Hawkeye Report Podcast
A collection of podcasts from HawkeyeReport.com
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Hawkeye Report Podcast 712
07/04/2025
Hawkeye Report Podcast 712
Happy 4th of July to everyone. Please enjoy the day with family and friends! One of the silly traditions that we started over two decades ago was picking Iowa football games for the season on July 4th. So, here we are once again and with a podcast, we decided to also discuss it here. Not fully, but we give you the nuts and bolts of what was predicted. What record will the Hawkeyes have in 2025? Will there be any surprises along the way. both good and bad? What bowl game is being predicted? Also as a companion, we give some names to watch this season. Players on the Iowa roster who are on the rise and should make significant contributions on the field this season. Then we also have our "bold" predictions for the 2025 Iowa football season. Individual players and what they will do this season. Crazy stats that the Hawkeyes haven't hit in over five years that I think they will achieve this season. But, before we get to football today, there is big news brewing on the men's basketball recruiting front. 2026 forward Trey Thompson might be on the cusp of reclassifying to be a 2025 recruit and join the Iowa basketball roster this season. How did this happen? More importantly, is this going to happen? What would Thompson bring to the Hawkeyes if he decided to come to Iowa and when will he officially make a decision?
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Hawkeye Report Podcast 711
06/30/2025
Hawkeye Report Podcast 711
It's what we like to call a housekeeping edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast. Since we have been interview heavy most of this month we haven't caught up on a lot of news that been popping up for Iowa athletics. Tom Kakert, Kyle Huesmann, and Tanner Lafever are on the podcast talking all things Hawkeyes. But, we open talking about the change that's coming to On3, the home for our site, once we officially bring our old home of Rivals on board on Tuesday. After that we have a great discussion with Tanner about the state of Iowa wrestling and the Hawkeyes having their top recruit, Beau Bassett de-commit. It was a significant blow to Iowa wrestling and potentially to the future of the program. We dive into the possible/rumored reasons for Bassett moving on why Tom and Terry Brands are likely not going anywhere. Then we talk with Kyle about women's hoops. We were at practice last week and give our first thoughts on the new additions of Addie Deal and Emely Rodriguez, along with all the returning players and we discuss the potential starting lineups and why Kyle and Tom might disagree on one starter this year. Kyle then updates us on Iowa baseball and the transfer portal. We talk about the huge portal return of Anthony Watts and how he will fit into the starting rotation next season. We also talk about the other portal additons and also turn our attention to the roster limitations that are coming and how it will impact Hawkeye baseball. Finally we look at the betting odds for three Iowa football games and the fact that the Hawkeyes are underdogs in all three of them and if there are any we should be wagering on. We wrap up going in-depth on football recruiting. Several new commits and we look at all them and tell you about at least one commitment that's expected to happen this week.
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Hawkeye Report Podcast 710
06/26/2025
Hawkeye Report Podcast 710
It's a special edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast. We are joined by Iowa men's basketball head coach Ben McCollum for pod talking all things Hawkeye basketball. Of course we open the pod talking about the viral video clips from last week when Cooper DeJean played pickup ball with McCollum and his staff. It's a fun story about how the head coach might have stacked the deck that day on his team. Then we start talking Iowa hoops and building a roster from the ground up for the second staight year. What was that like this time and did McCollum find it more challenging due to the inflated price tags on prospects? We discuss a couple of the new faces on the roster who were not with him at Drake and what he has seen from them and the weight room workouts that his plays do all the time and how and why he runs things that way in that area, including having his staff in the there offering encouragement. We discuss the plan ahead from Iowa on how they hope to get students back and more involved in Hawkeye men's basketball and potentially moving them closer to the court. We also talk about the recruiting and his philosophy on that front and how this era is harder from a planning perspective. Then we wrap up discussing where he is at on the non-conference schedule this year and what he expects it to be moving forward.
