Hawkeye Report Podcast

We continue our summer podcast series with a first time guest on the Hawkeye Report Podcast. Tom Kakert is joined by the host of Locked On Hawkeyes Podcast and now former KXNO host, Trent Condon. It's been an eventful week for Condon and he discusses the last week for him from a professional sense with the owners of KXNO essentially dumping all the talent at the station. We spend the bulk of the time on this podcast talking Iowa football and basketball. We open that discussion by talking about Hawkeye football. The conversation starts with the concerns heading into the season regarding the Iowa defense, particularly the tackle position. We break down the line, the linebackers, and Zach Lutmer and the Hawkeye secondary. Is this as simple as in Phil Parker we trust? Then we move to special teams. There's a whole lot of change at the position, starting with the coordinator and then moving on to both the kicker and the punter, along with finding a new return man. Then we move to the offensive side of the ball and discuss the quarterback battle, the upgrade of talent at receiver and if it will pay dividends, and why the offensive line will be strong again this season. Plus we look at Iowas win total of 7.5. Will they go over or under that total. After that we move on to men's basketball and talk about the program that Ben McCollum is building. We discuss the addition of Andrew McKeever and what he will do for the Iowa team and McCollum having a legit seven footer for the first time and what that might be like. Could we see a twin towers look for the Hawkeyes? What about the development of Trevin Jirak? And we talk about scheduling and how McCollum has put together a solid non-conference slate of games.

We continue our Hawkeye Report Summer Podcast series this time with Associate Head Coach and Linebackers Coach Seth Wallace joining us for a great conversation about Iowa football and mentors. We open the show talking about keeping a work/life balance as a coach and the demands of the job. He talks about the importance of having some time off this time of the year to spend time with family. Wallace also talks about the state of college football, in particular how it has change post the House settlement that allows schools to play their athletes. How has that impacted recruiting? Has it become more of a transaction and if it is, then is that a red flag? Then we talk about the Iowa linebacker room heading into the season. He discusses the development and potential of Cam Buffington at middle linebacker and is Jayden Montgomery slated to start at the Will backer spot? How do you keep the possible LEO backer patient when they only potentially play 25% of the snaps? Who is contending for playing time there? Also, who are some potential candidates to play the Cash position this fall? Wallace also talks about some of the young players on the team at linebacker, including four new faces, two of whom joined the team back in January. We talk about the potential for Zach Lutmer this year and where he might play on defense, plus we get his thoughts on the new addition at safety, Tyler Brown. Finally we wrap up discussing the addition of the legendary Tom Moore to the coaching staff. Wallace talks about the impact that he is having and the value he adds to the coaching staff, plus how he reminds him of someone like Norm Parker.

We continue our summer of podcasts on the Hawkeye Report Podcast and this is a great guest. We are joined by Iowa athletic director Beth Goetz to get caught up on everything going on with Hawkeye athletics. The conversation opens with a discussion of the upcoming renovation of Carver-Hawkeye Arena and the process to get to this point and what will be next starting this fall? Then we dive into the complicated world of Name, Image, and Likeness and how that process has gone for the Iowa athletic department in the last year or so. What has been the challenges and how have they dealt with the House settlement spending and the over the top spending that goes beyond the cap. How have they helped student-athletes with financial management? We also talk about how they have worked with Learfield to build partnerships with sponsors to get over the cap money to student-athletes. Goetz also discusses how they have are working to potentially get patches on jerseys and if that could be used to get more financial resources to players at Iowa. Then we dive into the new coaches and the satisfaction from making a good hire for an athletic director, as Goetz did with Ben McCollum. We talk about her participation on the hiring of a new women's soccer coach and as a former college soccer player and coach how that was important to her. Along with that we discuss the health of non-revenue sports. We also talk about the need to be well versed on the legislative side of things these days and get her thoughts on the Protect College Sports Act, which the Big Ten has opposed to this point. Finally we wrap up getting her thoughts on the sold out Savannah Bananas games coming to Kinnick Stadium on July 3rd and 4th.

