They're Here! | Nebraska Officially is a Member of the Big Ten

If you haven't heard, Nebraska officially joined the Big Ten at midnight, July 1.

And that means there are only 147ish days until America's Hawkeyes take on Big Red.

VS.

I've never been a fan of the Cornhuskers. I am, however, happy to have them in the Big Ten and even happier to see the Big Ten recognize the potential for the rivalry that will be Iowa v. Nebraska. It's good for both states and it's good for fans of college football. I look forward to the banter, discourse, and taunting that is to come. Welcome Big Red.

Hawkeye Football | Iowa Adds Defensive End Dean Tsopanides

According to Jon Miller, of Hawkeye Nation, the Hawkeyes have added a late piece to their 2011 recruiting class. Miller cites this Litchfield County (Connecticut) newspaper as the source for Dean Tsopanides' commitment.

Per "The Register Citizen", Tsopanides committed to Iowa to play defensive end. Hawkeye offensive coordinator Ken O'Keefe was at Milford prep (where Tsopanides intended to play) and noticed the 6'2" 220 pound prospect.

Tsopanides played high school football for Torrington High School. This article, from 2010, says he is the type of player that always has his "motor running."

In addition to being an All-State football player in Connecticut, Tsopanides wrestled. Here is the YouTube:

Let's Have a Photoshop Contest | Iowa Football's Next Great Patriot

It's been a year and a half since MikeHawk (aka @Hawkize) posted on Hawkeyelounge.com his request for a Ricky Stanzi photoshop contest. Stanzi, of course, was open about his love for 'Merica so the thread was fitting and awesome.

Here are some samples:

In addition to MikeHawk, my friend, the Practical Pundit (Hawkeye Lounge sign-on), was also putting in work with the photoshop. I asked Pundit if he could help with our quest to find the next Hawkeye patriot. He, albeit being busy, obliged my request.

In honor of the 4th of July and America, here we go:

Marcus Coker as Ben Franklin? Eh, probably not.

Honest Abe McNutt? Don't think so, but getting closer?

James Monroe Morris? We're heating up!

James Vandenberg Madison? I think we have a winner!

Here's what I'm going to do, if you would like to add your own contributions click here for the link to the PSD Messageboards and the thread for the photoshop contest. There you can add an image from a web hosted image site or from your computer. The theme is obviously an Iowa Hawkeye and something America. I don't have any prizes, despite the "contest", so do it for pride, and for America.

Hawkeye Football | More on Fleming's Tweets | Jaleel Johnson or David Smith?

Monday I talked about Maurice Fleming and his tweets alluding to a new verbal commit coming.

After posting my guess, David Smith, some Hawk fans contacted me telling me it could be Jaleel Johnson.

Johnson is a 6'2" 277 pound defensive tackle from Westchester, Illinois. He is rated four stars by Rivals and is the 140th rated recruit in the country, 11th for his position.

Johnson would be a huge get for the Hawks as defensive line is a definite position of need. Iowa will lose Broderick Binns, Thomas Nardo, Lebron Daniel, and Mike Daniels from this years defensive line two-deeps. Also, add to that some attrition in the last recruiting class at the defensive tackle position with the loss of Donovan Johnson and Anthony Ferguson.

Now is the time for the coaching staff to capitalize on the success stories of Adrian Clayborn, Karl Klug, and Christian Ballard. All of which were recently drafted into the NFL.

But, not so fast...

As exciting as a prospect Johnson is, Fleming may still be referring to his friend Smith. Illinois recruiting guru, Edgy Tim O'Halloran, talks to Smith in his latest recruiting round-up. Smith told Edgy Tim,

"I'm definitely interested in Iowa, and I'm even more interested now that Reece is committed to the Hawkeyes,"

Smith also went on to add,

"I've been in touch a few times this summer with my recruiting coach, Lester Erb, and they are supposed to let me know in a few days if they will offer me or not. I'm planning to stay in touch with Iowa along with several other schools this summer, and we'll see what happens."

So, we should know in the next few days if Iowa has a new running back recruit in Smith. That's still my guess, in regards to Fleming's twitter riddle. If it's Johnson, even better.

Hawkeye Basketball | 2012 Hoops Prospect Adam Woodbury Talks With Next Level Connect

It's probably safe to say that Adam Woodbury is the biggest basketball recruiting prospect on the Hawkeye radar in awhile. Woodbury's seen his stock rise this summer after outstanding performances on the Summer Camp circuit that included being named MVP of the NBPA Top 100 Camp.

Johnny Hernandez, of the hoops recruiting website Next Level Connect, caught up with Woodbury at the Pangos All-American Camp that took place earlier this month in Carson, California.

Nothing earth shattering in the interview. Woodbury mentions an Ohio State offer, Kansas and North Carolina interest, and Iowa, among a few others, recruiting him the longest.

Here is the interview that Johnny Hernandez posted yesterday:

Hawkeye Football | Is Iowa on the Verge of Another Commit?

Since last week when Maurice Fleming commited to Iowa, he's been on the Twitter supplying Hawk fans with all kinds of recruiting nuggets.

