3-2-1: Remembering Randy Larson
The Iowa City community lost a true leader on Sunday with the passing of Randy Larson. He created the Prime Time League, which provided great entertainment during the summer months for Iowa men’s and women’s basketball fans. We look back at his impact in the community.
We also discuss Gable Steveson and if there is a chance he could transfer to Iowa. We discuss Big Ten Media Days coming up next week, and Iowa basketball players doing well in the NBA Summer League.
THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
THE LOSS OF RANDY LARSON
It was a sad day on Sunday with the news that Randy Larson had passed away. Back in the late 80’s when Dr. Tom Davis arrived in Iowa City, Larson was the man who started the Prime Time League, a summer basketball league that was very popular.
The league ran for over 30 years and ended in 2018 when college basketball simply changed too much to continue to support it. Iowa fans have some great memories going back to games being played at the City High gym and seeing B.J. Armstrong come back to drop 70 points in a game.
Larson was the driving forces of the league. He ran it, he coached in it, and back in the day, he was even a player in the league. He was a pretty good player back in the day too. Always talking and leading his team. He coached that way too, in the PTL and during his time leading the Iowa City Regina program.
His passion was the Hawkeyes. Even though he grew up in central Iowa and was an undergrad at Iowa State, Larson went to law school at Iowa and made Iowa City his home. He was a lawyer, owned restaurants, and helped Iowa men’s and women’s basketball.
A huge thank you to Randy. He was always helpful to the media and willing to talk to anyone and everyone. May he rest in peace.
HAWKEYES DOING WELL IN NBA SUMMER LEAGUE
There were some years when it was hard to find any Iowa players in the NBA Summer League. However, in recent years, the Hawkeyes have been front and center as highlighted performers. Last year it was the summer of Keegan Murray, who was named MVP of NBA Summer League after averaging 23.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.
This year, Murray played two games in Sacramento as part of the California Classic. In the second game he scored 41 points and he was done for the summer, but it’s a clear indication that he is taking his game to another level.
His twin brother, Kris, is wrapping up his NBA Summer League with Portland. After a slow start, Kris Murray has looks strong in the last few games. He scored 19 points in a win over Charlotte and in their final game on Sunday, Murray posted 12 points against Miami.
Joe Wieskamp looks like he is making a strong push to earn a spot on the roster for the Toronto Raptors. The team has a decision to make in the next week on Wieskamp and based on his last two games, it seems like he might have made the team.
Wieskamp scored 27 points in a win over Golden State on Saturday and had 18 points on Thursday in a loss to Brooklyn. Hopefully he sees his contract picked up by the Raptors.
Finally there’s Tyler Cook, who had a solid summer coming off the bench for the Milwaukee Bucks. He was very active in their games with some highlight dunks and a couple of games where he scored in double figures. The feeling is he has a chance to make their roster, but it is worth noting that he went down with an injury, but it’s not known if it was serious.
THREE HAWKEYES HEADED TO INDY
It’s hard to believe, but in just over a week the Big Ten Conference will invade Indianapolis for the unofficial start of the conference season. It’s Big Ten Media Days and it will the first time that new commissioner Tony Petitti will formally speak with the media. It’s also going to be the first time Northwestern football will be in front of the press since the sudden dismissal of Pat Fitzgerald.
Last week, Kirk Ferentz announced the three players who will be joining him in Indy. Those three palyers are Cooper DeJean, Luke Lachey, and Noah Shannon. This marks the first time that Ferentz has brought two juniors with him to media days, so that is a different look for the Hawkeyes. But, all three are very deserving. DeJean is a potential All American, Lachey will be a nominee for the Mackey Award, and Shannon is one of the most respected players on the roster.
TWO QUESTIONS
IS GABLE STEVESON REALLY THINKING ABOUT TRANSFERRING TO IOWA?
Next to Spencer Lee there has been no bigger name in college wrestling than Gable Steveson. In many ways, Steveson is an even bigger name than Lee. He’s won a pair of NCAA titles and he also owns an Olympic gold medal.
In the last week, the rumor mill has gone from smoldering to a full on fire that perhaps Steveson could be considering a return to college wrestling and possibly transferring to Iowa. One thing to remember, his full name is Gable Dan Steveson, so it’s natural that Iowa might be intriguing to him.
On Sunday he tweeted out sixth year, which he is eligible for. Then he tweeted out an indication of Iowa with a question mark and then an M for Minnesota with a question mark.
Probably good to remind folks that Steveson has been training and working with the WWE, so perhaps there’s a bit of a performance here. But, he’s really indicated that he wants to wrestle in college again and there’s an Olympic year coming up in 2024.
Is he coming to Iowa? Maybe. He was in town recently and seems to be interested. Stay tuned.
IS IOWA FOOTBALL RECRUITING HITTING PAUSE WITH THE CLASS OF 2024?
The short answer is yes.
Iowa is at 19 verbal commitments. There is one more remaining announcement from their big recruiting weekend in late June and that’s Chima Chineke, a 6-foot-4 and 240 pound defensive end from Texas. He is currently at 91% to Iowa according to the On3.com Recruiting Prediction Machine.
If he commits to Iowa, then it appears they will hit pause at 20 verbal commitments. The Hawkeyes are three over the 85 scholarship limit for next year and that would move to four if they land Chineke. No worries there because there will be roster attrition as there is every single year in college football.
What I would be keeping an eye on is the 2025 recruiting class. Iowa has one verbal commitment and perhaps that number grows this fall.
ONE PREDICTION
In my annual Fearless Forecast, I picked Northwestern to beat Iowa in November. It was a risky pick for sure and now that Iowa’s thorn in the side is gone, I am going to pick the Hawkeyes to win at Wrigley Field.
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