here on Locked On Hawkeyes. The softball team ends their season with a win, a championship for Iowa softball. Iowa baseball tries to do the same as they make their way to the Big Ten tournament in Omaha. And we got some football recruiting news. Iowa, with one of the top prospects in the country, at least as a punter, he makes his decision. And it's not with the Hawkeyes. All today on Locked on Hawkeyes. Our Locked on Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to him. 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 podcasts. You can also find us on YouTube. While you're there, hit that subscribe button. It helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. Well, a lot going on coming off a busy weekend inside the world of Hawkeye Athletics.

Spring seasons are starting to come to a close. The Iowa softball team, they get a championship as they played in the National Invitational Softball Tournament and walked away as champions of that event. Iowa baseball concludes the regular season with a series win against Northwestern, and the Big Ten Tournament is in front of them. But we begin today in the world of Hawkeye football as Iowa sees one of the top prospects in the state go somewhere else.

Now, right now, Iowa, for the class of 2024, is in really good shape. We've talked about the additions that they've already made, really solidifying the offensive line. Their top prospect currently in the commitment is Cody Fox, a young man from East Buck, East Buchanan, that is ranked as a top 250 player nationally. We talked about the Illinois contingent that is coming in.

Will Nolan, he is a part of that. Bodie McCaslin, also that offensive line cast, and Josh Janowski. So three offensive linemen, they're solidifying that. James Rezar, the quarterback from the Florida Jacksonville area, he is committed to the team. So we've talked a lot about these guys. They're ranked 17th right now in the country at 24-7 sports they have 11 commitments but one place that they don't have

is a specialist and there is one right in our backyard drew miller drew miller a young man from just up the road grew up a hawkeye fan his dad also is a Hawkeye fan that comments from time to time on the message boards. Well, he'd been waiting for quite a while to get an offer from Iowa and recruiting at a position like punter. It's different than pretty much any other position. In fact, recruiting in general, when you're talking about skill positions as opposed to the specialists and that's what we're talking about here is completely different well miller made his commitment to georgia the defending national champion and he had offers drew miller did from michigan texas georgia and a host of others but never had an offer from the university of Iowa,

the team that he grew up rooting for the team that he wanted a offer from the team that he probably would have committed to very quickly. If the offer came, the crazy part about this is we know that the way the Iowa team is built, right? It is defense. It is special teams. And it is, you hope, just enough offense to make it happen.

And we've seen when things go bad in the punting game, what a disadvantage that is for a program like Iowa. Iowa needs a good punter. And when Iowa has an elite punter, like we're seeing right now with Torrey Taylor, just how much better that makes things. How much a step forward that can make defensively. How many short fields have we seen? Those kind of things matter in the way that Iowa makes their football games played.

They want to play in a phone booth. They want to have it come down to the little things, right? And Iowa with an elite punter, that's definitely one of those little things. So you have a guy like this, a guy that has come to their camps, a guy that I was obviously seen getting offers from all across the country, and they never offer. And this is one where I'm willing to give Iowa the benefit of the doubt. They've seen this kid punt.

They know what they're looking for. And they also know the success that they have had here recently with an Aussie punter. And there are a ton of them over there. For whatever reason, Aussie style football, whatever it is, those guys that come over. You take a look at the NFL rosters right now. You take a look at a lot of collegiate offers. Rosters, excuse me. And what do you see?

Australian punters. And maybe that is the thought process here for Iowa, that they believe that though they have one of the best prospects in the country, some recruiting services have him as the number one punter in the country, Andrew Miller, that they believe

that there is a better way to go about it and to find a punter. And that's not doing it in your backyard. That is going out there and buying an Australian punter. And I can buy it. I can buy what they're selling here. Now, Iowa invited them to their specialist camp that's coming up next month. It's coming up in June. With the offers that Drew Miller already had, he didn't believe that he had anything more

to prove. They had seen him punt in person. They had been to his games. They'd been to all the different sports that Drew Miller plays. They believed, and Drew believed, that he had shown him enough. That if they looked at it and they saw him as a player, that there was enough there already to make a decision. For all intents and purposes, Iowa passed.

