Yes we are headed into football season and fall is almost here, but it's always a good time to talk a little Iowa baseball. Tom Kakert and Kyle Huesmann hop on the Hawkeye Report Podcast to talk about the remaking of the Iowa baseball roster in this off-season. We open talking about Rick Heller's portal haul that includes several players who were highly sought out of high school and are looking for a restart to their college career. That includes a star player from the Cedar Rapids area who could be a great bounce back candidate.  We talk about the new pictching coach and while he is young, he has rapidly jumped up the MLB ranks in recent years. Then we talk about the pretty strong haul of players from the prep ranks, including a star in-state pitcher who could contribute right away.  Finally we take a quick look at the Iowa women's soccer team, who opens play this week. What does Kyle Husemann think of the new head coach and the team that he has assembled. 

This week the Iowa football team will hold their annual media day and Kids Day open practice at Kinnick Stadium. Tom Kakert is joined by Chad Leistikow from the Des Moines Register to talk about what they are expecting and hoping to learn this week about the Hawkeye football team.  We open with a discussion about the hottest topic heading into the season, the quarterback battle and why we expect it will carry over into the season. What do we think of the race and who could end up winning the race?  Then we move over to talking about defense and the concerns surrounding the defensive line and their lack of experience this year. Is it wrong to doubt a Phil Parker defense and what do we need to see from that group early this season? Are we buying into Cam Buffington being the next great middle linebacker at Iowa?  On the offensive side, we talk about is Kade Pieper and if he is going to be a center this year. Will Cael Winter be in the starting five, potentially at center? Is this the best potential collection of skill position players in several years and are we buying the hype surrounding transfer Tony Diaz?  We also discuss special teams and what our concerns could be with a new placekicker, a new punter, and someone taking over as  the return man. We think the coverage teams will be solid, but what about the return game and kicking game.  Finally we look at some of the over-unders for Big Ten teams and who we like and who we don't like this year in the conference. 

The college football season is rapidly approaching and it's time to do a look at the Big Ten from a season win total perspective. We are joined by our good friend Trent Condon to talk about the conference from a gambling perspective. We run down most of the conference and look at their win totals this season and try to predict if they will go over or under the total.  Will Indiana have another huge season? What about Ohio State, who comes into the season as the conference favorite? We both have Oregon as our conference favorite, why? What about the Iowa Hawkeyes this year? Will they exceed their win total of 7.5 this season? We have a disagreement on that one and a bet for the college football playoff involving the Hawkeyes.  Then we talk a bit about the start of fall camp in Iowa City. What about the Hawkeye team concerns us? Why we don't have the quarterback position at the top of that list? What are our concerns about Iowa's special teams? Are there worries about the Hawkeyes along the defensive line?  You can listen/watch Trent's new radio show at this link: https://www.youtube.com/@TheRushRadioNetwork On3/Rivals/Hawkeye Report have a special offer running until August 12th. 75% off a yearly subscription. Massive discount. Under $30 for the entire year! Join us here: https://www.on3.com/teams/iowa-hawkeyes/join/ Finally, check out the great Randy Ingle and his fantasitic Hawkeye art work. Great signed prints of all-time great Hawkeyes. go to https://underthekitchen.square.site/

It's a special edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast. Tom Kakert and Matt Randazzo are joined by former Hawkeye and the All-Time leading scorer in Iowa men's basketball history, Luka Garza.  Garza will be back in Iowa this month hosting a pair of camps. One in Fayette on August 17th and the other in Indianola on the 19th. More information can be found at LukaGarzaSkillsAcademy.com We visit with the former National Player of the Year about his camps and continuing to give back to the Iowa community. We talk to him about playing for hte Celtics this past season and starting Game 7 against Philadelphia in the NBA Playoffs and what that experience was like for him. He also talks about how he made the most of his opportunity this season in Boston and how he is working to prepare for this season.  Also, we discuss the Hawkeyes today and his thoughts on their run in the NCAA Tournament and how he was also watching Fran McCaffery at Penn and how great that was to see them have success. Garza has picked up a new hobby, the game of golf. He talks about how he has been playing with Tyler Cook and who is winning those battles. 

The Hawkeye Report Podcast is back late in the week as we look back at what we learned at Big Ten Football Media Days in Chicago. Iowa was on day one and Kirk Ferentz said a few things that were pretty surprising. He gave a glowing review of transfer wide receiver Tony Diaz and his potential this fall. What did we think of those comments?  Ferentz also talked about the offensive line and threw a new name into the mix. We discuss what could potential happen with that starting five and how Ferentz feels good about up to eight players who could be ready to contribute. WE also discuss the concerns along the defensive line and how Ferentz said that they are going to play a lot of guys at this position group. Finally, what about the defenisve backfield? Where will Zach Lutmer play and who will be the other Hawkeyes that fit in around him? Is special teams also a group where there is concerns going into fall camp?  Then we switch over to women's basketball recruiting. Kyle Huesmann was on the road last weekend in Chicago talking and evaluating the top prospects for the Hawkeyes in the Class of 2027, 2028 and beyond. He breaks down who the top targets are in the Class of 2027 and their chances with them. We wrap up with a few notes on the Iowa baseball team adding a couple of very interesting prospects in the transfer portal. 