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Hawkeye Report Podcast 709
06/26/2025
Hawkeye Report Podcast 709
We continue our coaches series this week with a fantastic new podcast interview with Tyler Barnes. These days Barnes is the General Manager and Chief of Staff for Iowa Football, which means he overseas not only the recruiting operation for the Hawkeyes, along with managing the NIL operation as far as making player payment decisions. We open the pod talking about how a dead period doesn't actually mean dead period for someone in Barnes position. Then we dive into the new era of college football that begins on July 1st with schools paying players. He discusses how he came up with his payment formula based on NFL teams that were successful. Then we dive into quite a few recruiting topics. Is a prospect asking about money out of the gate a red flag for Iowa football? What's negative recruiting look like today against the Hawkeyes? Will we see more high school players enroll early in January. What does Barnes think about some of the NCAA proposals regarding recruiting, including being able to sign in August before your senior year? What about a single portal period in April? Then we talk about the 2026 recruiting cycle for Iowa. What has it been like? Are they thinking of changing their big recruiting weekend at the end of the month?
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Hawkeye Report Podcast 708
06/24/2025
Hawkeye Report Podcast 708
Our huge week of podcasts continues. Next up is special guest, Iowa offensive line coach George Barnett. We go in-depth about his job and the players that he works with on a daily basis. The conversation starts with how he and the linemen had to adjust starting last year in the new offense being installed by Tim Lester. What was that process like? Then we move on to the veteran trio that will anchor this year's offensive line for the Hawkeyes. We start with a discussion of the value and leadership coming from the center position and Logan Jones. How important is he to what Iowa does up front? Then we discuss the development last year of Beau Stephens and the incredibly interesting and strong play from Gennings Dunker. We talk about Dunker turning down potentially opting for the NFL Draft and not taping his hands in games, which started last year. We then look at the left tackle position and what Barnett sees as his options there. At the open guard position, what about the athletic freak that is Kade Pieper and how will he fit in to a potential starting five. After that we discuss a wide variety of players who are younger and on the rise into the two deeps or will soon be in there like Leighton Jones, Cannon Leonard and others. Who is the backup center heading into the season?
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Hawkeye Report Podcast 707
06/23/2025
Hawkeye Report Podcast 707
In this edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast we are joined by our regular football podcast partner, Chuck Long, as we spent more than an hour talking Iowa football with second year offensive coordinator Tim Lester. Both Long and Lester were raised in Wheaton, IL, so we open the show discussing growing up there and how the community has changed, plus which high school was really the blue collar school. Then we dive into the Iowa offense and start with a look at the quarterback position. We get Lester's thoughts on Mark Gronowski and how he has progressed since the spring. We also get his thoughts on what he has seen from Hank Brown and the rest of the quarterback room, including the freshmen. Lester gives his thoughts on the wide receiver room, which is much deeper and more talented than it was a year ago. He has a few players that seem to be on the rise heading into the summer months. We also talk about the entire running back room and Lester has some interesting comments about a couple of younger backs at Iowa. Finally we talk about the tight end group and how that group has a pretty good diversity of talent, starting with the veterans and a group of young talented veterans. We gets Lester's thoughts on quarterback recruiting and retention in today's environment and how Iowa handles that and the impact of the use of development periods that can help. We discuss headset communications between coordinators and quarterbacks and building chemistry by using it. We also discuss why more college programs don't run the Shananhan offense and why it could be appealing to NFL teams since half the league seems to run that offense. Finally we wrap up talking about Lester having a pair of senior analysts at his disposal and how that have already paid off for game prep moving forward and how they might be used during the season on game day with one potentially coaching on the sidelines.
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Hawkeye Report Podcast 706
06/17/2025
Hawkeye Report Podcast 706
A semi emergency podcast on a Monday night. Tom Kakert and Matt Randazzo hop on the pod to discuss the de-commitment of Iowa's three star quarterback commitment in the Class of 2026. On Monday afternoon, Cash Herrera announced that he was no longer committed to Iowa. What's the real story behind the scenes? We discuss what really happened here and how this whole commitment and eventually parting of the ways was probably always going to happen due to different levels of confusion. What was the final straw in this relationship from Iowa's perspective? Then we look at the big recruiting weekend coming up for the Hawkeyes. All of their current commitments in the Class of 2026 will be in town along with several uncommitted prospects. Which player will be the most wanted this weekend for the Hawkeyes? Which position group do they need to hit with on the big visit weekend? Then we flip over to basketball recruiting with three prospects on campus this week, including a pair from the Class of 2026. Also, where does Iowa stand with one of their top targets, Colin Rice, who is currently on an official visit to Nebraska?
