Iowa Hawkeyes Fan Group's Blog

Hawks Add JC Sharp Shooter

1Hawkeye1 wants Vida — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 14:50:36 GMT

The Iowa men's basketball team gained its sixth member of the 2008 recruiting class Friday by picking up former West Virginia shooting guard Devan Bawinkel.

The 6-foot-5 guard played at Winnebago (Ill.) High School, spent a year at West Virginia, and is currently at Highland Community College in Freeport, Ill.

Bawinkel was a casualty of the coaching change in West Virginia when John Beilein left and Bob Huggins took over following the 2006-07 season.

"When Beilein left, I was really upset, and I've realized how much college basketball is really a business," Bawinkel told the Rockford Register Star a year ago. "The coaching staff basically told me I wasn't going to play and I would be miserable out there."

Bawinkel played in 20 games his freshman year for West Virginia, where he averaged 1.9 points per game.

He was named the Arrowhead Conference MVP for his play for Highland this winter. Bawinkel averaged about 14 points per game and shot 48 percent from 3-point range.

That makes Bawinkel a prototypical Iowa player, now that Todd Lickliter has taken over the Hawkeye program. Coach "Lick" builds teams with long, lean, athletic jump shooters. Take a look at his former Butler program as an example.

Bawinkel chose Iowa over Eastern Michigan, Michigan and Utah State.

Hawks Sign 24 Recruits

1Hawkeye1 wants Vida — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 01:13:08 GMT

I promised this blog over two weeks ago. I've been way too busy. This will be short. Partly because of lack of time, partly because I'm just not a big believer in analyzing recruits before they've even played a down at the collegiate level. That being said, here we go.

The Hawkeyes signed 23 high school players to go with the junior college addition already on campus, forming a recruiting class that coach Kirk Ferentz said addresses Iowa's short- and long-term needs.

The Hawkeyes went heavy on skill players, signing three running backs, three quarterbacks and six defensive backs in a group that is ranked near the middle of the Big Ten by most analysts and rated 42nd nationally by Scout.com and 54th by Rivals.com.

Primarily the runningback position is where Iowa is in most dire need. Coach Kirk Ferentz feels good about a junior college RB by the name of Nate Guillory.The 5'10" 180 lb'er from Coffeyville community College in Kansas ran for 2644 yards in his two years there. The Hawkeyes will need him to step into the RB position immediately with the graduation of Albert Young and Damian Sims.

Another notable signing is the last of the Ferentz boys. A lineman, of course, Brian Ferentz. Nice hair, Brian.

Coach Lick Pops his Big Ten Cherry

1Hawkeye1 wants Vida — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 17:18:53 GMT

Michigan State brought its talent and depth, its No. 6 ranking, its 14-1 record, its celebrated head coach and roughly 100 boisterous fans into Saturday's game against Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Iowa, on the other hand, brought the embarrassment of losing by 31 points at Ohio State on Wednesday, a depleted roster and a 7-9 record into the game.

In the end, new Hawkeye head coach Todd Lickliter got his first Big Ten victory.

Iowa held Michigan State to it's lowest point total since 1952.

The game was certainly not without controversy. Even with Ed Hightower, widely known as one of the nations best officials, in the house, it seemed as if the officiating crew was sleepwalking at times. Perhaps a side effect of Iowa's success at slowing the pace of the game, at one point the refs missed an obvious extra hop taken by a State post player while attempting an inside move with the ball. The Big Ten network announcers were aghast at the no-call. But it wasn't more than a few minutes later that Kurt Looby of Iowa seemingly knocked a Spartan layup off the rim and took control of the ball. So both non-calls evened out in the end.

Coach Tom Izzo was non too pleased with the effort and performance of his highly ranked team.

"I am very disappointed. I thought that was one of the poorest overall games we've played maybe since I've been head coach," said Izzo, who has led Michigan State to four NCAA Tournament Final Fours and to the 2000 national title. "It was a total breakdown by every player on our team, and that doesn't happen very often. I don't think it will happen again, but practices will be more fun again."

"And then when I talk like that I'm not being fair to Todd and his team. To do what he did and to get them back off what they went through (against Ohio State) deserves a lot of credit."