We are pleased to have Iowa football Chief of Staff and General Manager Tyler Barnes join us today on the Hawkeye Report Podcast.  As usual, we have a wide ranging conversation with Barnes about Iowa football recruiting and the team in general. We open the show talking about how important the Iowa Swarm was to the success of Hawkeye football the last four years and how it stepped in and filled a massive void in the new era of college athletics when it was desperately needed.  We then dive into the state of recruiting now in the NIL era and how it is basically a wild west show. How does he go about trying to verify financial offers to prospects? How much is tampering a part of college football today and how does he address it?  After that we discuss the current 2027 recruiting class. While we can't discuss specific names because of NCAA rules, Barnes shares with us how many more players they will seek to sign and what positions might be a need.  He also talks about the upcoming 5 for 5 rule, which allows players to play five full years at the college level. How is that impacting recruiting.  We look back at Iowa's transfer haul this past winter and the philosophy that they went with to aquire players and how they went about doing that and targeting players who could be at Iowa for two or more years. We also talk about how they found Tony Diaz and Tyler Brown, who were two top targets for the Hawkeyes in the portal.  Also, we look back at how Barnes and Tim Lester went about deciding on not going after a quarterback in the portal this past winter and the evaluation process that took place.  Finally, we talk about Tom Moore, at 87 years of age, joining the Iowa staff this spring and what he has brought to the table as a coach and a person. 

It's another edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast and we have a lot of ground to cover. Tom Kakert and Kyle Huesmann are joined by special guest Tyler Daugherty, who is the GM of the Field of Dreams Ballpark, which will host an Iowa baseball game against Kansas this fall. He talks about how the October 10th event came together and what fans can expect.  Then we move on to saying goodbye to a pair of great Hawkeyes who passed away recently and then it's on to sports, specifically Iowa women's basketball. We were at practice this week and share what we saw and what we learned. We also talk about what Jan Jensen and the players had to say after practice.  After that we talk women's basketball recruiting. Kyle will be out on the road this weekend at an event in Chicago and previews some of the top prospects he will be watching at the event.  Then we move to men's basketball recruiting. One of Iowa's point guard targets in the Class of 2027 is announcing his college choice this weekend. We tell you where it appears he will be heading to. Then we give you the latest on five star point guard Cayden Daughtry and what is next in his recruitment.  Finally we talk Big Ten Media Days for football, which takes place starting on Tuesday in Chicago. The Hawkeyes will be talking on Tuesday. What do we expect to hear from Kirk Ferentz and the players? What will be the hot topics next week?  We want to thank our new podcast sponsor, Randy Ingle, who owns Under the Kitchen and has outstanding artwork of your favorite Iowa football, basketball players and wrestlers. Give his work a look at underthekitchen.square.site and purchase it for your mancave. 

We continue our summer coaches series by visiting with former Iowa player and current Hawkeye tight end coach, Abdul Hodge. The conversation begins with discussing what he has learned about coaching the position and on offense in the last five years? How does he lean to the tradition of the tight end position at Iowa and the success that the players have had with the Hawkeyes.  Then we talk about recruiting today and if it is a transaction or if it is more of a relationship business. How Is Hodge seeing things from a parent perspective with his son, A.J. being recuited as a football player at Iowa City West High School?  After that we are talking about the group of tight ends that he will be working with this fall. We start by discussing the return of senior Addison Ostrenga and run down the entire tight end room, including emerging star D.J. Vonnahme, and all the way down to new freshman Luke Brewer. 

We have been off for nearly two weeks, but the Hawkeye Report Podcast is back in action this week. We have plenty to get caught up on and start with Tom Kakert reviewing his trip to Las Vegas to watch NBA Summer League with several former Hawkeyes taking part, and three days spent at the Nike EYBL event. We have plenty to say about five star point guard Cayden Daughtry and his performance in the event.  Where do the Hawkeyes stand with the talented guard? Are the Hawkeyes in the lead. Plus we discuss the interesting angle that developed in Vegas and that was former Hawkeye Bennett Stirtz showing up at the EYBL games to watch Daughtry and Tate McCollum and what questions Daughtry asked him and what he thought of the talented point guard. Then we talk some football and get caught up on our fearless forecast, which was published for the 23rd straight year on July 4th. What was the record that we picked for the Hawkeyes? Who are we predicting they lose to this year? We also look at the ten bold predictions for the Iowa football team this season and what some of those are. 

We continue our summer podcast series with a first time guest on the Hawkeye Report Podcast. Tom Kakert is joined by the host of Locked On Hawkeyes Podcast and now former KXNO host, Trent Condon. It's been an eventful week for Condon and he discusses the last week for him from a professional sense with the owners of KXNO essentially dumping all the talent at the station. We spend the bulk of the time on this podcast talking Iowa football and basketball. We open that discussion by talking about Hawkeye football. The conversation starts with the concerns heading into the season regarding the Iowa defense, particularly the tackle position. We break down the line, the linebackers, and Zach Lutmer and the Hawkeye secondary. Is this as simple as in Phil Parker we trust?  Then we move to special teams. There's a whole lot of change at the position, starting with the coordinator and then moving on to both the kicker and the punter, along with finding a new return man. Then we move to the offensive side of the ball and discuss the quarterback battle, the upgrade of talent at receiver and if it will pay dividends, and why the offensive line will be strong again this season. Plus we look at Iowas win total of 7.5. Will they go over or under that total. After that we move on to men's basketball and talk about the program that Ben McCollum is building. We discuss the addition of Andrew McKeever and what he will do for the Iowa team and McCollum having a legit seven footer for the first time and what that might be like. Could we see a twin towers look for the Hawkeyes? What about the development of Trevin Jirak? And we talk about scheduling and how McCollum has put together a solid non-conference slate of games.