3-2-1: Who goes to Indy?
We have plenty to discuss this week in the latest edition of 3-2-1. We are learning more about the non-conference slate of games for Iowa men’s basketball, the arrival of Swarm Golden Ale, and Iowa’s transfer portal haul is finally getting some love. Plus we discuss who will be joining Kirk Ferentz in Indianapolis for Big Ten Media Days and Jack McCaffery potentially opting not to play for his father at Iowa.
THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
IOWA BASKETBALL NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE IS COMPLETE
Last year Fran McCaffery put together what he said was the toughest non-conference slate of games that he ever has as a head coach. He’s right, it was challenging with Iowa playing Duke, Seton Hall, TCU, Clemson, and Iowa State.
The Hawkeye non-conference schedule has trickled out and thanks to an assist from Scott Dochterman at The Athletic and Rocco Miller we now know who the Hawkeyes will be facing before league play fully begins. The Big Ten is expected to play a couple of conference games in early December once again this year, but league teams will also play 11 non-conference games.
There are four games that I would consider to be challenging and those are a pair of road games at Creighton and Iowa State. The Blue Jays will be nationally ranked and the Cyclones should be an NCAA team this year. The Hawkeyes also play in the Rady’s Children’s Invitational around Thanksgiving and that field includes USC, Seton Hall, and Oklahoma.
Beyond that, it looks like seven expected victories, including one in a men’s and women’s doubleheader at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines on December 16th when McCaffery’s club will face Florida A&M.
HAWKEYE FOOTBALL PORTAL HAUL GETTING SOME LOVE
One thing Iowa fans sometime complain about is that the Hawkeyes don’t get enough credit. Well, this week, Jesse Simonton from On3 did just that.
Iowa hasn’t been a big transfer portal user, but they were this year and frankly, they needed to be. The Hawkeyes needed to add an experienced starting quarterback, wide receiver help, and someone to potentially fill the massive shoes of Jack Campbell at linebacker.
Those boxes have been checked.
Cade McNamara has quickly become the leader of the Iowa offense. Erick All joined his Michigan teammate in Iowa City to help form a strong tight end duo with Luke Lachey. Kaleb Brown and Seth Anderson will help at wide receiver and Nick Jackson brings stability at linebacker.
I know it’s fashionable to take shots at Kirk Ferentz for not being portal friendly, but he was this year and on paper, they have put together a group that should have a big impact this fall.
SWARM BEER IS HERE
In the era of NIL Collectives, you have to be nimble and think outside the box. That’s exactly what the Iowa Swarm Collective did this summer.
We all know Iowa football fans in particularly like to drink a few golden sodas. With that in mind Iowa Swarm CEO Brad Heinrichs reached out to Exile Brewing in Des Moines and the next thing you know, Hawkeye fans have the Swarm Golden Ale.
It’s now hitting various bars in the state of Iowa as an on tap product and the hope is that by early July it will be in cans and no the shelves in stores. There is also hope that Hawkeye fans will be able to buy Swarm Beer inside Kinnick Stadium this fall.
The hope is that with the sale of Swarm Golden Ale that they will be able to raise more than six figures to help support the NIL program that benefits Iowa football and men’s and women’s basketball.
TWO QUESTIONS
JACK McCAFFERY PASSING ON PLAYING FOR THIS FATHER AT IOWA?
There were a few reports that surfaced on Thursday as offers began to be extended to Class of 2025 prospects that the youngest son of Fran and Margret McCaffery, Jack, had decided that he would not consider playing for his father at the University of Iowa.
A few months ago I had asked a couple of folks close to the Iowa basketball program about why Jack had not committed to play for the Hawkeyes? His older brothers, Connor and Patrick, had ended their recruitment early in the process. Truth be told, I think both wished they would have let things play out longer because the way the recruiting world works, if you are committed sometimes you don’t seem to get the ranking rewards. Anyway, the response was that they expected Jack to not play at Iowa.
No other schools were going to spend time and resources on recruiting Connor or Patrick because everyone assumed they would play for their dad and that proved to be correct. So it makes sense to let the world know now that he’s not playing for his father.
This past year, we saw how the strain of playing for your father and the pressure that comes with it can take a toll. Jack McCaffery had a front row seat for it and he’s also seen some of the dark sides that every fanbase. The comments made and the shots taken from the stands can to tough to hear.
Good for Jack McCaffery to carve his own path. Hopefully he gets recruited to the level he should be as a Top 100 prospect in the Class of 2025.
What could this mean for Fran McCaffery and his future? In some ways, this makes some sense. McCaffery recently turned 64 and would be 66 before he could coach his youngest son. Tack on four more years and he’s at 70 years of age. Now, I will say that McCaffery is one of those young for his age type of guys.
He might stay around and coach into his 70’s. Coaching is what he loves doing and as long as he is having success than there’s no need for a change. But, I could also see McCaffery wanting to watch his youngest son play at the college level and follow around his oldest son as he begins his own coaching journey.
WHO WILL KIRK FERENTZ TAKE TO INDIANAPOLIS FOR BIG TEN MEDIA DAYS?
Big Ten Media Days will be here sooner than we think. In fact, we are just about six weeks away from the Big Ten media gathering in Indianapolis for the third straight year to kickoff the season.
One of the annual questions that we always discuss on the message boards is which three players will be joining head coach Kirk Ferentz in Indy to meet with the media on July 26th?
Here’s my guess. First, I think he has to take quarterback Cade McNamara. Part of this event is about a storyline and bringing the new leader of the Hawkeye offense who happened to once lead the Wolverines is intriguing.
Ferentz also always like to take a core program guy who is a leader on the off the field. That’s why I think Logan Lee will be heading to Indy. He’s a fifth year guy and one of the most highly respected players on the team.
The last pick is very interesting and could go in two directions. I think Ferentz will either take Cooper DeJean or Tory Taylor. Yes, Iowa might take a punter to Big Ten Media Days to stay on brand. DeJean makes a lot of sense given that he’s a preseason All American and Ferentz really likes to reward guys like him. I think it will end up being DeJean.
ONE PREDICTION
The NBA Draft takes place next week and once again there will be a member of the Murray family being picked in the first round. Last year it was Keegan going 4th to the Kings. This time around, look for Kris Murray to be drafted in the Top 20.
The post 3-2-1: Who goes to Indy? appeared first on On3.
