Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / Hawkeye talk with David Eickholt, Bill Bender on Big 12 Media Days & Trent's Picks presented by Circa Sports

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Hawkeye talk with David Eickholt, Bill Bender on Big 12 Media Days & Trent's Picks presented by Circa Sports · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

0:08
I'm Miller Condon, hour number two.
0:09
Welcome back Trent Condon. Ken Miller with you until just
0:13
before the top of the hour. Off the bench at that time, Sean
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Roberts, Lucas strain off the bench, 2 until 5.
0:21
Overtime Iowa, 5 until six. Bill Bender from the Sporting
0:25
News. At the bottom of the hour, we'll
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catch up with Bill, get his reaction, what he heard so far.
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Big 12 me D days. But right now David Eichel joins
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the program. David Eichel at 24/7 Sports
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Hawkeye Insider I think they got better.
0:40
Another name in the fold, a three headed monster over there.
0:44
David Eichelt as Elliot Clough joins the firm.
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How are you? Doing well, Yeah, I appreciate
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you bringing that back up. Elliot's done a heck of a job
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already and I feel never felt better about the direction of
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the site. And we got a lot of big plans
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coming around and of course with Big 10 Media Days here in a
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couple weeks. Yeah, absolutely.
1:03
And we're all looking forward to that.
1:05
Are are you? So what day will you get there?
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I'll be there the 23rd. The morning of, I got an early
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flight out of a Des Moines. Elliot's going to join me as
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well. Sean's going to go on vacation
1:17
and he deserves it. After the transfer portal and
1:19
Ben McCall some stuff, he's been all over it so I'm happy for
1:23
him. Well, let's start.
1:24
Let's since you brought up McCollum, he got another
1:26
addition to the roster, a reclassification, a bunch of big
1:30
name schools for the services of Trey Thompson.
1:35
Your thoughts on what they were able to do this late and what
1:38
this means for Mccollum's 2526 squad?
1:42
Yeah, I mean, it's a massive get guys.
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I mean, you talk about a guy who's a perfect fit for McCollum
1:46
system on offense and defense. He's a guy that I think he'll be
1:50
really good for him to learn under all of our old full
1:53
Garris, because I think their games are relatively similar.
1:55
I do think full Garris is a little bit longer.
1:57
I think Thompson's probably a little bit more quicker, but
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they both can shoot the threes. They're both really good jump
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shooters. They can do a variety of
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different things, but you got to take your Captain McCollum here,
2:07
man, because Purdue has been the long favorite for Thompson and
2:11
they a lot of resources into recruiting him.
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Alabama offered him a scholarship, UConn offered him a
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scholarship. So from McCollum to basically
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start the relationship with Thompson maybe two or three
2:21
months ago and to get him to not just commit, but to reclassify.
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And from everything I've been told, Thompson explored the idea
2:29
of reclassifying. It wasn't something McCollum and
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the Iowa staff really forced him to do or asked him to do.
2:36
After visiting Iowa, they really start to dive deep into kind of
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what he wanted to do and it was possible for him to reclassify.
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He made a few calls and Iowa said, absolutely, we'll take you
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right now, we have a role for you, and the rest is history.
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But there's no doubt that I think it's a huge win for Luke
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Barnwell, who's going to be, I think, one of the better
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assistant recruiting assistant guys in the Big 10 and from a
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column to make a splash not just in the portal, but in the high
3:00
school rankings for a guy who had a lot of offers from some
3:04
really, really good school. So he probably won't start, but
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I do see him as kind of being that rotational piece for next
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year. You know, 1215 minutes a game,
3:11
something like that is, is that kind of what you're looking at
3:14
in terms of minutes for him here in season #1?
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You know, it's interesting, Trent, because we've tried to
3:20
break down the the minutes and the only thing that I keep
3:23
coming back to is Bennett Sturtz is getting 30. 8 on the ball,
3:28
right? That seems to be about the only
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guarantee for me because I may be full generous to go about 28
3:34
to 30. But I do believe that we're
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going to see about 8 or 9 different guys because
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everything I've heard about Tate Sage, I think it's going to be
3:41
hard to kind of keep him off the floor.
3:43
And that wasn't something I anticipated if you would have
3:45
asked me about 5 weeks ago. But the, the open practice that
3:48
we got to see, he he was arguably the second best player
3:52
seriously on the on the team for that practice, for that
3:55
practice, which again, I think is very, very important to
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mention. But maybe maybe I would say
3:59
right now 15 to 17, because I just think you look at the
4:02
versatility, I think you look at the rebounding.
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I think the big thing for Thompson is can he adjust to the
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physicality of the Big 10 and stay out foul trouble?
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About about Sage, because wasn't he like the last one to commend?
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He was, and we were kind of waiting because it felt like,
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well, after decommitting from Drake, he was just going to
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follow him. We waited, waited, and there
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wasn't a whole lot there. They did.
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String him out though, that's one thing.
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So I guess are they done now? As far as a summer practice,
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they started earlier than anybody else.
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I want to say June 1st they were on the floor.
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Are they finished now, David? Yeah, I think they're doing a
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little bit a couple different things.
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It's worth noting too. I remember full Garris was the
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guy who got to campus early and was starting to learn the system
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and they just kind of moved his his things up because he is
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going to be competing at the I believe the under 20 America for
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the FIBA European Cup for the under 20.
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So he's going to get some good experience there.