First, Fleming alerted Hawk fans to follow his buddy, Ka'Daryl Bell, when he tweeted "follow the new Iowa PG." Bell is being recruited to Iowa by Fran McCaffery and his staff and is a prospect to watch for the 2012 recruiting class.

Second, Fleming was the one that broke the news (at least from what I recall, it was late Friday night #drunj) that Connor Kornbrath had committed.

Now, Fleming is telling us Hawk fans that "Chicago gotta surprise 4 y'all coming soon."

When Fleming was asked (via Twitter) by @HawkeyeFos if this "surprise" was a commit in football or basketball Fleming replied "football."

Without offering the information Fleming didn't decline the "surprise" was commit news. So, who could it be?

Fleming is friends with David Smith, a 6'1" 190 pound runningback from Midlothian, Illinois. Rivals.com lists Smith, a three star runningback, with offers from Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan State, Minnesota, Purdue, and other BCS schools. Currently, Rivals does not list an Iowa offer but does list Iowa as a school of interst.

Here are David Smith's YouTubes:




Is it someone else? We'll have to wait and see. In the meantime, give @ReeseFleming9 a follow to stay up to date.

Hawkeye Roundtable | Talking Football Recruits and Hoops

In the third edition of the Hawkeye Blogger Roundtable we offered our thoughts on the newest Hawkeye football recruits, PTL, and Jeff Peterson's possible return to Hawkeye basketball. The participants in the latest discussion are: Eric, of www.fightforiowa.com, Ed, of www.hawkeyekoolaid.com, Mike, of www.thehawkeyestate.net, and myself.

The discussion between the four of us can be found here at www.hawkeyenetwork.com.

Here were my answers to the five questions:

Question 1: Iowa received four verbal commits last week. Two of them, Drew Ott, a two star DE/TE, and Cameron Wilson, a three star WR, are from enemy territory (Nebraska, Ohio State). Did Iowa swoop in and make a steal or are these leftovers?

PSD: I agree with Eric. I don’t think either are a steal. Ott didn’t get an offer because Barney Cotton’s son was their top priority at the TE position. As far as DE, I assume they have other targets. I have no idea if Nebraska had plans to offer the kid, he may have been a fallback. However, Ott seems like a typical Iowa recruit. Diamond in the rough, and all the cliches.

I don’t know a whole lot about Wilson and his recruitment. He does hold offers from other Big Ten schools, but like Eric pointed out, nothing from OSU.


Questions 2: The other two recruits are Maurice Fleming, a three star WR/DB, from the Chicago area and Connor Kornbrath, a Punter from West Virginia. A Punter, really?

 
PSD: I’ve been trying to wrap my head around this for the last couple days. When I first posted the Kornbrath commit I considered Mullings’ age as the factor (he’s already 23). But, as Jon Miller and others pointed out on Twitter, there have been some rumblings of Mullings and a slow delivery/off time with his punting. I believe those rumblings are a result of the small Mullings sample we saw at the Spring practice. So who knows?

News articles and various tweets say Kornbrath can really boom it. I think it was ‘Bear’ Bryant that said the most important player on the team is the punter. I’m still not sure that means you need two of them on scholarship.

Question 3: Do you actually buy any Preseason College Football Magazines? If so, which one(s) and why?

PSD: I used to buy those, back before this invention called the Internet. They all say the same thing, at least to me. Team X lost these players on defense, here are the replacements, they won’t be as good here because of the departure of player Y, rinse, repeat.

Question 4: The PTL has tipped off. Do you think we, as bloggers and fans, read too much into the stats and whatnot? What can we take from the various reports and videos posted about pick-up basketball?

PSD: I probably read too much into it, for sure. From all reports the fan interest in the PTL games have picked up quite a bit. I’ve read that people are flocking to Anthony Hubbard’s games. If anything it means that the passion for Hawkeye Basketball is coming back. I think people forget how much love there really is for hoops in this state. Think about this, there is a lot of buzz around this team and recruiting class. What happens when McCaffery brings in a recruiting class that isn’t ranked ninth in the Big Ten?

As far as the videos I think you can take a little bit from them. I mean I haven’t seen Hubbard shoot any kind of jumper outside of the paint area. Devyn Marble is tearing it up and Aaron White seems to play better when he is the third option. See, there I go again (to self: it’s only pick-up basketball, it’s only pick-up basketball).

Question 5: Jeff Peterson has been looking at a return to Iowa for his last shot at the dance. Scott Dochterman, of the Cedar Rapids Gazette, mentioned in he and Marc Morehouse’s On Iowa podcast that the offer to him was there. Does this happen? Where does he fit in for 2011-12?

PSD: I’d love to see this happen. I think Peterson adds depth at the point and allows McCaffery to go with a small lineup if necessary. Also, I think it helps Marble’s development because he can focus on his true position (SG) and not have to worry so much about point guard responsibilities if he has to relieve Cartwright.

I read at Hawk Central that Peterson recently visited Florida State and who knows,he may not be comfortable with a back-up role. He said he wants to get to the tournament and while I expect Iowa to get more W’s this year, I’m not sure 18-20 wins with this out-of-conference schedule will get them into the dance.