And I don't have a big problem with it. Look, for anybody that grew up an Iowa fan and anybody that is as well-regarded as him, that's difficult to swallow. And I get that piece of it. And that's what makes this a little bit more difficult. It's a family that grew up Hawkeye fans, right? You hate to see that.

You grew up in Minneapolis. I'm going to guess a majority of the people there are Hawkeye fans. But when you see offers coming from Texas and Michigan and locally Iowa State, and you see that and he gets away, I can understand the yanks. But there is justification behind it. Iowa knows what they're doing. and this is LeVar Woods, and he also knows what he's doing. Though he's not a punter by trade, what he has done with special teams,

he deserves the benefit of the doubt. If this was something on the offensive side, I'd be a lot more fired up right now. I'd be a lot more upset. But Iowa, they deserve the benefit of the doubt. We lost a punter. It's hard to lose one that you never offered. We got more football coming up here this week on Locked On, Hawkeyes.

You everydayers, we got you covered. Pro Football Focus. If you heard me, I love Pro Football Focus. It's a good way to put some numbers behind what we're trying to see with our eyes. And I think they do an incredibly good job with that. Well, one of their writers is going to come in and talk a little bit about what they see with this upcoming Iowa football season. It is also an analytical based site that seems to have a pretty good

inkling towards Iowa, which is always fun to see when they have you covered. So we are going to do that coming up this week. And you every dares will be with you on that. And a lot more football coverage coming your way on Locked on Hawkeyes. Well, we got more coming your way, including the Big Ten tournament for baseball. What is the latest happening on that front? The bracket is set.

How does it set up for the Iowa Hawkeyes? Plus, we have a championship. Iowa softball winning a championship. We will get into that here today. This is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Well, if you're like me looking for a delicious snack, but don't want all those sugars, all the calories, trying to stay healthier, trying to do it while having something that tastes good,

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on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Make sure you hit that subscribe button. Helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. As we roll through here, let's get into the baseball team. Now, it was a weekend that wasn't perfect

for Iowa baseball. They did drop a game against Northwestern. We talked about it going into the series. Not very good. The Wildcats, they were 9-38 going into the series, and they took game two on Friday. But Iowa bounced back. Great to see that.

On Saturday, the final game of the series, Brody Brecht was dominant. And since the move to the number three spot in the rotation, going from the normal Friday starter to the Sunday starter, Brody Brecht has absolutely flourished. On Thursday night in game one of the three-game series, the Bats came alive, 15 runs, 15-3. As Morgan went out there, did his thing, he was really good once again. His team is playing

some great baseball from sweeping Michigan state, taking two or three against Ohio state, the split against Penn state, the sweep against Nebraska. I think you could argue right now that Iowa is playing as well as anybody in the big 10. Now it didn't end in a regular season championship for the Hawkeyes. It was Maryland that won the regular season crown at 17-7. Indiana at second. Iowa half game back of them at 15-8. The Hoosiers went 16-8, followed by the number four seed Nebraska. Rutgers the five. Michigan, Michigan State, and Illinois. Those are the eight teams then that do advance to the Big Ten tournament. So that's how it is set up here. Eight teams in the Big Ten tournament. We're going to get a look here at the bracket for the Big Ten tournament. So that's how it is set up here. Eight teams in the Big Ten tournament.

We're going to get a look here at the bracket for the Big Ten baseball tournament, and it's going to start very quickly here. As you see it here, if you're watching this on YouTube, you can follow along there. We'll read through it for you, though, on the other side of things for the people that are with us on the audio side, on the podcast side. So this is how it begins. Iowa will get the bracket started as they will play in the 3-6 game at 10 a.m. coming up here tomorrow.