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I have not completely clocked into if they're done, but I do
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know that we have at least one more media availability with the
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men's team. I believe that's going to be
5:04
July 22nd, so that'll probably answer that last week.
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And I think right when the football kind of fall camp
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starts up, which is going to be near the end of July, I think
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that's when the basketball team will give their couple weeks
5:16
off. Speaking of basketball, women's
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media availability for you guys on Tuesday, earlier today, take
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us in a little bit to what you saw.
5:24
And boy, the speculation continues.
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Addie Deal, you know, I was trying to maybe temper
5:30
expectations. Look, Caitlin Clark was once in
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a generation, and it's not to say that she's going to be
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Caitlin Clark, but boy, it sounds like Addie Deal is going
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to be. It's incredibly hard to keep off
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the floor. I think you have to throw in the
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starting lineup, Trent, just for a moment.
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Yeah. I mean, she's that skilled, man.
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It was interesting. I was sitting with Chad Lice to
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go the Des Moines Register. Last couple of practices we've
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been able to get it took Addie Deal more than 35 minutes to
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miss more than two shots. Like I mean, look, I get they're
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not doing live five on five, but they're doing drill work.
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She's pulling up from mid range. She's pulling up fairly from
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deep from three-point range beyond the line.
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She's hitting it not quite Caitlin Clark range, but that's
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kind of impossible to expect out of anyone, right?
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But what she's been able to do early on, it's pretty
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spectacular. But I will say I do not envy Jan
6:18
Jensen and her staff because when you talk about that off
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guard spot or that three spot, you have three very capable
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people. I mean, you look at, I mean
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four, look at Addy deal, you look at you know, Emily
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Rodriguez. So I don't think people are
6:31
talking enough about I'm really intrigued by her game.
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The UCF transfer. Then you have Taylor McCabe and
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Kylie Fearbach. Really don't know how you keep
6:38
Kylie Fearbach out of starting line up with the way that she's
6:40
been able to play defense. If her three-point shot
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continues on the upward trajectory, she could be that
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Taylor McCabe is probably one of the best shooters in the
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country. I do think that there are some
6:49
question marks about the starting point guard spot.
6:52
We know Chitchat, right? The Georgia Tech transfer, like
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you need to be able to nab that. You know, it's funny too is she
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got the name Chitchat back when she was in her old AAU days when
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she was younger and they nicknamed her Chitchat because
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she didn't like to talk to anybody.
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And. It just yeah.
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And it just was sort of stuck, but it's.
7:10
Kind of a. Perfect nickname though, too,
7:12
but you know I do think there are some question marks with
7:15
this team. But when you talk about that two
7:16
to three spot, I haven't mentioned Taylor schremmelow yet
7:18
and I think you're talking about her as one of the more important
7:21
leaders on this team, especially vocally.
7:24
They have an abundance of riches, but I'm I'm I'm very
7:26
interested to see how they kind of piece things together because
7:29
I think there's a variety of different ways to go.
7:30
But with that being said, man, like Addie Deal, I don't know
7:34
how high her ceiling is guys, but she has one of the safest
7:37
floors I've ever seen because she's good at about everything.
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I don't know how many elite traits she has that will dictate
7:45
her ceiling, but she's a really, really, really good basketball.
7:48
So like a Lucy Olsen maybe? I think that would be a very
7:52
good feeling is a Lucy Olsen. But I will say probably it's a
7:56
little bit more consistent with three-point shot than Lucy.
7:58
Maybe not quite the passer Lucy was, but she might be able to
8:02
make up from that from three-point.
8:03
Range is stalky back yet? Stalky is not back yet.
8:07
I do think she's going to be with the team later this week.
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I'm sure she probably needs a couple days to get used to the
8:13
jet lag and a jump back to that schedule.
8:16
But when you bring back a gold medal, can I think a couple
8:19
perks, right? Absolutely.
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I want to shift over to football before we kind of start to get
8:23
ready for two weeks away from Vegas.
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Do want to get your perspective? Darian Jones, the latest recruit
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that Iowa got family connection with Dallas, who we got to know
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with one of the gambling contest that we did a while back.
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Good guy. He went to Iowa.
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The middle brother at Nebraska, currently on the football team.
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And now here's the youngest that is going to be a Hawkeye.
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Just a really fun story and it's always good to nab a guy out of
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Omaha that Nebraska wants. Yeah, I mean, I I really love
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his feeling. I think he's a fringe kind of
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four-star talent. He's the guy who grew up
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dreaming of playing for Iowa. I'm sure.
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I don't know if you've seen it trend or 10, but Dallas has
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tweeted out some pictures back when they were kids and Darien's
9:01
all in Iowa gear and it's like I was born to be a Hawkeye.
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I mean, a lot of really, really cool stuff.
9:06
But Phil Parker Lavar was really crushed this recruitment.
9:09
I think there was a meeting he had one-on-one with Phil Parker
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where they're breaking down his film for about 45 minutes about
9:14
how he would really become entrenched in that defense.
9:18
And he told us that's exactly when the deal was sealed for
9:21
him. Like, he committed on the spot.
9:22
They all started celebrating. So he's been a silent commit for
9:26
a few weeks. But it's a really, really cool
9:28
story. And again, you're right, man.