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Hawkeye Report Podcast 705
06/16/2025
Hawkeye Report Podcast 705
A wide ranging Hawkeye Report Podcast to begin the week. Tom Kakert and Kyle Huesmann open the show with an update on the Iowa baseball program. Huesmann runs down the latest from the NCAA transfer portal with a couple of players leaving and maybe a couple of potential players heading to Iowa and the crunch of the roster getting smaller also in play. Then we turn to women's basketball and a look at the non-conference schedule for the squad this year. Will it be another challenging non-con schedule for the Hawkeyes? After that we update women's and men's Iowa basketball recruiting. We discuss the top targets and visitors coming to campus in the next few weeks for official visits. Finally we have some fun draft of women's basketball players from the Lisa Bluder era. We pick eight person teams of players from the Lisa Bluder era of Iowa women's basketball. Tom and Kyle bounce back and forth with their picks and discuss the top players of an amazing era of basketball, including back to back trips to the national title game. How many players from that era were drafted? Who had the better team? We will let you be the judge.
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Hawkeye Report Podcast 704
06/12/2025
Hawkeye Report Podcast 704
Our string of podcasts during the month of June continues with a very special guest. We are joined by our great friend of the pod, Zach Johnson to talk golf, Iowa hoops, Hawkeye football, and the state of college athletics today. We open talking about Johnson's upcoming event held at Elmcrest Country Club on Monday June 30th. It includes former Hawkeyes Cooper DeJean and Keegan Murray hitting the course at that event. More details here: Also, we discuss the upcoming John Deere Classic in early July and talk about Lisa Bluder and former Hawks Riley Moss and T.J. Hockenson playing at the event. Then we dive into Iowa athletics talk. We discuss the Hawkeyes stealing a basketball coach away from Drake. Johnson is very close with the Drake program and he talks about what he saw last year from Ben McCollum and get his opinions on the change in leadership within the program. After that we get Zach's thoughts on the new era of college athletics that is officially underway following the House settlement this past week. What will it mean for the future of college athletics? Will it move things back to the old days of cheating in college athletics? Finally we wrap up talking a whole lot of Iowa football. We discuss the Hawkeyes season ahead and what Johnson things of the Iowa team in 2025. We also talk about Kirk Ferentz, who will be 70 in August, and how he keeps going with no end in sight and why he is able to continue to coach at a high level. We wrap up the show discussing the top games of the Ferentz era.
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Hawkeye Report Podcast 703
06/10/2025
Hawkeye Report Podcast 703
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. 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:
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Hawkeye Report Podcast 702
06/10/2025
Hawkeye Report Podcast 702
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.
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Hawkeye Report Podcast 701
06/05/2025
Hawkeye Report Podcast 701
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.
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Hawkeye Report Podcast 700
06/02/2025
Hawkeye Report Podcast 700
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.
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Hawkeye Report Podcast 699
05/28/2025
Hawkeye Report Podcast 699
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.
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Hawkeye Report Podcast 698
05/27/2025
Hawkeye Report Podcast 698
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.
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Hawkeye Report Podcast 697
05/22/2025
Hawkeye Report Podcast 697
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.
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Hawkeye Report Podcast 696
05/19/2025
Hawkeye Report Podcast 696
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.
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Hawkeye Report Podcast 695
05/13/2025
Hawkeye Report Podcast 695
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?
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Hawkeye Report Podcast 694
05/13/2025
Hawkeye Report Podcast 694
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?
