Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - TRANSFER IMPACT? Iowa Hawkeyes ADD Ty'Reek Coleman & Andrew McKeever, ELEVATE Hope

Starting point is 00:00:00 Iowa hoops hits it big in the transfer portal. Tyreek Coleman, Andrew McKeever, done deals. And I'm telling you right now, the future in Iowa City is incredibly bright. You are Locked-on Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey, welcome in. I'm Trent Condon, and this is the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast, your daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast. A lot of news and notes to get into.

Starting point is 00:00:35 here today. The transfer portal at the forefront. Former Hawkeye Tegan Mullady has found a home. The same one as Addie Deal. We'll talk about women's basketball a little bit later on. The spring open practice is coming up on Saturday. We'll talk a little bit about some of the big things to watch on Saturday. But we begin today about the transfer portal as Iowa lands to over the weekend. Iowa gets commitment from Illinois State Guard Tyree Coleman, along with Andrew McKeever, out of St. Mary's, two of their better targets that they certainly were after to that they identified early on. And now the roster close to being set going into next season. We're also going to talk a little bit later on about what a potential lineup is going to look like starting lineup and

Starting point is 00:01:18 some of the players and roles that we anticipate going into next season. But let's go in to both of these players. We've talked a lot about both of them here over the last couple of weeks, guys that were identified. Now, Coleman was a little bit lower on, I think, the list. the wish list of some of the fans that are out there. We talked about Ace Glass. That was a guard that people really like. We talked about a bunch of different candidates that were in there. And as I mentioned last week,

Starting point is 00:01:43 this is something that I think is going to be maybe a little bit more difficult for the recruiting heads out there to understand exactly the way that Ben McCollum goes about his recruiting in the transfer portal. The candidates who's high on their list, who are guys that are a little bit lower on. But with Tyree Coleman, you start and watched a bunch of him this season. I'll watch a lot of Missouri Valley Conference basketball with my other job on the radio as we cover you and I and Drake in the NBC. So watch plenty of Valley hoops and he was definitely a guy that popped. They made a run to the semifinals in the NIT this year.

Starting point is 00:02:15 They were a team that took two out of three out of you and I who, of course, won the conference tournament this season. It's a really nice freshman. And I found it really interesting. I was listening on my way home from the airport last night, Tom Kakert's podcast with Matt Randazzo. And they mentioned that they were talking to somebody with a little. Illinois connections and that they said they, that in the past, Tyree Coleman would have been a Big Ten recruit. But we know in this new era of college basketball and this new era of recruiting in the transfer

Starting point is 00:02:44 portal that there just aren't as many high school guys out there that are getting those bigger offers because now when you look at rosters and the way rosters are built in the Big Ten and the power conference structure as a whole, there's so much happening in the transfer portal that normally guys like this that would be a guy that you take, a guy that you develop couple of years and by the time he's an upperclassman are going to be a big part of your program. That's not the case anymore. And now these guys go to the mid-major level and do what he did this season. Counting stats look very good, 10 points a game. But when you watch him as a player and you look at the way certainly that he plays, you can definitely see the fit with Coach McCollum style,

Starting point is 00:03:22 a guy that is incredibly good off the bounce. That's the first thing that steps up. And though he's not huge by any means, he's not six foot four like we had with Bennett Sturts or anything that. He is definitely a guy that has the ability off the bounce to be people off the dribble. And shot the ball really well this past season, shot 42% from the three point line. I don't know if that's something that you anticipate is going to happen every year. Shots got a little bit of funk to it. It's not your traditional release. I'm sure that the shot doctors and I would say you're going to be working on that a little bit and getting that lifted up just a little bit as it kind of comes down from a weird angle down below. But regardless of that,

Starting point is 00:03:58 shoot 42%. If he can maintain shooting the ball, 37, 38% from behind the arc coupled with his speed off the dribble, you got a really good player. He's fearless off the bounce. He's going to go in there amongst the trees. He is not scared of contact and definitely saw that popping up for him. This is not a pure Bennett Sturts replacement. That is not what Coleman is. He is not a guy that they're going to hand the ball for 40 minutes a game and say, go do your thing. This is going to be another piece to the puzzle. And we'll get a little bit more into the roster, the makeup, what kind of the rotation looks like and things like that next season. But Coleman is a big fit. Is he a day one starter? We'll see. We'll see how he acclimates. And, you know, we a year ago thought we had a day one starter with the guard. And it didn't happen with Brendan Hassan.