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I know Nebraska is pretty happy about some of the cornerback
9:32
commits that they got. But you know, for as much as
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Nebraska loved and not like keeping their hometown talent to
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really grab, I think one of the higher ceiling guys from that
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state, especially with the pressure of staying in Nebraska,
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as a Nebraska alum, I know roll your eyes in the back of your
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head, I can tell you there is so much pressure to stay in the
9:52
state to go play for Nebraska. I mean, you can equate it to
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like if you're from, you know, eastern Iowa, a lot of pressure
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become a Hawkeye, right? When you're in the Des Moines
10:01
area, it's kind of split more between Iowa and Iowa State.
10:04
There's a lot of pressure stay home and represent.
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So for him to kind of avert all that pressure, really understand
10:10
the process, go through it and they'll come up with a spot that
10:13
he feels comfortable in. You have to tip your cap off.
10:16
I want to ask about Max Llewellyn because I started to
10:20
get some buzz, some draft buzz around his name.
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What kind of year do we expect from him and does he look like a
10:27
pro to either of you? I mean, certainly flashed.
10:31
You know, I think that's the big thing for me, man.
10:32
It's how consistent can he be. I started my breakout series,
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you know, about 5 weeks ago. He was the first guy I listed.
10:39
Can I mean you just look at that, he has such violent hands.
10:42
That slim movie has. We saw this spin move he put on
10:45
display a couple times. I do think he has to be a little
10:48
bit more aware of how to stop the run and to stop the run.
10:51
But when you talk about a guy, if you say hey, pin your ears
10:54
back, go get the quarterback. He has great athleticism.
10:58
He has really solid straight line speed.
11:00
He can do a variety of different things.
11:02
He's a guy to me that's capable of getting 8 1/2 to up to 10
11:05
facts this season. I'm not going to say that he's
11:08
going to do it. But if you just look at the
11:10
flashes he's had and kind of his journey throughout his entire
11:14
football career, because remember, if you look back to
11:16
his freshman and sophomore year of high school, he had to put on
11:19
another £4550 just to really play that defensive line.
11:23
He was able to do that. So I'm looking at that kind of
11:26
similar story to happen in his college career, obviously not
11:28
with the weight game, but just as far as putting his game
11:31
together. He understands it Now we know
11:34
there's going to be a rotation of, you know, defensive lineman
11:36
with, with, you know, Jay Neiman and Calvin Bell with what
11:40
they've been able to do. I, I'm not going to be surprised
11:42
if they go 9 to 10 deep. I think they're certainly
11:45
capable of that. But Llewellyn's the guy.
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I think it's going to be really difficult to kind of take off.
11:49
And I, I think the same way about Aaron Graves as well.
11:52
But I'm very, very excited about Llewellyn.
11:54
I do think he's going to end up being drafted.
11:57
So I want to go to the tight end position.
11:58
We haven't talked a ton about it.
12:00
Addison Estranga has been a part part of the program.
12:02
The more of that kind of traditional inline type of tight
12:04
end or we're showing an ability to go down the field.
12:07
But out of that young group, you bring in three guys this year.
12:10
Mason Woods Thomas Meyer Eli Johnson Thomas Meyer is a guy go
12:14
to you know, it's not very often that Miami in Texas A&M are
12:17
hanging out at Clear Lake looking at a football prospect,
12:19
but that's the case here. Could Meyer be a guy not a huge
12:22
role by Eddie means, but we see him out there maybe for the four
12:25
games still maintain that red shirt status.
12:27
This Meyer have that kind of upside with two entrenched guys
12:30
in front of him with the Stranga Nortworth.
12:32
You know, I think so. And, and Trent, I got to tell
12:35
you, I've been on this beat since 2018.
12:37
I followed Iowa football most of my life and I I obviously
12:41
there's so much respect for the tight end tradition that Iowa
12:43
has. Have you ever seen a season with
12:46
this much question marks around the tight end?
12:48
Yeah, yeah, like. I I think Afna Srenga, we've
12:52
seen him flash, we've heard all the buzz Buz, Zach Wortworth.
12:55
But when I'm talking about proven production, we just
12:59
really don't see a guy this year.
13:01
And again, you don't need to have that guy.
13:04
When you're trying to get the ball more to wide receivers and
13:05
you have, you know, Caleb Johnson in your backfield, I'm
13:07
pretty sure you don't want to take touches away.
13:09
From him, right? But Caleb Johnson's gone.
13:12
I think there's definitely a number of guys that can step up
13:14
to the plate, but I think this is going to be a huge year for
13:17
for Abdul Hajj. I mean, as far as I'm not saying
13:20
as far as the job security thing, but they're really kind
13:23
of solidify his stamp as kind of being that tight end whisper,
13:27
right? These guys have played a lot of
13:28
football. It's time to piece it together.
13:31
But I I got to tell you of every position on this roster is but
13:35
at least on offense, I got the most question marks about the
13:38
tight end. I think I don't want to get out
13:40
of everyone else. And I, I cannot remember a year
13:43
ever where I've sat back and said that.
13:45
And that preceded you 2018 when you joined the beat?
13:48
I mean, think of the, I mean think of the list.
13:50
But there's some questions there this year.
13:52
I never thought about it that way.
13:54
David Eichelt, well done. What about on the defensive side
13:57
of the ball? As far as questions go for you,
14:00
the biggest one. Would be, I think we know.
14:02
I think we know what we're going to get out of the secondary.
14:05
Obviously, I love Cohen entering her, being into that starting
14:08
lineup and off the safety side of Xavier Wampa.
14:10
I do think we need to see a quarterback one emerge.