That is right. On Tuesday, this thing will get started and we'll have instant reaction podcasts for you after each of the games in the Big Ten tournament for Iowa baseball. 10 a.m. start against the Wolverines. Michigan comes in 500 on the season as the number six seed. An okay season for Michigan, but certainly not the team that we saw a year ago. Last year, Michigan won the classes of the Big Ten. In fact, they might be looking at, unless they make a big, big run here

and win the Big Ten tournament, they're going to be missing out in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2018. Still a lot of talent from that championship team that we have a year ago. Ted Burton, one of their best players, 13 doubles, 13 home runs this year, has also drawn 29 walks. He gets out there a ton. That's one to keep an eye on. We're going to have Marcus Morgan against Connor O'Hallahan. That will be the pitching matchup most likely coming your way on Tuesday. Quick turnaround, though, for Marcus Morgan. How about this, though?

The season that Marcus put together. Leading the Big Ten in five categories. ERA 2.67. Hits allowed 16. Runs allowed 10. And opponents batting average at 150 the left-hander Connor O'Halloran for Michigan 97 innings this season ERA of about three and a half 103 strikeouts good control this year just 23 walks this season and he goes deep into games. The importance cannot be overstated here for Iowa baseball to go out there

and to get victories early on. It is so tough to battle your way back if you lose one of the opening games. We saw that a year ago, Iowa against Penn State, and just that difficult path forward. So it will be Iowa-Michigan that gets it started. Then game two, it'll be Indiana against Illinois. The Hoosiers are the number two seed.

That game will follow at about two o'clock. And then the nightcap in game day one of the Big Ten tournament from Omaha will be the number one seed, the Maryland Terrapins, as they get Michigan State the number eight seed, estimated six o'clock with the first pitch in that one. Then we come back a day later on the 24th. That will be coming up then on Wednesday. It will be the first game, the finale of the quarterfinals, Nebraska against Rutgers,

two o'clock for that one. Then the consolation game, the loser of Iowa, Michigan against the loser of Indiana, Illinois. Those two teams will face off. Loser of that game will be out of the tournament, and that's all we have on the schedule then for the 24th. Come back then on the 25th, and that's when things get a little bit deeper. We'll dive into the loser of the bottom half of the bracket with the loser of Maryland Michigan State against Nebraska Rutgers loser. Then we get a semifinal two o'clock. If Iowa wins, that's when they will play on Thursday at two o'clock against the winner of the Indiana-Illinois game. And then just keep punching your ticket forward. Again, we got you covered here on the podcast and we will get you up to

date on everything going on. A couple more notes though for the Big Ten tournament. Mention just the importance of getting out to a good start. Hawkeye Report, their beat writer Kyle Huseman did a really good job of breaking down exactly what happens in the importance of game one in the Big Ten tournament. The last 14 Big Ten tournament champions won the first game of the week. 14 straight. That's going to tell you a little something there. Not only that, six of the last seven champions have not lost a game in a row to their title. Have to be playing well, have to get off to a really, really good start. It'll be Michigan to start things up. Maryland, certainly the favorite on the top half.

And I think you can argue that Iowa, they very well might be the favorite, at least in their half of the bracket. Maryland's going to be the top favorite. No doubt they deserve it. Absolutely. They should because of what they've done throughout the course of this season. But Iowa's going to be right there. It's going to be interesting to see what we see on that front.

In fact, I want to bring this up right now. See if our friends over at DraftKings have anything right now in the market. Nothing currently. Taking a look at the futures there to see if they have anything in terms of a betting opportunity for us at FanDuel. But we got you going here on the Big Ten baseball tournament

and this team with what they've dealt with, with the suspensions. This would have been very easy for this thing to go awry. Has not been the case. They have done an incredible job of that and doing a really good job

of getting everything set up for this team, continuing to play well, even losing your best hitter, losing your backup catchers, losing an arm out of the bullpen, and they just keep out there, going out there and winning baseball games. We also got a little softball for you. Iowa softball with the championship. That's as we roll through here on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Make a fast break to FanDuel during the NBA playoffs.