Starting point is 00:04:45 We'll see on that front three years of eligibility, really like this pickup and thinks it makes a whole lot of sense. I think it also makes you understand that Kilcombs is going to be running a lot of the offense. He's going to be a different type of point guard than what we see. saw certainly this past season from Bennett Sturts, but he's going to be a guy that he handled the ball a ton. They're going to utilize certainly the good things that he is good at, not as good of a three-point shooter, not the same kind of player as Sturts, but we'll talk about that a little bit more later on. Good pickup here with Coleman. I think Hawkeye fans are really going to enjoy him. Another thing that jumped out with

Starting point is 00:05:19 Coleman was hearing just him a little bit off the floor and talk to a couple of my Valley sources said that he's incredibly hard worker. He likes to be coached hard. That is one thing that definitely popped out. And with Coleman, you have a guy that I just think fits the style incredibly well. He's not going to be a guy that's going to be a wilting flower. He likes that kind of coaching. And him and McCollum definitely hit it off right away when this started. So good news here as Iowa gets a guard as we jump over to the big one, the big man. And that is Andrew McKeever. Now we've talked a ton about McKeever here. Seven foot three out of St. Mary's counting stats, eight points, nine rebounds per game.

Starting point is 00:06:00 Offensive rebound percentage was the best in college basketball this season. Start, he's big, and I would need size. And as they played throughout the course of the season with Cam Banyahu, you saw that there were just times where he got bullied. At 6'5.9, there were just those bigger opponents in the Illinois game, but that was not alone. There were plenty of those times where he saw the size was a disadvantage for the Hawkeyes and the way that they were built this past season.

Starting point is 00:06:27 Well, that changes with McKeever, a guy with his size. And one thing that definitely pops. Now, he is not a traditional throw it into the post and let him go to work, right? The old school center way of thinking. Here's another part. Iowa doesn't play that way. How many post touches did they have? And again, I get it.

Starting point is 00:06:45 Man Yao is not a traditional center at the Big Ten level. He is not a guy that you'd anticipate there. Will they do more of it with McKeever? Maybe a little bit more. but this offense is not predicated on throwing it to the post and letting him go to work. And if double team comes,

Starting point is 00:07:00 he passes out of that, that's not what it is. It's a lot of the screen and roll game. That's what you're going to see. Pick and roll, pick and roll, pick and roll. Time in and time out, every time down the floor, different variations that come out of that.

Starting point is 00:07:10 But his ability at the high post to set the screen and then roll at 7 foot three, that's where the excitement jumps up. His size and how good he was at it at St. Mary's this last season. You look at the over, overall shooting numbers about 50% for a 7.3 big guy.

Starting point is 00:07:28 That's not great. But in pick and roll situations, he shot 71% from the floor in those spots. You know, I was obviously going to be doing that a ton this season, a huge part of what McCollum does in the offensive set. And I think the fit more than anything sets up really well. A lot of people talk about the block shots at 7.3 doesn't have a ton of blocks. And I get that. I think that is something that definitely is fair to point out. but also you see at that size the number of shots that he just changes just with his sheer size inside. And, you know, he's not a skinny guy at 7 foot 3. He's got a little bit of girth to him still growing into his body.

Starting point is 00:08:05 You see that at times, but definitely a big pickup and exactly what Iowa needed out of the portal. Good news here. Iowa lands too. Now what is next for this roster? We're going to talk about that a little bit more potential starting lineups for next season. the different buttons that Ben McCollum can push, the veterans coming back, the guys that took steps forward a year ago,

Starting point is 00:08:25 and what next season looks like for Iowa basketball. We're going to tackle that right now as we continue. Stay right there, this is Locked on Hawkeyes. Workplace chaos, deadline stacking up, inbox overflowing in the one position you have to fill, still sitting open. When the pressure's on and you need the right hire, this is a job for sponsor jobs.

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Starting point is 00:09:44 apply. Need to hire? This is a job for Indeed sponsor jobs. Trent, kind of back with you once again here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for being with us and making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. As we jump into Iowa basketball and what it looks like next year, what it's going to look like next season, starting lineups, rotations, minutes, those kind of things. We're going to get into that full minute breakdown. You know I love doing that. We're going to get into that later on this week. But let's start here with the starting lineup and what this is going to look like. Now, I think we know at the top guys that are going to be started. There's no doubt about it.