On this edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast, we get caught up on a several topics. Most of them involving Iowa athletics and the Hawkeyes, plus an extended conversation on the story of the week in college sports. Tom Kakert and Kyle Huesmann open the show wrapping up the Iowa baseball season. Huesmann goes in-depth on the overall season, the injuries to the pitchers that ended up impacting the overall season, and we look ahead to next year and the needs for Rick Heller's team. Then we talk some Iowa men's and women's basketball. We try to take an early look ahead regarding the possible starting lineups for both teams. What will Ben McCollum do with his starting lineup and will it continue to be focused on the defensive end of the floor? What about Jan Jensen and her team. Huesmann has a couple of interesting thoughts on what the Iowa head coach will end up doing this winter. Then we move over to the WNBA and talk about Caitlin Clark and the drama that just seems to follow her and the Indiana Fever at every turn. Plus she had a game winning three late in the win over Washington on Monday. Then we move over to football recruiting. Iowa had a pretty positive weekend, landing a pair of new recruits. We look at the new additions that bring the total number of commits in this class to 12. How much more would they like to add in what will end up being a smaller class? Finally, we dive into the story of the week, Bredan Sorsby, the Texas Tech quarterback, being able to get an injunction from a judge in Texas that will allow him to play for the Red Raiders even after gambling on his own team while he was at Indiana. What is our reaction to the news? What could happen next?

A good thirty minute podcast today including a great interview and a look at a huge recruiting weekend for Iowa football. First the interview. Tom Kakert visits with Iowa assistant coach Luke Barnwell about his first season as an assistant at the University of Iowa. We begin talking about the great run in the NCAA Tournament and particularly dive into the victory over Florida. A year earlier, Barnwell was at Texas Tech and part of the scout in the Elite Eight loss to Florida. One year later, he handled the scout when Iowa beat Florida to advance to the Sweet 16. He talks about that and the run and how he was also coping with the sudden loss of his father in early March. We then dive into what he learned working this year for Ben McCollum, along with the portal and player development that he saw this spring from several of the returning players. What has he seen from Trey Thompson and what can he do this season? What will Ethan Harris bring to the Hawkeyes and just how big is Andrew McKeever and how can they use the seven footer? Then we move over to football. It's a huge weekend with 18 prospects on campus, including 8 unocommitted players. We run down the entire list of uncommitted players and where they might be leaning. With a small class expected, what positions are a priority?

Special guest on the latest edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast. We are joined by the Head Coach of the Iowa women's basketball program, Jan Jensen, for a great conversation. Tom Kakert and Kyle Huesmann visit with Jensen about the newly announced two game series with UCONN that begins this season, along with the art of non-conference scheduling today. We talk about the new additions to the Iowa women's basketball roster via the transfer portal and the impact that they could have this year. How will it impact how they operate on the offensive end of the floor and that they will adjust with more of a four out look on that side. We talk about the upcoming arrival of five star forward McKenna Woliczko and what she will bring to the table once she arrives in early June. Jensen discusses how she can play a variety of different roles this winter. Is there a player that has really elevated their game since the end of the season? Jensen gives us a very candid answer on the player that has jumped up and how the team has responded to the disappointing end to what was a very good season last year.

It's a special holiday edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast. While the rest of the world is enjoying a relaxing Memorial Day, Tom Kakert and Matt Randazzo and putting together nearly an hour of podcast content for Iowa fans to listen to. The main topic this week is 2027 men's basketball recruiting. Tom Kakert spent the last two weekends on the road watching most of the top point guard prospects on Ben McCollum's radar and that is what we are discussing. We learn more about his clear top choice among the point guards and why all five or perhaps six on Iowa's radar would be home run additions to the Hawkeye program. We run down all six, including a new name that is actually an old name that has apparently jumped back on to the radar for the Hawkeyes. We discuss one of the prospects planning an official visit to Iowa in June and if there is a chance that he commits. Plus where things stand with the rest of the group of recruits. Then we move over to football where the Big Ten is set to announce the start times for the non-conference games, plus other select contests this season coming up on Wednesday. We went down the entire Iowa football schedule and speculated on the start times for those early season games, along with the rest of the schedule, including the Nebraska game on Black Friday.

It's another busy edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast. Tom Kakert and Matt Randazzo open the pod this week talking about the news from Monday that Ben McCollum officially signed his contract extension. What does it mean for the program and how long will McCollum be at Iowa? Then we look at the Big Ten foes, both home and away and two plays for the Hawkeyes next season in men's basketball. What do we think of the early ranking for Iowa men's hoops over at Bart Torvik's site? He has Iowa 44th in the country and 12th among Big Ten schools. Is that way too low? We also discuss the expansion of the NCAA Tournament and Bennett Stirtz is at the NBA Combine and measured in today. What do we think of his chances of being drafted in mid to late first round of the NBA Draft next month? Then we move over to football where the big news last week was Iowa playing a game on a Friday evening at Washington. How much more difficult was that make an already challenging three game stretch that includes a trip to MIchigan, followed by a home game against Ohio State before traveling a day early to Seattle? Does that change our overall outlook on the season? Finally we dive into the world of recruiting. Iowa has ten verbal commitments and they picked up a quarterback recently. What are our thoughts from the recruiting trail?