Tony Freeman, Iowa's starting point guard made five of Iowa's 11 baskets, all coming from 3-point range. His final two treys were arguably the biggest baskets in the game.

Freeman made a 3-pointer with 4 minutes, 43 seconds left to play after Michigan State had cut the deficit to 31-30. He then made another trey from beyond the top of the key that pushed the lead to 39-34 with 1:11 left to play.

The Hawkeyes also made four of their final six free throws, including two by Freeman that expanded the lead to 41-34 with 53.4 seconds left to play.

"Playing in the Big Ten you've got to have a short memory," said Freeman, who finished with a career-high 22 points. "You take the good with the bad.

"The bad was Wednesday and the good was tonight."

New Group

1Hawkeye1 wants Vida — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 16:28:40 GMT

There's a new group forming for Big Ten basketball fans. I encourage all members of Hawkeye Huddle to join up! http://www.fannation.com/groups/show/30546

Big Time, Big Ten, Beatdown

1Hawkeye1 wants Vida — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 16:41:38 GMT

Last night was certainly a test of patience for Hawkeye fans. The Buckeyes treated us like the passed out drunk chick at a frat party. They pretty much had their way with us.

David Lighty started a 21-1 scoring run for the Buckeyes, who outscored Iowa 27-3 during the final 10:53 of the first half to take a 45-17 lead into halftime. The 17 points matched Iowa's lowest point total in half this season. The Hawkeyes also scored 17 in the first half of their loss to Wake Forest on Nov. 26. The most telling stats of the first half were; OSU no turnovers. UI 9 turnovers just 4 assists.

Todd Lickliter was asked after the game if he was embarrassed by his team's performance. "How about painful," he said. "It hurts. I'm a fairly competitive guy, and this is your job and you want to do it well. The Hawks made 6 of 33 3 pt attempts.

Sadly, with Jaryd Cole out for the year we have no inside game at all. Threes were all we could get and we didn't get many. Just imagine a Chicago Northwestern locomotive vs a pile of whipped cream. It left a big mess.

Bob Sanders hears Cha-Ching!!

1Hawkeye1 wants Vida — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 17:37:38 GMT

It hasn't been officially stated yet, but the word out of Indianapolis is that the Colts' Bob Sanders has been made the highest paid safety in the league by signing a 5 year extension worth $37.5 million with a guarantee of $20 million. This deal pays him a million more than Pittsburgh's Troy Polamolu and a higher guarantee than Ed Reed recieved when he signed his contract extension.

``I got a call late in the evening yesterday from my agent and he said he was hoping to get it done,'' Sanders said. ``I'm excited, very excited about it - knowing they want me around here makes me happy.''

It takes a special player to be a defensive leader from the safety position. Normally, the leader of a defense is a linebacker or possibly a defensive end. That's what makes Sanders so special. He is all those positions rolled into one player.

Best of all, the former Iowa Hawkeye is a quality individual. You know when he makes headlines, it is for his play on the field. Not for any arrests off it.

Congratulations Bob. Go Hawks, Go Colts!!

Let the Injuries Begin....

1Hawkeye1 wants Vida — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 17:10:55 GMT

It just wouldn't be Christmas without a Christmas tree. It wouldn't be New Year's Eve without dropping the ball at Times Square......and it wouldn't be Hawkeye sports without a rash of injuries.

You thought it was good times during football watching our athletes drop like flies at a Raid convention. Yeah, we had both point guards, Freeman (foot) and Peterson (finger) hurt for a while but, "When are the injuries really going to start piling up," you wondered. Well wonder no more. Injury season has arrived.

During the SE Louisiana game Jarryd Cole came down from a monster dunk and went to the floor clutching his knee. Big Ten network commentators remarked that he may have pulled a hamstring. But we true Hawkeye fans knew that it was time for a season ending injury and by golly we got it. Word out this morning from Iowa City is that our one inside force, freshman sensation Jarryd Cole is done for the year, having blown out his acl.

If you've seen David Palmer play, then you know how devastating this injury really is. Rebounding and interior play was not our strong point to begin with. Now it may just be non-existent. Now even more of the burden will be shifting to Peterson, Freeman, and Justin Johnson. High school teams can be guard dominating, but a D1 college team can never survive with no inside presence what so ever.