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Hawkeye Report Podcast 693
05/07/2025
Hawkeye Report Podcast 693
Sunday was a very special day in Iowa City as the great Caitlin Clark returned to Carver-Hawkeye Arena with her Indiana Fever teammates to play the Brazilan National team. It was a one-sided result in favor of the Fever. Tom Kakert and Kyle Huesmann were there and look back at what was a special day for Iowa women's hoops. We look back at Clark's performance and even in a blowout, she made it into a special game, particularly when she drilled a three from beyond her 22 spot on the floor at the end of the third quarter. We also talk about how she takes time to sign autographs for all the boys and girls that she can and also, this Fever team could be a threat to win the WNBA title. Then we flip over to Iowa baseball. The Hawkeyes are coming off a tough weekend, losing 2 of 3 at Washington and likely letting one game get away from them. Huesmann discusses what happened with the Hawkeyes this weekend and shared Rick Heller's thoughts from the game. Then we look ahead to a huge series this weekend in Des Moines against nationally ranked Oregon State. We also take a look at what Iowa fans should be watching in terms of scores in the Big Ten as Iowa tries to win a Big Ten title. Finally we wrap up the podcast talking Iowa women's softball. The Hawkeye have had a pretty remarkable season with a coach not returning, another one leaving the team early in the year, and now they are potentially in position to make the NCAA Tournament. How have they done it and what do they have to do in the Big Ten Tournament his week to continue in post season play?
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Hawkeye Report Podcast 692
05/01/2025
Hawkeye Report Podcast 692
It's another special edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast. We continue our series with the new Iowa men's basketball assistant coaches. This time we are joined by new assistant coach Connor Wheeler, who is in his second year with Ben McCollum after joining his staff at Drake. We talk to Wheeler about growing up as the son of a coach in the Carbondale, Illinois area. The influence of his dad, who was a Hall of Fame coach and also his mom, who coaches softball at the high school level. We look back at his playing career, starting at John Logan on the junior college level and then at SIU-Edwardsville to wrap up his playing career. After that, we talk to Wheeler about getting into coaching and grinding his way up from graduate assistant and video coordinator to player development and finally to a full time assistant coach at SEMO, where they made the NCAA Tournament. Then we talk about how Wheeler ended up last August getting an opportunity to coach at Drake for Ben McCollum and how that team was so successful this past season. We also look at the players coming over from Drake and Wheeler breaks down what each player will being to the table. Also, we discuss the recruiting in the portal and what it is like to put together a roster these days for a coach and team, Finally, what he looks for from prospects when he is out evaluating at the high school and AAU level.
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Hawkeye Report Podcast 691
04/29/2025
Hawkeye Report Podcast 691
The Hawkeye Report Podcast is back and we have a lot of things to cover this week from football to basketball recruiting, along with the NFL Draft. We open promoting the Chuck Long Charity Auction, which benefits the Children's Therapy Center of the Quad Cities. Bidding is open until 8 pm on Saturday, May 3rd. You can get a look at the items up for bid and place your bids at this link. Then we officially open the podcast discussing what we saw and learned at Iowa's open spring football practice on Saturday. We saw Mark Gronowski throwing an actual football. How did the quarterbacks look overall? We rave about several wide receivers as well. We also discuss the defense and the emerging players that impressed us, particuarly on the line and at linebacker. We also discuss a pair of new transfer portal additions, including a quarterback from Wake Forest and a defensive back from cornerback. Are the Hawkeyes done in the portal? After that we jump into the other big story from the weekend, the NFL Draft. Iowa had five players drafted, including a trio of players later in the seventh round. What do we think of the draft picks and their landing spots? We also look ahead to Iowa players who could potentially be drafted next season. Finally we wrap up discussing Iowa men's basketball recruiting. There are a couple of names to watch right now after visiting this past weekend. We discuss those two players and how they might fit with the Hawkeyes.
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Hawkeye Report Podcast 690
04/25/2025
Hawkeye Report Podcast 690
It's another jam packed edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast. Tom Kakert, Kyle Huesmann, and special guest John Evans talk Iowa baseball, men's and women's hoops, and a little Iowa football ahead of the final spring practice on Saturday. We open with Iowa baseball where the Big Ten leading Hawkeyes host Indiana this weekend. Evans, who calls the Hawkeye games on radio, gives his thoughts on this remarkable season thus far and how they have bounced back this year after high expectations last season. When did Evans know that this team was heading in a potentially special direction? After that we talk with Kyle about the Iowa women's basketball team adding a key player in the transfer portal who goes by the name of "Chit Chat". What will she bring to the Iowa roster? Who does Kyle see as the possible starting lineup for the Iowa women's team this season? Then we move on to Iowa men's basketball and the latest official editions of the pair of players from the transfer portal, including a key power forward edition. We also discuss what Iowa needs to add to their roster and which positions they should fill. Finally we wrap up the show talking a little Iowa football. The Hawkeyes are set to have their final practice of the spring on Saturday and we are invited to watch. We discuss the areas that we are looking to focus on during the practice and several players who we will be watching closely at the open practice.