Starting point is 00:10:26 The two starters from a year ago that we saw basically all season long, took a little bit longer for Kail Komes to get in there. But it's going to be Kail Komes. He's going to be your lead guard. He's going to be your point guard along with Coleman, perhaps in that lineup. And those two are going to play plenty together, I think, this season. Combs, absolutely, locked to start going into next year.

Starting point is 00:10:46 And the other one is Kupak. Obviously, a starter throughout the course of this season. We talked about the shooting ability that definitely improved. Now for Kupra Kach, it's going to be taking another step. You go from a guy that turned into a tremendous three-point shooter and how well he shot the ball in the final third of the season, had a good start to the year, wouldn't a shooting slump in the middle, and definitely bounce back.

Starting point is 00:11:08 And we have said so many times you saw Cooper Cotch, even during the times that he was struggling out there, that Cooper Cotch could fill it up. And there was nothing that you're worried about mechanically. The shot didn't look broken, anything like that. It was getting some confidence back, certainly. Maybe there was a little something in there that, found in terms of it, but he became so consistent from the outside that corner three. Well, now for Cooper Koch, it's about taking that next step forward and becoming a guy that

Starting point is 00:11:34 is a little bit more versatile as an offensive player, good off the bounce, doing those kind of things and not just being a three-point shooter, but diversifying his game. That happens. You got a potential star in Cooper Koch. Six foot eight could shoot the crap out of the ball, and now you add a little bit more to his game every hunts a while, playing in the post, doing those kind of things. We've also mentioned Cooper Cotch in the strides that he made defensively this season, where you go back to the beginning year, there was times that he looked lost.

Starting point is 00:12:02 And we know that defense was not exactly something that was at the forefront of practices under Fray McCaffrey. Defense definitely is under Ben McCollum, and he saw the growth out of Cooper Cotch next season. So definitely those two guys we know are going to be in the starting lineup with Kill Comes and Cooper Couch next year. After those two, that's where it gets interesting. you start at the center position. Ben McCollum definitely likes his guys. And we saw that the guys that followed him from Northwest Missouri State to Drake, the guys that followed him from Drake to Iowa.

Starting point is 00:12:33 We definitely know that that is a big time component of what they're doing and what they have is McCollum, guys that know the system, know his expectations. And he's definitely going to lead on that. He's going to rely on that. And when we talk about some of these newcomers, how that's going to work. Is it Maniow at them center position or do they go right away with McKeever? I anticipate McKeever would be the guy, but certainly early on in the season, I will not be shocked at all if Maniow is your starter at the center position and they're sharing that role together.

Starting point is 00:13:02 You also wonder, speaking of lineups, can they play together at all? Can McKeever, when you're playing a big team, when you're playing a team like Illinois, who, you know, we saw at different times this year, a team like Michigan was built this year, can you play those two big guys together? Manow playing the four, McKeever at the five. Is that something you can get away with? are there any stretches of the game or just defensively that you can do that. And then you wonder on the offensive end how that's going to look like. You're definitely going to need some scoring punch in those other three spots. Is it a back court where you go with Kale Combs and Coleman together, the transfer from Illinois State?

Starting point is 00:13:36 And what about Tate Sage? And we saw Tate Sage at different times this year. He can play a bunch of different positions. He's six foot seven, shot 38% from the floor, 49% from the three point line and 49% from the floor this past season. We saw his game grow, monster game against Nebraska, played well against Illinois, had a couple of big shots against Clemson and the NCAA tournament. He definitely popped at different times this year.

Starting point is 00:14:00 Consistency, and that's something that comes with growth, definitely out of Tate Sage. But he's springy, he's bouncy, how many dunks he had this year coming on the baseline and flushing it down, he is not scared, coupled with the way that he shot the ball, especially on the back half of the season. You get excited. Can he play two? an extended time at two. Defensively, is he good enough against some of the good shooting guards

Starting point is 00:14:22 that are out there in the Big Ten? That I think would still remain the question. But that's something I would like to see. I would like to see him out there in the back court at times. And maybe it comes down to that. Is it Sage at the two or is he more of a three? And you look at that and the way that that kind of builds your roster and go. Now, I'd only kind of talk in here traditionally about the different positions on the floor.

