Hawkeye Report Podcast

It's another special edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast during our summer run of shows. We are pleased to be joined by former Iowa women's basketball coach Lisa Bluder. It's been 13 months since Bluder retired from coaching, we catch up with the legendary head coach and find out what she has been doing.

We look back at Bluder's amazing coaching career, starting with her time at St. Ambrose back in 1984 fresh out of college and a great story on how she ended up landing the job leading the Bees program. Then we talk about landing the Drake job and then finally when Dr. Grant from Iowa called her to offer Bluder the Hawkeye job.

We talk about developing a culture in a program and how she was able to do that during her career. Did she ever consult with or talk about culture and team development with Kirk Ferentz during their tenures?

One topic that was also talk is Bluder's ever expanding coaching tree. It's growing year after year with former players and assistant coaches entering the coaching profession. What does this mean to her to see them enter the profession and have success?

We also discuss the growth of the women's game at the college and professional level and her part in that expansion. What does she think of the women's game growing the way that it continues to do? What was it like being at the center of that groundswell and what it felt like to be there. We also discuss how Caitlin Clark has always been someone who says the right thing to the media even when there might be folks trying to get her to slip up.

Bluder will be speaking at the John Deere Classic on July 1st as part of their Executive Women's Day with a morning event. https://www.classy.org/event/executive-womens-day/e675258

Lastly, also on July 1st, Bluder will be speaking at a luncheon at Bally's Casino in Rock Island as part of the Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois event. You can get tickets here: https://my.cheddarup.com/c/girlscoutsandlisabluder/items

Our summer of podcasts continue with one of, if not the best special teams coordinators in the country in LeVar Woods. We hit on quite a few topics on the podcast, but open with him being a parent this past weekend and dropping off his son, Mason, who will play football at Iowa, at the dorms on Sunday. What was that like as a parent? We also talk about Mason rooming with Iose Epenesa and the long time relationship that Woods has with the family, having played a role in recruiting all three of the Epenesa boys to the Hawkeye football program.

Also, we discuss on the podcast if Woods asked Kirk Ferentz for advice on coaching his son and what he expects it to be like this year and beyond. He also shares a great story about being in a team meeting yesterday and writing down notes from Ferentz and see his son do the same thing in the same meeting.

We then discuss growing up in the northwest corner of Iowa and the incredible influence of his high school coaches in his life and how they helped prepare him for being a Hawkeye. He also talks about today and recruiting that area and why it's been such a great area for Iowa football to find players. He also discusses several players who are from that area that will have an impact on the Hawkeye football team this fall.

Then we wrap up discussing his position group this year. He dicusses the overall group and chemistry of the players. We discuss the development of Rhys Dakin and the maturing of Kaden Wetjen as a return man. Finally he shares an incredible story about Wetjen receiving the Jet Award from Tim Dwight at a recent banquet in Omaha.

We continue our summer series of podcasts catching up with former Hawkeyes and this time it's one of the best players in Iowa basketball history, Aaron White.

We talk to White about his recent journey playing in Japan and what that has been like. We look back at his Iowa career and deciding to be a Hawkeye and how he was able to help lead Iowa to their first win in the NCAA Tournament in over a decade. We discuss that 2014-15 season and how White put that team on his back in the last six games of the regular season to not only make the tournament, but win a game and what that meant to the program.

We discuss his coach, Fran McCaffery being let go recently by Iowa and how that felt for him, a sa former player. He talks about his relationship with McCaffery and how they always kept in touch over the years and how he appreciated that he had faith in him out of high school.

Then we talk about White and his family living overseas while he continued to play after college all over the world. What has that been like for his family and his wife and why he has enjoyed playing Japan the last few years. There are also former Hawkeyes playing in Japan and he discusses how they have played against each other. We also talk about how if NIL had been around how his post college life might have been different than the path he took.

We get the week started with a fun and entertaining new Hawkeye Report Podcast. This one opens with the start of workouts for Iowa men's basketball coming up on Monday and what we are looking to see in the coming weeks from the new look Iowa squad.

We talk about the Iowa roster and if Ben McCollum is done building it or could they continue to add players? How are they going to approach the next week with regard to figuring out what they might need as far as a roster?

Then we jump over to football for a few minutes and talk start times that were released last week along with when the Hawkeye football players will start to report to campus next week for summer workouts.

Finally the biggest portion of the podcast is Tom Kakert and Matt Randazzo doing the Fran McCaffery era draft. We pick nine players each in a snake draft format from the McCaffery era and see who had the best draft of the two of us? Give us your thoughts on if Tom or Matt had the better player draft.

We continue our new assistant basketball coaches series with a name that will be familiar to Iowa fans joining us. Josh Sash, who is the older brother of former Iowa football standout Tyler Sash, joins the pod. He joined Ben McCollum's staff last year at Drake and is now continuing as an assistant coach at Iowa.

Starting the podcast, we talk about his journey in coaching. He discusses his start at William Penn and then being a video coordinator at Providence and then assistant coaching at the junior college level and then eventually being the head coach at Indian Hills Junior College. What did those experiences teach him over the years? How did it prepare him for the current environment in college basketball?

We discuss how he ended up on Ben McCollum's staff and we dive into several of the players that are coming over from Drake and what he has seen in their develop. We get his thoughts on the pace that Bennett Stirtz plays at, the new addition of Joey Matteoni and what he brings to the Iowa roster. Plus, are the Hawkeyes still looking to add to the roster? Could that happen after they start practice?

