Hawkeye Report Podcast

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?

It's a special edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast! We are joined by newly retired Big Ten official and Iowa City native, DJ Carstensen. We have a lot to discuss, beginning with how the former hoops standout and college player ended up being a high level basketball official.

We talk about his time in Iowa City growing up during the 70's and early 80's when the Hawkeyes were flying high and attending basketball games in The Fieldhouse. How he worked camps at Iowa when the Hawkeyes were coached by greats like Lute Olsen, George Raveling, and Tom Davis.

We look back at his time with officiating and how he rose up the ranks from working D2 and D3 games to calling high profile games in the Big Ten on a weekly basis before retiring at the end of this last season. We learn about his time calling games, how he was able work with coaches like Fran McCaffery, who could be colorful on the sidelines. We also discuss his work with Coaches vs. Cancer in upstate New York and how McCaffery and many other coahes he has met over the years have donated to the cause.

We discuss the court decision today on allowing a player who bet on his own team to play college football and gambling in general on college sports and the feedback he got as a official. We talk about makeup calls and other falsehoods that fans might believe. Finally we discuss the shortage of officials and training the next group for the future of the games we love to see being played.

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?

Another very special guest joins us on the podcast this week. This time it's Masters and Open champion Zach Johnson on the pod. Coming up on June 8th, Johnson will host his annual Zach Johnson Foundation Classic at Elmcrest Country Club in Cedar Rapids with seven other winners of majors joining him.

More details can be found here: https://zachjohnsongolf.com/zjf-classic/

We talk about his foundation classic and the great golfers that will be joining him at the event. Then we dive into the talking about Iowa athletics and Hawkeye sports. We talk about the Iowa football program and the longevity of Kirk Ferentz as the head coach and his relationship with him. We talk about Iowa taking the now former Drake basketball coach (where Johnson went to college) and what he thought of the run by Ben McCollum in year one with the Hawkeye program. Then we get Johnson's prediction for Iowa football for this season and we also talk a little more golf and the upcoming events he will be playing in Iowa (for the first time) and the John Deere Classic in July.

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.

We continue our in-depth coverage of Iowa men's basketball recruiting, specifically the 2027 point guard group. In this edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast, we are joined by Jamie Shaw, who is the senior basketball recruiting analyst for Rivals.com and On3.com to get his views on the long list of prospects that Iowa and Ben McCollum continue to explore.

We get Shaw's thoughts on Cayden Daughtry, TJ Jamison, Jaxson Davis, Jalen Davis, Antonio Pemerberton, and the latest rumbling on the recruitment of 2027 point guard Davion Thompson. What are his thoughts on each of the players and which schools are all of those players considering? It's a great rundown of the news and we also get Shaw's thoughts on Iowa's run in the NCAA Tournament and Bennett Stirtz success potentially paying off for the Hawkeyes on the recruiting trail.

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 a special edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast to open the week. We are joined by the Iowa men's basketball chief of staff, Jesse Shaw as we look back on a great season and look ahead to the future.

We open talking about the first year at Iowa for Ben McCollum and his staff and how they were able to establish the culture for this program and the success they enjoyed reaching the Elite Eight. We talk about Shaw and his role during games where he is in charge of match-up's on the court and the process he goes through to plan ahead and adjust during the game.

Part of his job is to coach rebounding on the team and that was an issue at times and overall during the season. He reflects back to the Elite Eight game and how they lost the glass in that game. Then we slide over to the newest addition to the Iowa roster, 7 -foot-3 center Andrew McKeever and why they went after him and what he will bring to the table from a rebounding perspective and the impact that will have on the team.

We also discuss roster managment and the possible impact of 5 for 5 on a roster and recruiting moving forward. The impact that the post season run had and is that a proof of concept moment for McCollum and this program. Also the amazing success that McCollum has in a tournament setting. Finally, how superstitious is McCollum and how deep does it go?

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?

It's a special edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast. Today we are joined by the head of the Iowa Swarm Collective, Brad Heinrichs to discuss the rebranding of his organization and why that needed to take place. We also discuss three very unique and interesting events coming up during the month of May and June in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, and Davenport involving great songwriters from Nashville and special performances of their songs.

You can get more details here: https://the-swarm-inc-jcgb.vivenushop.com/seller/the-swarm-inc-jcgb/section/music-city-live-ud08

We also discuss how the College Sports Commission and NIL review process has been a real challenge for everyone involved, particularly the student-athletes. Also how that has impacted the ability for collectives to distribute NIL money for opportunities that they have provided to student-athletes.

Then we talk a whole lot of Iowa football and get into who we think the starting quarterback will be this fall at this early date. What we think of the running back room and the receivers, which could be the strongest group in a long time in Iowa City. Then we look at the defense, where we have concerns up front for the Hawkeyes and how the linebackers and secondary are looking after spring ball.

We also talk some Iowa men's basketball and the great run. What did Brad think of the performance and how important it was for the Hawkeyes to do this in the first year to get Iowa fans back involved with the team. Can Hawkeye fans fully support both men's and women's basketball this winter?

Also, we talk about the future of college athletics and if non-revenue sports are going to on the chopping block in the future with the cost of college athletics rising each and every year while schools try to pay for student-athletes.