Hawkeye Report Podcast

It's a busy podcast this week with plenty of ground to cover. The Iowa football team has opened fall practice so we start the podcast with a look at fall camp. We offer up some thoughts on the key storylines for the Iowa football team and we look at five players to watch on both sides of the call during camp.

After talking football we dive into the complex House vs. NCAA settlement. A whole lot to unpack based on the decision and settlement that was reached. What will happen with the financial side of this decision and distribution of money each year to players?

Then we dicuss the new scholarship limits, including moving football from 85 scholarships to 105. How will this impact the overall scholarship situation at schools? What will be the challenging of adding 20 scholarships, which means adding a total of 40 overall or could it lead to the elimination of sports, particularly on the men's side of college athletics. Will the addition of 20 more scholarship players only lead to more players hitting the transfer portal?

We wrap up the discussion about the House decision with talk of NIL and how they want to try and regulate collectives and players making NIL deals. Why it's not a great idea and the challenges of it.

Finally we wrap up with an in-depth discussion about Iowa men's basketball recruiting. We rundown the visitors set to see Iowa City this fall and the Hawkeyes chances with most of the prospects.

It's a special edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast with a huge guest. With fall practice about to get underway in Iowa City, we are honored to have defensive coordinator Phil Parker on the pod.

We spent 30 minutes with the Broyles Award winner leading up to the start of practice. We open discussing what he enjoys about fall camp before diving into the positions groups, starting with the defensive backfield. What are Parker's thoughts on some of the battles for playing time, particularly at cornerback where four players could potentially end up as starters.

We also discuss the use of new technology that will be allowed on the field this fall. How will the Iowa defense use helmet communication and tablets on the sidelines. Which player will have the helmet communication for Iowa?

We discuss the advantages of Iowa having veteran team coming back and how he might approach fall camp by using the reserves more because of the trust established by the returning starters and trying to limit their exposures.

After that we talk about the defensive line and how they head into camp with limited depth and how they can potentially build it in fall camp and players who might be in the mix this year.

We wrap up the podcast discussing Pat Angerer joining the Iowa radio booth and A.J. Edds leading Big Ten Football at the conference level.

Plenty of news and notes to cover this week. It's a rare solo podcast for Tom Kakert as he breaks down the news and notes from an Iowa perspective from Big Ten Football Media Days in Indianapolis.

We start by diving into the newly released Iowa football two deeps. It's our first look at Iowa football heading into the start of fall camp next week. We start with the defense and look at every positions and concerns about the defensive line heading into camp. Then we transition into the offensive side of the ball with a breakdown of the offensive line and a player that Iowa fans will want to watch at running back.

We also cover a few news and notes items, including the first game suspension of Kaleb Brown and a player leaving the program before the start of camp. Then we move over to Hawkeye basketball and more specifically, recruiting. We run down several prospects that we saw this past weekend in Chicago at an AAU basketball event. More importantly there are quite a few prospects who have already scheduled official visits to Iowa. We run them all down and look at the Hawkeyes chances with each of them.

It's one of our favorite podcasts of the year leading up to the start of the Iowa football season. Tom Kakert and Matt Randazzo are joined by their good friend Chad Leistikow from the Des Moines Register to examine the over/under win totals for the entire Big Ten Conference.

But, before we do that, there have been several media sessions in the last two weeks for Iowa football and Hawkeye men's and women's basketball. We discuss what we learned from the Iowa football players this past week, including meeting with Iowa QB Cade McNamara for the first time in quite a while. We update his recover and discuss the Iowa offensive line and just how banged up they were last year.

Then we turn to basketball and start with the women's team and how it has been a pretty seamless transition for Jan Jensen to take over as the head coach and what sort of lineup we could see. We also talk about how important Taylor McCabe and her shooting will be to this team. Then we are very high on the Iowa men's squad and the additions that Fran McCaffery has made to his squad. We talk about lineups and key contributors to that team.

Finally we run down the entire Big Ten win totals for the football season and give our over/under predictions for each team and what our best bets are for this year, along with other conference favorites.

It's been a busy week for Iowa basketball. That means men's and women's basketball and we got a look at both teams this week. Tom Kakert and Kyle Huesmann discuss what they saw at Iowa women's basketball practice earlier on Thursday. Which players were impressive and were there a couple of true freshmen that caught our eye? What about transfer Lucy Olsen? How did she look on the court and why should fans not expect her to be Caitlin Clark. We also received updates from Jan Jensen on the overall program.

Then we moved on to Iowa men's basketball, who also held a media event and allowed a peek into practice earlier this week. What do we think of the new faces on the roster? Who could make an early impact? What about Owen Freeman adding 20 pounds to his frame in the off-season? Did Brock Harding change his jump shot? What's a starting lineup this season?