14:14
Can do they have a guy on the roster that can do that?
14:16
I don't know. I got to tell you, man, it's the
14:18
linebackers and I think you have to give a lot of respect to
14:22
them. They've weighed their turn.
14:23
Teammates are talking very highly about them.
14:25
But I go back to the same thing as as the off as the tight ends.
14:29
How much proven production is there?
14:32
We know that they've gotten a ton of reps in the spring
14:34
because that's when they like to rest.
14:35
Jay Higgins and and senior citizen Nick Jackson by that
14:39
point. That guy has been around a time
14:41
or two in college football. I call him the Jordan Bohannon
14:44
of college football. But I also think like Carson
14:47
Schwar, we've heard a lot of really good things about Jane
14:49
Harrell. He obviously got some time in
14:51
that UCLA game. We've heard a lot about Zack
14:54
Lutmer. We've seen some athletic players
14:55
from Zack Lutmer in that cash spot.
14:58
But is there a guy that can go in there and get 90 plus
15:01
tackles, can be that guy that can go out there and make a big
15:04
time play? They've had three at all three
15:06
linebacker spots throughout the past couple years.
15:09
This year, I mean that that's going to be the first thing I
15:11
look for. Can they protect over the middle
15:14
or they go like tight ends go crazy?
15:15
Can they protect some of these in routes that just end up going
15:18
from 7 to 8 yard games and it's 25 to 30, right?
15:22
I think that's going to be a big, big deal and something that
15:24
posing offenses are really going to channel in on early and test
15:27
them. You mentioned Carson Shire.
15:30
It feels like we've been hearing about this guy for five years,
15:32
years. And I got some friends from the
15:33
Iowa Falls area. That's where he grew up.
15:35
So heard about this kid going back to high school.
15:37
What we've always heard about him incredible athlete, can run
15:40
with. AK.
15:41
Yes, Carson with AK Shire spelled SHARAR, trying to figure
15:46
that one out, but he's been bagged up throughout the course
15:49
of his career. Do we know what those injuries
15:51
were? It just feels like this, well,
15:52
he's hurt again and that's kind of been the end game for it.
15:55
Do we know what kind of injuries he's dealt with throughout the
15:57
course of his career? That's kind of what I've been
16:00
told when I've talked to sources because you also need to
16:02
understand, I'm sure that you're the same sources have told you
16:04
he's the guy that just says he isn't hurt.
16:07
Like that's just the way he's wired.
16:09
Again, I, I the second Jordan Bohan reference I'll make and
16:12
that's something I definitely deny anticipate when we start
16:14
this segment. Well, if you ask him what his
16:16
injuries are, I'm fine. I don't know what you're talking
16:19
about. Like that's exactly the way that
16:21
he is sort of wired too. So I probably need to dive a
16:24
little bit deeper into that. I'm sure we'll be able to hear
16:26
during media days. Maybe he'll let down down his
16:28
guard a little, a little bit. But at the same time too, there
16:31
are a couple of guys I'm going to keep in mind that just early
16:35
names, right? What about Derek Weiscoff?
16:38
What about that linebacker class that sort of come in behind
16:41
them? What about Preston Reeves?
16:43
I mean, they have guys behind them that I do think despite
16:46
being younger athletically and upside wise, I think they're
16:50
going to be able to push some of these guys.
16:51
Now, I'm not saying they're ever going to start over at Jane
16:53
Harrell or Zach Lummer or, you know, whoever else may enter the
16:56
fold or Carson, but there's going to be some good
17:00
competition in that room. So I do know Seth Wallace is
17:03
pretty, pretty confident about the future in his room.
17:06
So it it'll definitely be interesting.
17:08
I think fall camps could be a lot of fun and I will have my
17:11
calendar circled whenever they have that kids day because my
17:14
eyes will be glued on that linebacker unit.
17:17
Good stuff, David. I Colt.
17:18
Anything else? Trent Condon, good stuff.
17:20
David, appreciate what you do for us.
17:22
Congrats on the addition over there at 24/7 Sports.
17:25
hawkeyeinsider.com. David, thank you.
17:27
We'll see you in Vegas. Yeah, I can't wait to see you
17:30
guys in Vegas. Take care.
17:31
Good to talk to you, David Eichel, 24/7 Sports.
17:34
We check in on the Hawkeyes. Their win total?
17:37
Seven and a half, 6 1/2. Some places it's fallen.
17:40
To yeah, FanDuel, I think was one that maybe headed at six and
17:43
a half, 7 1/2 at Circus, where you can find them juice all over
17:46
the place depending on where you're shopping.
17:49
So many swing games in this sketch.
17:50
Yeah, there really are. There really are.
17:54
Starting in Week 2. Starting in Week 2, you know
17:56
what? I'm, I'm going Iowa.
17:58
I'm going Iowa this year. I am this, this, this rivalry
18:02
seems to flip back and forth. Iowa.
18:05
It's just that Iowa State's travel, when is it going to
18:07
catch up with them? Right?
18:08
That trip to Ireland, Yeah, it's great for the fans.
18:11
It's cool that you know all the eyeballs.
18:13
College football will be salivating.
18:15
It'll do a big television number in week #0 but the fact they got
18:18
to come back and play another game before that one, I'm going,
18:23
I'm going. I win the side Hawk game this
18:24
year. The last time Iowa State won in
18:29
Jack Trice against Iowa was it's.
18:32
Been a while it's. Been a long while, 2011 that.