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So we look forward to what is happening coming up. And one of the teams that got a little bit of run at the beginning of spring was the Iowa softball team. So we talked about them, had a good start at the beginning of the year. They were sitting at seven and one. Gave UCLA, who was the number two overall seed in the NCAA tournament, a heck of a run earlier this year and got our attention. Very young squad. Now

didn't do enough in a very difficult Big Ten to punch their ticket into the NCAA tournament. Something that in past years, that was something that seemingly happened all the time. Not the case. The program had fallen on hard times, but coach Gillespie has done just a masterful job of getting this program. A, the pieces that they need tapping into Iowa softball at the high school level,

something that some past coaches apparently forgot about though. Iowa softball is some of the best you're going to find in the midwest for whatever reason you saw a lot of big time players leave the state it can't happen yeah not everybody's going to want to stay home i get that and certainly for a sport like softball when you have opportunities in the south that's going to happen but when you see some of the top players in our state leaving and touching our border states i think of kendall who went up to minnesota you see players like that players going over to illinois and going and even playing at mid-major conferences that's frustrating well coach gillespie is working to change that and one of the biggest names about that is jaylen adams who has come in but you know you read through

and one of the things that i loved the comeback win against byu in the championship game of the things that I loved, the comeback win against BYU in the championship game of the, it's the NIT. We probably noticed that. It's the National Invitational Softball Championships, though. The NISC. So they're down to BYU, going into the final inning, down to their final out. And this team of youngsters doesn't quit. Jaylen Allen comes in, gets the win on the mound. She comes in for the final two innings there.

She's a freshman. Juniors, Grace Baines. She was named MVP of the tournament. Riley Klosterman, another junior. Sophomore, Tristan Doster, comes up with a big, important RBI and a pinch hit. Another pinch hit RBI

from another freshman, an Anna Streff. You continue on, going back to the other pitcher. We talkedBI from another freshman, an Anna Streff. You continue on, going back to the other pitcher. We talked about Adams. Well, Delaney Loker. She's gone incredibly well. Also helped out offensively

in the semifinals. She went three for four. Really, the only senior that we talk about a ton is Nia Carter. And Nia put together a historic season this year. And with it, a historic career.

Now, her freshman year was during 2020. I'm just asking the question. I don't know currently, but does she have a year of eligibility remaining with the COVID year? I don't know how that pertains to softball. Don't cover it in the same way that we do football and basketball. So definitely a question that needs to be half.

She wants to come back for another season. You'd absolutely take that coupled with all this young talent. What a year it was getting out there, just making the big 10 tournament. That was an accomplishment. It had been five years since they had even been to the big 10 tournament, but to go out there, finish it off with the championship, make the run that they did in Fort Collins this weekend.

The games were available on YouTube. You can go back and watch them, but watch that comeback win from the softball team. I have a feeling coming up next year. Now I talked to a lot of our brethren here on the lockdown network. We have a group chat that's going on and a places like Oklahoma. That's the number one team in the country. There are a lot of places where softball really matters. I would love to see softball matter again here in a big time level.

And if it happens and you people want to hear about it, you want us talking about it here on Lockdown, we absolutely will. But I really enjoyed the weekend. A couple of different times flipping on and watching the softball team, what they did in the Big Ten tournament as well, making a heck of a run at Northwestern. Huge accomplishment. The future is bright.

It's always a great time to be a Hawkeye. And Hawkeye softball, definitely, they continue to build. That'll do it for today. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We're available wherever you get podcasts. You can find us as well on YouTube. Hit that subscribe button. Help us get in front of

more Hawkeye fans. I need a drink. My voice is going out here. Allergies are killing us today. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Getting ready for a Big Ten baseball tournament, Iowa-Michigan. We got you covered. Football recruiting and a talk with pro football focus all coming up this week on Lockdown

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