Starting point is 00:14:42 And that's not exactly how Coach McCollum does it. So that's another thing that we always have to have in the back. of our mind the way that this breaks down. Another guy that I think potentially could start this year is Trey Thompson. Red shirt of this past season. He was a guy that should have been in high school last year, got mono, got sick, and they just made the decision to shut it down, use a red shirt year for him this season. He let it slip during the NCAA tournament.

Starting point is 00:15:05 What are the media scrums that he was shooting 48% in practice as they obviously have everything mapped out. They have all the stats that come out of practice. You're shooting at that level. And I don't know if that includes drills or this is just actual five on five. But regardless of that, big guy, stretch four, can do a lot of different things, very similar to Cooper Cotch, but you look at the upside, you look at the teams that were obviously

Starting point is 00:15:27 after him in the recruiting world, the Purdue's, the Yukons in the world. And we're beating teams like that, as they did for Trey Thompson, that definitely ratches up the excitement. Speaking of freshman, though, he's going to be a redshirt freshman this season with Trey Thompson. You go to the true freshman coming in. Jaden Coon, incredibly athletic, good defender. needs to improve the three-point shot, but I think that's definitely going to happen for him.

Starting point is 00:15:50 Love the athleticism, love the way that he is built in the way he is going to fit into this style. Is he a three? Is he a two? I will figure it out, right? The hybrid wings, whatever they are, they'll find the right spots for him. And then Ethan Harris, because he's a guy from Washington, I know doesn't get the same kind of pub. A lot of people were able to see Jane Coon throughout his high school career. That's not the case for Ethan Harris.

Starting point is 00:16:14 but another guy, springy, six foot nine, can knock down shots from the outside. But another one of those hybrid models that Coach McCollum just continues to bring in. A lot of people excited about the buzz that he has on that front. So a lot of different directions you can go with that. Didn't mention Isaiah Howard at this point. And Isaiah Howard, a guy, we know a plus defender. Three point shot needs to be better. There's no doubt about it.

Starting point is 00:16:36 But a guy that can do a few things off the bounce, not exactly tight with the handles, ball handling, not a strength, I would say, of Howard. He was starting, though, at the beginning of last season. I don't think definitely a stretch to see him out there in a starting role coming up this season. You have that. We talked about the big guys with McKeever, with Mann Yao. How about what we're potentially going to see out of Trevor, Trevin, Yorock? Yurrock is a player that is very skilled offensively.

Starting point is 00:17:04 He led Valley as a seeder and assists as a big man can step out, knock down an open three-pointer, did that at the high school level, show that ability a little bit this year at Iowa. Got to get stronger. Lateral quickness needs to improve. Those are the two things that Trevon, Urock definitely will help. But at 6'1, he's got the size inside.

Starting point is 00:17:22 He can definitely continue to get stronger and quicker. And if that happens, you've got a guy with a skill set that's going to look a lot different in that high post and that high screen and roll game that they have because he has not just the pick and roll opportunity, but the pick and pop. And he can definitely fill it up from the outside. So Urock is a guy that definitely, I think we have to talk about as particularly, potentially fine in some more minutes. I don't know if Matt Nione is going to find much.

Starting point is 00:17:45 Jacob Cook, former walk-on now as everybody's not a walk-on. Patent McCollum, of course, is a coach's kid who also redshirted this past season. Those are some of the other names that are going to be out there. And that also lingering is what's going to be the decision that comes down from the NCAA about former Juko guys and what that means for Tavion Banks. And I know a lot of people read what Tavion had to say last week when he said he's going to the draft, but he's also entering the portal and maybe some flashing lights started to pop up there. More than anything, we might not have an opportunity for this of finding out exactly what's

Starting point is 00:18:20 going to happen with these former Juko guys until into the summer. And if that's the case, and I will find somebody else in the portal that they like and they get up to 15 players, well, you don't want to cut anybody, right? You're not going to cut somebody and not have an opportunity for those guys then, obviously, as the portal be closed at that point to happen. But if they do find somebody else, that's the reason. that Tavion Banks also entered the transfer portal. If Iowa has a spot and he is granted another year of eligibility, there's not a doubt in my mind.

Starting point is 00:18:49 He is going to be back in Iowa City. You saw his relationship. If you watched some of the press conferences at different times throughout the course of the year, you can just see that Tavion Banks completely trusts everything that Ben McCollum is doing. But this was just to give him a little bit of a buffer if it happens and Iowa goes out there and lands somebody else.