18:38
Long. 4441 Steele, Jans, Heisman It.
18:42
Was unbelievable game and the register had a phenomenal
18:45
picture of memory serves of the winning touchdown in the
18:49
whatever overtime period it was. That was unbelievable.
18:54
Yeah, I'm I'm taking Iowa is this is and then again we're in
18:57
July the 8th. I got the you know, the little
18:59
time to change my opinion if I see something that comes up.
19:02
But at this point, I think I'm all in the Hawks on this one.
19:05
2011. Jeez, didn't realize it was that
19:07
long. Then last year Conradi splits
19:10
the sticks. Unbelievable, unbelievable game.
19:14
And the last time that Iowa won a Kinnock Stadium would have
19:18
been 2018. Isn't that weird?
19:22
It is weird when you put it like that.
19:25
Yeah, that is kind of weird. And the numbers, what, Three, 1
19:29
1/2 I've seen. One and a halfs I've seen.
19:31
I haven't seen any threes. I've seen one and a halfs and
19:33
two and. A halfs circa have a three.
19:35
Oh, do they? Now?
19:37
That's a good question. I can pull it back up here
19:39
because it was FanDuel that had Iowa favorite.
19:42
That was the only place that had Iowa favorite, if memory serves.
19:46
All right, college football a Week 0 Cyclone's still getting
19:51
3. Maybe you know what?
19:52
Maybe that's what I'm thinking. Maybe I'm thinking the K State
19:54
game? Let's go to Week 2 as we're
19:57
scrolling through the games. Iowa Iowa State Week 2.
20:03
Those are all week one games. Don't see it listed here all.
20:06
Right, well, we'll take a time out.
20:07
Come back, We'll talk to Bill Bender.
20:08
College football will pick his brain on how he sees the Big 12
20:12
this year. Before we go to break, it's time
20:15
to give your listeners an opportunity here to win $1000 in
20:19
this nationwide contest, Go to kxno.com.
20:23
KX no.com. Let's open anybody listening
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20:38
Miller and Condon Bill Bender joins us next on It's KXNO on
20:42
the Iowa Sports Radio Network. I'm Hillary Condon, welcome back
21:02
Iowa Sports Radio Network. Trent and I with you until noon
21:06
at the top of the hour off the bench, they take over from 2:00
21:10
until 5. Sean Roberts, Lucas Strain
21:12
talking sports with you right up until 5 O clock overtime Iowa,
21:17
from 5:00 until 6A. Snippet from the morning show
21:20
from our show and the afternoon show makes up overtime Iowa
21:25
working on both Bill Bender from the Sporting News.
21:28
He's covering the Big 12 hoped that we were going to be able to
21:31
Tara pry him away for a couple of minutes to get his take on
21:34
what he's heard here today on a number of topics.
21:38
Of course, Brett Yormart going out there on a standing on an
21:42
island, maybe not. There's others that that believe
21:44
this is the best format, the 511 as well.
21:48
We'll see if that's the path that they end up taking.
21:52
I think that if I was the Big 12, I would take, I would take
21:58
the 2 automatic bids. I would 4/4 ACC two Big 12, two
22:04
Notre Dame one and the other three, meaning that that's
22:06
potentially available if indeed there's a another team in the
22:10
Big 12 that's worthy. Let's get Bill Bender in here.
22:13
He's been watching the Big 12 media days.
22:15
Bill Trenton, again, thanks for giving us a few minutes.
22:17
I'm prying you away from watching that.
22:19
So I guess we should start with your mark and I read your piece
22:22
during the break. You've already got it up at
22:24
sportingnews.com. Just, you know, regarding the
22:27
playoff and and your Mark's reluctance to accept the 2
22:31
dramatic bids, but to really risk, I guess.
22:33
And I think that's what they're doing.
22:35
I really do. I would take the two Bill, but
22:38
that's me. How do you do is your Mark who
22:41
hasn't admittedly has not made about a lot of missteps, very
22:45
few since he's taken over the reins of the Big 12.
22:48
I think this is a mistake. How about you?
22:51
Well, I, I think I enjoy the confidence, you know, he has the
22:54
confidence to say, hey, we, we should get 2 bids this year and
22:58
he's endorsing the 511 model and doubled down on it.
23:01
So I agree with him on all of that.
23:03
I I think the execution from the Big 12 standpoint is they've got
23:06
to go out and do it. You know, they, they face an
23:10
uphill battle with the perception battle, especially in
23:13
the polls. Like, you know, Arizona State
23:15
was ranked 12th last year in the final poll and won the
23:18
conference. So, you know, replacing that
23:21
void left by Oklahoma and Texas is huge.
23:25
And it's the paradox of college football.
23:27
Kenya, you want parody in your conference, but in the set up
23:32
you also need to have those two one or two super powers like
23:35
Ohio State. They get you births every year.
23:37
Yeah, What kind of parody is it Is mediocre?
23:40
Is it mediocrity? And that's kind of, I hate to
23:43
say it, but it's kind of no. Arizona stayed a phenomenal
23:46
year. They had a.
23:46
Terrific year and they had Texas on the ropes.
23:48
And they did. I mean, was it 3931 or
23:52
something? In the end was a hell of a game.
23:55
So what else did your mark say that got your attention?
23:57
If anything, Bill. No, just the, you know, I think
24:01
he's done a fantastic job with the job he was given, you know,
24:05
post Texas, Oklahoma. I like that he agrees.