Finally we wrap up talking about his younger brother, Tyler, and his legacy at Iowa and how he was at one point a possible Iowa hoops recruit before becoming an All American football player for the Hawkeyes.

We start your week with a special edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast. Tom Kakert and Kyle Huesmann are joined by the new women's basketball assistant coach Lasondra Barrett.

The podcast opens with getting to know more about the coach and the hiring process with Jan Jensen. How did they connect and what was the process like to land a job in Iowa City? What are her initial thoughts on the job and what were her perceptions of the program given the success that it has enjoyed in the four or five years?

We get Barrett's thoughts on the two portal additions for the Iowa women's team in Chit Chat Wright, who she coached at Georgia Tech and Emely Rodriguez, who she knew about as a recruit coming out of high school.

Also, we discuss her coaching influences and the input and thoughts she has given to head coach Jan Jensen and how she thinks they will play this season. What has it been like for Barrett to be on the road recruiting with the Iowa logo on her shirt and what's the reaction that she gets from prospects and coaches so far?

Finally, we discuss her mentors in coaching and how she didn't think she would get into coaching, but why she had loved being a coach at the college level.

It's another special edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast as we get to know the new coaches for the University of Iowa men's basketball team. This week we are pleased to be joined by Xavier Kurth. He is the new player development coach for the basketball program and we have a great conversation with him about his daily work.

We open talking about his early years in basketball starting at the high school level in St. Joseph, MO and the influence his high school coaches had on his playing and coaching career. We talk about playing with the Mo Kan program in AAU basketball as well and what that experience was like for him.

Then we discuss his college career and playing for Ben McCollum. What was it like to be part of his program. What about the impact that that he has had on him. Then getting into coaching and what a player development coach has to do on a daily basis.

We dive his workouts with Cooper Koch and what he has seen from him this spring and how he can help Iowa hoops this year. We talk about a new signee who has already been on campus and how he has looked in workouts so far. Plus, there are five players coming over from Drake that Kurth has coached and developed. We dive into how each of them have improved and what Iowa fans should expect from them this season and why Ben McCollum has had great success with point guards over the years.

It's another very busy edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast. We have Tom Kakert and Kyle Huesmann breaking it all down to start your week. We open the with Iowa Baseball and the Hawkeyes getting swept by a red hot Oregon Ducks squad. The Hawkeyes had one chance on Friday to win and get a share of the Big Ten title, but let it slip away in the final three innings.

We get Kyle's view on the what happened in the last three games and the end of the regular season. Did the Hawkeyes simply run out of gas? Did a couple of injuries compound Iowa coming up short in their chase for the Big Ten title? Will they regret a couple of losses this season that got away late? We also look at what Iowa needs to do this week in Omaha in a new look Big Ten Tournament to possible get into the NCAA Tournament. Do they need to win the tournament to get in or could a trip to the championship game be enough?

Then we talk some Iowa women's basketball and the latest on the recruitment of portal prospect Emely Rodriguez. She looked like she was possibly headed to Iowa, but now might be making another visit? If Iowa lands the transfer how would it impact the starting lineup?

Finally we wrap up with an extended discussion on Iowa men's basketball recruiting. Kakert was Council Bluffs this weekend at the Adidas circuit event and so was Iowa head coach Ben McCollum and his assistant coach Josh Sash. We have a rundown of the prospects that they were watching and thoughts on how those players performed. Could new offers get extended in the next few days? We also look at the current roster and if Iowa was close to landing anyone else in the portal.

The biggest Iowa baseball series in the last 35 years is taking place at Banks Field starting on Thursday evening. It's Iowa hosting Oregon and there is a chance that the Hawkeyes could win an outright or share a Big Ten title for the first time since 1990.

Kyle Huesmann and Tom Kakert spend just over 30 minutes on some breaking down the series and some breaking news for the Iowa baseball team that suggests that they will be without a key hitter this weekend against the Ducks. What will the impact be of this potential loss and who will have to step in? What will it do to impact the batting order?

Then we look at the overall Big Ten race and what Iowa needs to do in the three team race for the top spot with UCLA right behind the Hawkeyes and Oregon also in the mix. We also discuss the unique format for the Big Ten Tourament and some interesting decisions that coaches of the higher seeded teams could potentially have to make to conserve pitching later in the week.

Finally, we also discuss if Iowa is still in the field of 64 for the NCAA Tournament? If they win the Big Ten outright or tie are the lock to make the NCAA Tournament?

We continue our series of interviews with the new Iowa men's basketball assistant coaches by visiting with Luke Barnwell. He's one of the assistant coaches that was not with Ben McCollum when was at Drake, but they have a long history together, going back to when Barnwell was coached by him when he was in college.

First we open by talking about how he came to Iowa from Texas Tech and the decision that Barnwell had to make to join McCollum's staff after the Red Raiders had ended their season in the NCAA Tournament. Barnwell also had the scout for the second round game against Drake. What did he see from the Drake game and what stood out to him about their squad?

We talk about his journey had a coach, starting with coaching at Sunrise Christian and also coaching in the MoKan AAU program as well and what those experiences taught him. As the son of a pair of coaches, basketball was always going to be in his future, as was coaching. We discuss his coaching career as a whole and eventually moving to the college level at Texas Tech.

Then we look at how the AAU and prep school level has somewhat prepared him for recruiting in this environment in the college game where so much of it is transactional today due to the transfer portal. We also discuss what he looks for in a player when he goes out to an AAU event or camp to evaluate a prospect. What are characteristics that he thinks are important in a player that will work well in the Iowa program?