We also look at 2025 Iowa basketball recruiting and the Hawkeyes are lining up more official visits. We look at who and when those will happen.

Finally we dive into Iowa baseball. The Major League Baseball draft takes place this weekend. Brody Brecht is going in the first round, but what happens with two other Iowa pitchers will greatly impact the Hawkeye rotation next season.

It's become an annual tradition for the podcast to have Luka Garza and his father, Frank, on the podcast every summer to talk basketball and promote his upcoming camps around the state of Iowa.

For those who are interested in having their children attend the camps taking place in Urbandale, Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, Davenport, and Keokuk early in the month of August, please go to this link: www.lukagarzaacademy.com

We open discussing the camp and what it will be like for children attending the events and how he uses what he has learned to give back to the kids in the state of Iowa. We also talk about his amazing physical transformation and the role his father played in it.

Then we talk about being able to sign a two year contract with the Timberwolves and his four year journey to make it in the NBA. We also talk to Garza about playing with Anthony Edwards as he becomes a star in the league.

Garza also keeps an eye on the Iowa basketball program. He discusses what he has seen from sophomore to be Owen Freeman and his potential as a big man in the Big Ten.

It's that time of the year. Once again on the 4th of July, we have predictions to make. Tom Kakert is joined by old friend Jon Miller to do a game by game breakdown of the Iowa football schedule and give our overall predictions for the outcome of each contest.

Before we get to the game by game outlook, we have a general discussion about the state of Iowa football and the change at offensive coordinator. Will that have a significant change in the performance of the Iowa offensive in 2024.

Then we dive into the schedule for the Hawkeye football team, beginning with Illinois State and ending with Nebraska. We also look at the overall result of the season and what it might mean. Could Iowa be in the conversation for a trip to the expanded College Football Playoff?

We than wrap up with a few bold predictions regarding the Iowa football team in 2024.

It's a special edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast. We turn our attention to the upcoming Big Ten football season with our good friend Scott Dochterman from The Athletic. He has taken a new role at The Athletic as more of a Big Ten reporter and talks about that to open the show.

Then we discuss Kaleb Brown and his DUI arrest this past weekend and how Kirk Ferentz might handle it. After that we move on to some heavy Big Ten talk. We start first with a look at the four newcomers to the conference and how they might perform. Can we learn anything from previous new conference teams and how they have done after joining the Big Ten?

Which team might be overrated and underrated coming into the Big Ten season and why? Is Ryan Day officially on the hot seat heading into this season? Are we giving Michigan too much credit heading into this year? Is Nebraska actually going to be good this season? Who are some of the top players on offense and defense heading into the season in the Big Ten?

We also talk about the College Football Playoff and the impact it will have on this season and which Big Ten teams could make it in. Could Iowa be one of those teams?

Speaking of the Hawkeyes, we know the defense will be good, but what about the offense? What are the expectation for Tim Lester's offense heading into the 2024 season?

It's a good news and bad news podcast to start the week. Tom Kakert and Matt Randazzo are back together and we open with the news of the day, wide receiver Kaleb Brown was charged with a DUI early Sunday morning. What does that mean for his status with the team? What sort of suspension will be in order?

Then we move to the good news and that's a pretty successful big recruiting weekend for the Hawkeyes. As of Monday evening, Iowa has picked up four commitments from the visitors with another one potentially happening on Tuesday. What are our thoughts on the commitments from this past weekend? How Iowa did well with offensive linemen and what do they still need in this class? We also discuss the recruitment of Iose Epenesa, who wrapped up his official visits this past weekend.

Our summer of podcast series continues. This time we are joined by Masters and British Open champion and Iowa superfan Zach Johnson. On July 1st, Johnson will be hosting his foundations golf classic, which benefits his Kids on the Course program that has impacted thoughts on kids in the Cedar Rapids area. You can learn more about the event here:

https://zachjohnsongolf.com/zjf-classic/

We also talk about the upcoming John Deere Classic and former Hawkeye Keegan Murray playing in the event this year. Last year it was Caitlin Clark playing in the event with Johnson for the first nine holes. Johnson talks about how impressive Clark has been in handling all the attention that is coming her way and if the comparisons to Tiger Woods and what he did for golf vs. what Clark is doing for women's basketball are fair.

Then we discuss some Iowa football and the upcoming season. Will the Hawkeyes exceed their 7.5 win total this year? Can they get to 10 wins and potentially be in the mix for a spot in the college football playoff. We wrap up talk about some of the incoming freshman football players that we are excited about heading into this season.