24:09
I agree with him on the, if we're going to do a 511 model,
24:13
that's the one I'll take over the other ones that have been
24:16
presented. I I like his aggressiveness and
24:18
I like that he promotes the parody of the conference.
24:20
There's no doubt you're going to see that in one of the strengths
24:24
of the Big 12 that he leaned into already is Shador Sanders
24:28
led the conference in passing last year.
24:31
The next 10 quarterbacks are back.
24:33
So I think that quarterback play is going to dictate a lot of
24:37
things in the Big 12 this year. Fairpoint.
24:39
Your projections for the College Football Playoff have Arizona
24:42
State in there from the Big 12. What would be the concern for
24:46
you? Scataboo obviously was a huge
24:48
part of what they did a season ago, but when you look at that
24:50
team obviously going from 16 in the preseason poll to #1 what
24:55
else concerns you about the Sun Devils coming into the season?
24:58
Well, close games, right? So like TCU a few years ago won
25:01
the close games and then they didn't win them.
25:03
Arizona State won close games last year.
25:05
Will they not win them this year?
25:07
You know, I saw Kalani Sataki up there earlier.
25:09
BYU won a lot of close games last year.
25:12
Will that be the case again? And I didn't realize I totally
25:15
skipped my mind that, you know, four teams finished seven and
25:19
two last year in conference play.
25:21
So, you know, do you get on the wrong side of that?
25:24
So while Arizona State is the easy pick, not easy, but I mean,
25:28
the convenient pick with Sam Levitt back and all of that, now
25:33
there are plenty of other teams that could jump in there and win
25:35
the conference. And yeah, I just think that
25:37
first game, Iowa State, Kansas State is going to tilt the
25:43
conference race one way or the other toward the winner of that
25:47
game. Yeah, tiebreaker 100%, right.
25:49
You mentioned BYU. Has there been any, I guess,
25:52
decision or any closure on the quarterback position?
25:55
Is Rutzlaff going to be at BYU? I mean, we heard that that the
26:01
student, what do they call it, student honour code, that he
26:04
broke that and he's not going to be able to stay at BYU.
26:08
Then the the woman he was with kind of drops the charges very
26:11
quickly after that. Where are we Did was there any,
26:15
I guess any final decision on who, if he will be back at BYU?
26:22
I believe that's still pending, but you know, when it gets into
26:26
that honor code versus legal matters.
26:28
And then I did see that they dropped the case and I, I'm
26:31
going to apologize. I didn't see if Kalani addressed
26:34
that today. I'm sure he did.
26:36
So that's when I missed today. Baylor seems to be that team
26:40
that is creating, watch out for them.
26:42
They're just keep building more and more buzz as the season goes
26:45
on. We know about Arizona State,
26:47
Texas Tech, with the way that they have spent and continue to
26:49
spend towards next season, obviously Kansas State, Iowa
26:52
State, what they kind of do year in to year out.
26:54
Baylor after the run they made in the back half of the a year,
26:57
Dave Aranda maybe saving his job.
26:59
They did some work in the portal with some wide receivers to help
27:02
out. Sawyer Robertson.
27:04
Are you believe in the hype that this is a contender for a Big 12
27:07
title? For sure, Ken was on to them
27:10
too. I'm going to give Ken credit for
27:12
this one because he said something to me about two months
27:14
ago on here and it stuck with me, You know, and I think some
27:18
of it is the way that Sawyer Robertson finished last year on
27:21
that heater that, you know, he got really hot toward the end of
27:24
the year. They lost LSU, but he still had
27:26
a really good game and what an opener they have against Auburn.
27:30
So Baylor is a team that we didn't have ranked, but I could,
27:34
if you were like, hey Billy, pick a team that it's totally
27:38
going to win the Big 12. That isn't right.
27:40
If it wasn't going to be them I would probably pick like Texas
27:43
Tech. Yeah, not, not not crazy.
27:46
I think both of them are are going to be major players this
27:49
year. I don't think Colorado takes the
27:51
stage today. But regardless, they do.
27:53
And I'm going to ask you anyways, what kind of what kind
27:56
of year awaits Deion Sanders this year?
27:58
Obviously, I mean, they're 2 mega stars have moved on to the
28:02
NFL. What?
28:03
What are Buff's expectations this year?
28:06
Realistic ones, do you think, Bill?
28:08
Well, I I mean, it starts with Kaden Salter.
28:10
What does the offense look like with him?
28:12
It's going to be different. He runs more.
28:14
He has 1600 rushing yards the last two seasons at Liberty and
28:19
and Dion. I think we'll have to answer
28:20
questions about his health tomorrow.
28:22
Right now, how much he divulges, we'll see, but I think it'll be
28:25
less of the. Fanfare of past.
28:27
Seasons, but more of a let's see if they can grind out seven wins
28:31
type team. And you know, the first surprise
28:33
is there were a lot of critics. I, I don't think if I, I don't
28:37
think I ever got on this part, but that I, I would openly
28:40
wondered was he going to coach when his kids aren't there and
28:44
it looks like he's going to and, you know, can they maintain that
28:47
excitement? Yet another Big 12 team that has
28:50
a huge opener. Georgia Tech Friday night in
28:53
Boulder and a lot of fun. Georgia, Texas A sneaky good
28:56
team in the ACCI think. Maine's King Stud, as long as
29:00
he's healthy, and he should be at the beginning of the year
29:02
when he plays. I don't know about the end, but
29:04
boy, he is just an absolute stud.