Hawkeye nation knew that this would be a tough rebuilding year. It's going to be that and then some. But I really think we will be back in a couple of years. We have some bright spots. Jeff Peterson obviously is a great point guard. He sees the floor extremely well for a freshman. But to me the biggest surprise is Jake Kelly. I really like the way he can create off the dribble.

No, it isn't going to be a banner year for Hawkeye basketball. But with a new coach, it takes time to build the foundation needed for success. Take advantage of it by getting to Carver-Hawkeye arena for a game or two. Tickets can be had easily. They may not be so easy to get in a few years. We can only hope.

Go Hawks!

RB Help is on the Way

1Hawkeye1 wants Vida — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 16:35:15 GMT

The Iowa football program has seemingly all but put a help wanted sign out for running backs and the Hawkeyes may have gained some immediate assistance with their latest recruit. Nate Guillory, a 5-foot-10, 180-pound running back from Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College has given Iowa a verbal commitment, according to Rivals.com, which ranks him the No. 42 junior college player in the country. Guillory had previously made commitments to North Carolina and most recently to Kansas State. "I decided I'm going to attend the University of Iowa, I just think the Big Ten is basically a running conference and it's a great place for me to run the ball. I think it's the best place for me to let my talent be seen and used the most." "I officially made up my mind a few days ago. The coaches up there were really excited. They said they needed a running back to come in there and help them right away." Man they weren't kidding either. The Iowa RB cupboard is absolutely bare. Iowa's top two rushers this past season, Albert Young and Damian Sims, are both seniors and freshman Jevon Pugh was the only other scholarship tailback for the Hawkeyes. Iowa picked up a running back commitment in August from Sims' cousin, Tony Cornelius. But last month the Hawkeyes lost Jason Ford to Illinois after he reportedly verbally committed to Iowa. Guillory is a good start, but it will take a lot more than just one RB. Especially considering the way we lost players to injury last year. As for bowl games; congratulations to all you Big Ten teams that got invites. I have a running bet with my Big 12 buddy. I take all the Big Ten teams in bowls, he takes all the Big 12 teams. When the two conferences meet head to head, the bet doubles. Good luck Big Ten!!

"Free" at Last

1Hawkeye1 wants Vida — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 20:48:49 GMT

With the way the Hawkeyes played against Northern Iowa then followed by the way they slept through the Iowa State game, it became painfully obvious that we need Tony Freeman like a baby needs it's mother. The difference between those two games was night and day. The word is that Freeman will be available for Friday's game against Drake. Now, yes, it would be great if he were to play. The state championship is still in our reach. If you took as much verbal abuse from Cyclone fans as I did, then you know how sweet it would be to beat Drake and claim the mythical title. But I would hate to see Tony hit the court then have to sit out again when the Big Ten season starts. As everyone knows, we haven't faced anything like what we will when conference play begins. That is when we will need every weapon we can find. Go Hawks!

When Your Back is Against the Wall.........

1Hawkeye1 wants Vida — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 18:12:10 GMT

That's when you sometimes do your best. That certainly was true for the Hawks last night vs Northern Iowa. Coming into the game, we were down to 8 players suiting up for the contest. Jeff Peterson, our starting point guard, was attending a family funeral. Dan Bohall drank himself into a suspension. Those two things by themselves made it look like a long shot against a real fine 6-1 Panther team. There was one ray of hope, though. Tony Freeman was back after a four weeks with a broken foot. He and Jake Kelly gave Iowa just the boost we needed. Kelly lead iowa with 19 pts, a career high for the freshman. Overall, the Hawks shot 10/17 from the 3 pt line and outrebounded the Panthers 37-16. The turnovers continued to be a point of concern for Iowa as we tallied 18 of them. They really piled up when UNI began to press with less than 2 minutes left. Greg Coleman of the Panthers said it best, "they just worked harder than us. They fought a lot harder on the boards than we did." That make Iowa 1-0, in the in state battle. UNI falls to 1-1. Drake is 1-0 after drilling Iowa State who fell to 0-2. Next up? The hated 'Clones at Hilton Coliseum. Go Hawks!!