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Hawkeye Report Podcast 689
04/22/2025
Hawkeye Report Podcast 689
It's a special edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast. We are joined by new assistant basketball coach Bryston Williams. He has a long history with new head coach Ben McCollum, going back to when he was his first recruit at Northwest Missouri State. We open discussing being McCollum's first recruit and a great story on how he landed him, with credit to Williams father. We talk about McCollum as a coach and the process so far of building the roster. What did they learn last year at Drake that helped them with building a roster? How important it was last year to have success against high level teams last year helped them with figuring out the right players this year. Williams discusses the time that he played for Northwest Missouri State against Iowa in 2011 and what he remembers about the game. Then we dive into his journey as a coach and what he learned during his time coaching in the G-League with Memphis and the Detroit Pistons and what he learned from the NBA Players. We dive into why he ended up coming back to college basketball and why he did that. We dicuss his why in coaching and why he does it every day. He talks about the staff that they have put together and how they are so close because they all have a long relationship with Coach McCollum. We talk about how his staff and his kids from Northwest Missouri State and Drake were all so loyal to him as a coach. Then we run down the players that they have brought along from Drake, including Bennett Stirtz and the other four players. What do they bring to the table? What has he seen from Cooper Koch in workouts? We wrap up talking about recruiting today and what it is like? How it's become more transactional and the depth they go to in trying to get to know players in the portal in a rapid manner.
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Hawkeye Report Podcast 688
04/18/2025
Hawkeye Report Podcast 688
The portal news never seems to stop and we try to get you updated on the Hawkeye Report Podcast. Tom Kakert and Matt Randazzo fire up the podcast machine to give you the very latest on the Iowa basketball team and where things stand on the roster building front. We have the latest on three prospects, two from the portal and one from the high school ranks that are down to Iowa and another school. Which players do we think are most important for Iowa to land? Which players do we think that Ben McCollum and his staff will land? We give our thoughts and the needs left as McCollum continues to build his first Hawkeye basketball roster. Then we slide over to Iowa football, where Iowa is about one week away from wrapping up spring ball. But, the transfer portal is also open, which means the Hawkeyes are seeing a few players, like Brendan Sullivan, hit the portal and we have seen a few players visit, including a big offensive lineman who could join them this fall. We also talk about some of the comments from the Iowa players on Thursday and some suprises that we have heard about during spring ball in Iowa City that Hawkeye fans should be excited about heading into the season.
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Hawkeye Report Podcast 687
04/14/2025
Hawkeye Report Podcast 687
It's a special edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast as we are joined by Payton Sandfort. It's a nearly 45 minute conversation with the former Iowa great about his career, this past season, his injuries, his brother transferring to Nebraska, and a whole lot more. We open the podcast with the end and Sandfort discusses being named the winner of the Chris Street Award this year and what it means to him. He also discusses being able to meet Street's parents and getting to know them over the years. Then he goes into great detail about the number of injuries that he played with this past season and how he has told at one point that he might have to shut things down during Big Ten play and how he actually was able to finish up the season and leave everything out on the floor against Illinois. We discuss the very emotional end to the season and know that it would be the last time that he would play with his brother, Pryce, and what it was like in the locker room following that game against Illinois. We talk about all his memories of being a Hawkeye and the great moments along the way, including the big plays and wins over Michigan, Michigan State, and many others. We look back at the Big Ten Tournament title and his huge contributions to that along with what he learned from playing with Keegan and Kris Murray and how that helped him as a leader.