29:06
Speaking of coaches that kind of create their own headlines, Mike
29:09
Gundy is going to bring their only bringing three players with
29:11
him. That's on the low end.
29:13
As many as six players from some teams, only three going.
29:16
Every time Gundy in his twenty year careers had his back
29:19
against the wall, he's responded.
29:20
Last year was a huge disappointment.
29:22
Does he respond this season? Well, I mean, it'll start at the
29:27
podium. He is consistently good for us
29:31
because he'll, he'll deliver something on the podium tomorrow
29:34
that we're right about. I don't know what, you know,
29:36
last year, unfortunately, it was about a Holly Gordon, but and in
29:42
in the DUI that he had last year.
29:44
But it they are an interesting team because, you know, remember
29:47
at the end of last season, there was a lot of reporting that
29:50
Gundy might be on the way out. This is over.
29:53
You know, he's had this long time run at his school and has
29:55
done a very nice job there. So I think they are under the
29:57
pressure a little bit, you know, just a few years removed from
30:01
winning the thing and they actually win a Big 12
30:05
championship and they've been to that conference championship
30:08
game. They've had some really good
30:09
teams, but I think there is some pressure for them to get in that
30:12
mix. I remember last year, I don't
30:14
think I picked them to win the conference, but I I think I had
30:17
them definitely in the top three.
30:19
How, how big of how heavy, I guess, is the lift for Rich Rod
30:22
as he makes his way back to West Virginia?
30:25
This is this year's Arizona State meeting.
30:27
I think everybody's got them picked last.
30:29
How big of a rebuild weights at West Virginia?
30:33
Well, they'll give him time and you know, I know there it's that
30:36
good to come home again. Story.
30:38
They've got some guys on that defensive side of the ball that
30:40
can play. I think they'll start at the
30:42
quarterback position. There's a lot of nostalgia right
30:45
now in Morgantown, especially after bringing back Pat White
30:49
and Steve Slayton or well, Pat White and Steve Slayton just
30:53
makes the pictures and man, those teams were fun.
30:55
So it might be a minute before they can bring that back.
30:58
But you know, you look at what Richard's done since leaving
31:01
Michigan. I he had some success and I fall
31:04
out of Arizona. He did well at Jacksonville
31:06
State. And I just, you know, I'm a big
31:08
fan of maybe it's just from being the state up in Ohio.
31:12
I'm always a fan of coming home again.
31:14
And I hope he does have success. So what does your schedule look
31:17
like? ACC around the corner of course.
31:19
SCC Big 10, where are you going to be?
31:22
Any travels for you here coming up in the July for media days?
31:25
You guys are going to be mad. I'm going to ACC because our
31:28
offices are there and I'm going to sneak in some office time and
31:33
a little bit shorter trip in Vegas.
31:35
But so you guys are, I'm going to miss it, but I'm sure you
31:39
guys will hold down the Fort at Big 10.
31:41
Got another editor going to SEC next week.
31:43
So I'll be watching on the TVA little bit.
31:44
But I've been watching all day today.
31:46
Just trying to get a get ahead and listen to what these coaches
31:51
have to say and see if there's anything good.
31:53
Well, let's you get back to it. Bill Bender, Sporting News.
31:55
Bill, thank you as always, buddy.
31:56
Appreciate it. Hey no problem, thanks for
31:58
having me on. Take care.
31:58
Good to talk to you, Bill Bender from The Sporting News.
32:01
That makes sense for him to make that.
32:04
And you know what? At at the end of the day, it
32:06
it's wonderful to go to these events.
32:09
They're all on TV, right? Yeah.
32:11
I I don't want to say that too loud.
32:13
Well, the biggest part is not the podium stuff, no, it's the
32:17
on the side stuff. It's stuff that's not on.
32:19
TV, you know, last year, talking to Campbell on the side, I got a
32:21
couple of questions and look, I'm not on the beat.
32:24
Some of my questions are just things that have stuck in my
32:26
head. I know like I go to Ben McCollum
32:33
a couple of weeks ago during that availability when he
32:35
dropped just that little nugget when he was talking about, yeah,
32:38
we can look at Europe. We can look at there's still
32:41
some guys in the portal or guys reclassifying.
32:44
Was that him already with things in the works or?
32:47
Was it as we know now? I'm thinking probably so.
32:50
And the next time I talked to Coach McCollum, I'm going to ask
32:52
that because those are the stupid things that still rattle
32:54
around in my brain. Because we we look at things a
32:57
lot differently than the the beat people.
32:59
The beat people talk to them all the time, have questions that
33:02
are more newsworthy. But I just have different kind
33:05
of things. And that's where I feel like at
33:06
these media days, I'm able to ask different type of things,
33:09
you know, like I did with Campbell.
33:11
You know, I had a couple questions with him on the side
33:12
and there's five or six other beep reporters around there and
33:15
other people there. But I think that's some of the
33:17
good things that you get with actually being there as opposed
33:20
to just being able to watch it. On Have you seen a transcript
33:22
from your market and have not? Yeah, neither have I, because I
33:24
want to know if anybody asked him about availability reports
33:27
because, you know, it's a pet peeve of mine.
33:29
Drives me nuts. Probably nobody did.
33:32
Our guy Colin Wilson would probably be the guy that would
33:34
ask that. Well, I the first time I ever
33:36
saw was a dress was Delaney that big 10 in Chicago about 10 year
33:39
Bob more than that probably it's.