Starting point is 00:19:07 I don't anticipate that's going to happen. I think they're happy at 14. right now unless there is a no doubt about a player in the portal that they just feel like they have to get at this time. I think the roster is basically set, but a little bit of an overview there of basketball and some guesswork of what next year is going to look like. We're going to get our glimpse at Iowa football coming up Saturday. We're going to talk a little bit about the spring game.

Starting point is 00:19:29 Some things to watch. Plus Tegan Mullaney, former Hawkeye, has found a home. We continue Locked on Hawkeyes. Treg, kind of back with you one final time. This is Lockdown Hawkeyes, your daily. Iowa Hawkeye podcast. Football spring game. I know where all the eyes are going to be. Yes, it's going to be around the quarterback position and be mapping it out, looking at the completion percentages, looking at the stats that are going to come out there.

Starting point is 00:20:00 And we're probably going to overreact to what we see on Saturday at our one glimpse at this squad. I get it. Hank Brown, is it going to be the guy that played a little bit last year? Or is it going to be Jeremy Hecklinsky, who unseated him in the middle of the season to become the backup quarterback a year ago. That is going to be at the forefront. I want to see the wide receiver position. And as we know, it looks like Tony Diaz is going to be out the rest of the spring. David Eicholt from 24-7 sports reported that a week ago that he is going to be out for a while.

Starting point is 00:20:32 Sounded like maybe an ankle sprain. I didn't see confirmation on that, but I believe that's what it was. Regardless, though, won't get to see Tony Diaz. That has been really the talk of spring practice for a long time before he got banged up. But seeing some of the other guys, a guy like Evan James, who comes in from Furbin and still some positive buzz about him. Is there another step of growth from Reese Vandersey, Dayton Howard, and some of the young wide receivers as well, that's definitely going to be out there. What different combinations is the offensive line going to use? That's something offensively I'm going to look at.

Starting point is 00:21:02 And what other thing defensively, we talked about the biggest concern I think of this football team, no doubt, is that defensive tackle and how that's going to look. But secondly, I want to see what they're doing in the special teams. the special teams has completely flipped over. Normally, it's kind of ho-hom and certainly what do you have, you know, really good kickers as I was had throughout the years. Is Ozick going to be the guy that comes in right away? Is it Caden Burr, the redshirt freshman out of Bettendorf, how that battle is going?

Starting point is 00:21:28 And then the punter position is they got two guys coming in, including Tanner Philpott, who transfers in from Simpson, and then Boston Everett, the young Aussie making his way over. So special team's going to be there and the return game. Now, we normally don't see a ton in the return game, and certainly like kickoff returns. That's something they don't do very often. Just injuries definitely can happen, those kind of things.

Starting point is 00:21:49 But that's what I'm going to be looking for on football. We'll talk a little bit more. We'll kind of set a big preview and dive a little bit deeper into some of those topics coming up here later on the week on your daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast. And finally, over to women's basketball as they continue to do work, trying to fill out the roster now, feel really good where they are, their top seven, eight players, but now getting more players and getting those players that are knowing maybe not going to play a whole lot,

Starting point is 00:22:13 maybe not going to be somebody that's going to get the same kind of minutes and the same kind of opportunities they did at past places. That'll be interesting. And then finding the culture fit that goes along with it for Jan Jensen. That's going to be the task that is in front of her on the basketball front. But we find out that Tegan Mullaney is going to be joining Addy Deal at Wisconsin next season. Good spot. Just incredibly sad news with Tegan Malaney, her boyfriend, passed away in an auto accident a few weeks back and definitely getting close to home for Tegan Malady. That makes a whole lot of sense. And we'll see a role.

Starting point is 00:22:47 I liked her game. I thought there was an opportunity for her to pop as an upperclassman and she's going to get that opportunity and certainly going to get more minutes next season with the Badgers. Addie Deal is going to get the same. And are we going to hear a different type of reception for Addy Deal versus Tegan Malaney when they make their way back to Carver Hawkeye Arena this season? Definitely one to keep an eye on. Thanks as always for being with us and making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day.

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Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - TRANSFER IMPACT? Iowa Hawkeyes ADD Ty'Reek Coleman & Andrew McKeever, ELEVATE Hope

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