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Hawkeye Report Podcast 686
04/13/2025
Hawkeye Report Podcast 686
It's a special weekend edition of the Hawkeye Report podcast talking about one of our favorite events of the year. We are joined by our good friend former Iowa great Chuck Long and Angie Peterson from the Children's Therapy Center of the Quad Cities to discuss the upcoming Chuck Long Charity Auction. This will be the 28th edition of this great event that benefits the Children's Therapy Center of the Quad Cities and is their biggest fundraiser each and every year. Iowa fans, specificially Hawkeye Report followers, have been a huge part of the success of this event since 2020 and we want to keep that momentum going. This year is another great event and Chuck Long has donated several one of a kind items to the auction, including his Rose Bowl ring from the 1982 Rose Bowl game, along with several other one of a kind items, including three things that involve the great Caitlin Clark. We discuss the upcoming event and some of the great items and tell you how you can get involved in a few short weeks. Bookmark the link here and get ready to start bidding on April 24th!
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Hawkeye Report Podcast 685
04/11/2025
Hawkeye Report Podcast 685
A lot of topics to cover in early April on the Hawkeye Report Podcast. In this edition it's Tom Kakert and Kyle Huesmann with plenty of news on several very important fronts. We open with some Iowa baseball talk. The Hawkeyes host rival Nebraska this weekend for a huge three game series. We dive into the matchup and look at how Rick Heller's club has gotten off to such a great start in Big Ten play and what it could mean for the Big Ten Tournament and Iowa's NCAA Tournament chances. Then we move over to Iowa football. Several Iowa players, including Mark Gronowski, met with the media on Thursday afternoon in Iowa City. What did the Hawkeyes new signal caller have to say about his recovery from surgery and his building relationship with offensive coordinator Tim Lester? We also have notes on several other Hawkeye players and insights on the new running backs coach in Iowa City. Then we head to the transfer portal. We start first with the Iowa women's basketball team and if there are any point guard targets emerging for them out of the portal. After that we switch over to the men's hoops front and discuss a couple of high school players, one who we think is already committed to the Hawkeyes. And we discuss several transfer portal targets for Iowa and what the Hawkeyes need to finish out their roster.
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Hawkeye Report Podcast 684
04/04/2025
Hawkeye Report Podcast 684
The news just keeps on coming on the Iowa basketball front and we have plenty to cover in our latest podcast. Tom Kakert and Matt Randazzo break down all the latest roster news. Iowa continues to add players from the Drake roster that played for Ben McCollum. Meanwhile, the rumor mill is churning out plenty of talk about the potential portal destinations for Josh Dix and Pryce Sandfort. Is there a chance that one or both players will end up returning to Iowa? What do we make of the wild rumors regarding Josh Dix and where he might land? In the last three days we have seen him rumored to be headed back to Iowa or transferring to Indiana or Illinois. Why is all of that simply a guessing game. We also discuss a recent prediction for what Sandfort will do coming out of the transfer portal. Then we move over to Iowa football. First we open with some comments about what we think will generally be a busier than normal transfer portal for football this spring. Then we discuss what we saw at Iowa football practice from our brief look on Thursday morning. We look at the players to watch on offense and defense and what we think will be the surprise players this season for the Hawkeye football team.
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Hawkeye Report Podcast 683
03/27/2025
Hawkeye Report Podcast 683
The edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast is a jam packed one. Tom Kakert, Tanner Lafever, and Kyle Huesmann are talking hoops, wrestling, football, and baseball for the Hawkeyes on this show. We open by updating the latest on Iowa basketball and what is happening in the transfer portal with new head coach Ben McCollum. A couple of Drake players entered the portal today and we assess where things stand with Iowa players who could be considering staying with the Hawkeyes. Plus, we react to Owen Freeman to Creighton news. Then a brief update on the start of spring football in Iowa City and a few thoughts on what Kirk Ferentz had to say about his team. Next we move on to getting the assessement from Kyle about the end of the Iowa women's basketball season. What went wrong for the Hawkeyes against Oklahoma in the season ending loss? Then we look ahead to the next season. What will the starting lineup look like at this point in time? Does Jan Jensen need to get into the portal to find help for next year and what positions do they need to fill? After that we update a red hot Iowa baseball team that heads into this weekends three game series at Minnesota tied for the top spot in the Big Ten with a 7-2 conference mark. What's been going right for Iowa in this hot streak. Finally we have Tanner running down anything and everything talking Iowa wrestling. We wrap up the NCAA Tournament run and the championship for Stephen Buchanan, along with other strong performances and then we we look ahead to the Iowa lineup next year.
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