33:41
Been a long time. Ago, well, maybe around 10 years
33:42
ago, but but still. Anyways, we'll take your time
33:46
out. Trent's plays of the day they
33:47
our next circus sports sponsor. Those coming up at the top of
33:50
the hours go off the bench. Speaking of my picks when we
33:55
come back, yes, I got a bone to pick with a beloved Hawkeye.
33:59
Oh, who let you down last night? I'm all ears.
34:03
Miller and Condon, Iowa Sports Radio Network Miller and Condon
34:12
welcome back our final segment, Circus Sports sponsors it coming
34:17
up at the top of the hour. As we mention off the bench,
34:19
Sean and Lucas take you in till 5:00.
34:22
See the picture floating around the interweb on Patrick Mahomes?
34:26
No. Oh, he's fat.
34:27
He's out of shape, I'm telling you.
34:31
You've been doing this for six years now.
34:33
You got to stop. You got a problem.
34:35
We need to have an intervention. Too late, too late.
34:39
Bets are in. But he doesn't look good.
34:41
Trent, I'll be honest with you. Looks like a lot like you or me.
34:45
Well, that's not. Good, that's not good at the
34:46
quarterback position, but we'll we'll maybe cut him a little bit
34:51
of slack right. It is the offseason still, I'm
34:53
sure he'll be fine week #1 as they start in Brazil right
34:57
against the charges. Pretty good game.
35:00
Speaking of James, Caitlin Clark apparently is going to try and
35:03
play in the game tomorrow. Is that one of the day games or
35:06
are today the day games? There was 1 today as Angel Reese
35:10
found herself in the middle of a bit of a controversy, freaking
35:13
out. I saw that one on social media.
35:15
Two more tomorrow as we will get the Valkyries and the fever at
35:19
11 AM, 10 AM. The storm and the sun fever
35:23
favored by 7 1/2, by the way, in that.
35:25
One. And that's with the news that
35:28
Caitlin is probable. Yes, I think that is a fair
35:32
designation for her services. So last night, you know, coming
35:35
down the wire and had the little score app going as I'm calling
35:38
high school baseball and the Valkyries are inside the number
35:43
all game till the end. 8881 dream get the ball back 42
35:50
seconds left on the clock. And with two seconds left on the
35:53
shot clock, beloved Kate Martin fouls and puts the dream on the
35:59
line for 2. So she's the former Hawkeye
36:02
that's in your bad books? That's right.
36:04
Now, this is not, I'm actually not angry at Kate Barton.
36:07
This is gambling. This is just a joke.
36:08
But a little peeve last night, because I had the right side, I
36:12
really felt like I had the right.
36:13
I've been inside the number for 39 minutes and 12 seconds, and
36:18
then you're not 2 free throws in, I'm getting 7 1/2.
36:21
Yeah, you're clubbed. Yeah, it's a nine and I don't
36:25
even think Valkyrie's got a shot off at the end, but.
36:28
And then junk beat you. Yes, yeah, junk.
36:31
Junk the picture. Junk wasn't good.
36:33
Junk was not junk last night. I'll say he got it done.
36:36
I got 4 plays for tonight, one in the WNBA.
36:39
Liberty going the wrong way, I'm grabbing Vegas.
36:42
As in the wrong way. They're not going to win the
36:44
championship. If Collier is healthy, the links
36:47
are far and away the best team. Yep, I agree with you.
36:50
I'll grab the five with the aces tonight.
36:52
Give me Vegas plus the five. 7:00 for that. 1/3 in baseball,
36:55
starting with the Rays people. My boy for the Rays plus 113
37:00
against the Tigers and I'm fading.
37:02
Jack Flirty. You're going to have to like
37:03
that. I will go in the other
37:05
direction. You also like as long as it
37:06
wins. Never bet against the streak.
37:08
Give me Toronto -185 tonight against the White Sox and wrap
37:12
it up the Cubs and the Twins. Don't say it's a free well,
37:17
it's, it's pretty much a free square.
37:18
It's Imanaga. And Simeon Woods Richardson has
37:21
been much better since he's been called back up.
37:23
They needed him. He's been adequate, not great,
37:26
but it's in Managa and not a huge price -130 I was kind of
37:29
some in fact -127 at Circa, of course, the best price in the
37:33
market. I checked the weather forecast
37:35
'cause I wanted to make sure this game was just, you know,
37:37
fingers crossed was going to happen.
37:38
And it looks like it's going to happen up in the Twin Cities.
37:41
No threat of rain. Watch it pour.
37:44
Anyways, meteorologist Ken Miller so.
37:46
Cappy will be with us tomorrow. Look forward to catching up with
37:49
Cappy. See if the Cubs are any closer
37:50
to zeroing in on a trade deadline move.
37:54
Are they going to wait until the bitter end?
37:56
Is there something that they can get in front of?
37:58
We'll talk to Cappy about that Bears conversation with Capper
38:01
as well. He'll be a part of it.
38:04
Iowa has a football media availability tomorrow, Huh.
38:08
They do. We're going to track somebody
38:10
down that was there. We'll find out a little bit more
38:13
about that is, we're getting closer, aren't we?
38:16
Yeah, the bells ring out and the banners fly.
38:17
That's going to do us off. The bench is coming up next.
38:20
Miller and Condon with you Monday through Friday, noon to
38:22
two, to talk sports with you on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.