This is not hard news -- yet. What it is a rumor with a lot of smoke. The rumor in question is Ken O'Keefe leaving Iowa to become the Quarterbacks Coach for the Miami Dolphins (and new head coach Joe Philbin, who worked with O'Keefe on the Iowa staff for several years early in Ferentz's tenure).

Sayeth Morehouse:

I think KOK to the Dolphins has and or is happening. It's 5 on Friday, so you know what that means.

Um... wow.

EDIT: And confirmation from the Des Moines Register, too. It's really happening, people.

We'll have much more on this as soon as we get more information.

IOWA CITY (AP)

In a shocking revelation today, Iowa men's basketball coach has admitted using a straw-based "center facsimile" in Wednesday's victory over the Minnesota Golden Gophers. McCaffery acknowledged his use of the ploy after eagle-eyed viewers noticed the incongruous site of a tall and intimidating Iowa defender standing firmly in front of the basket.

"What can I say? You got me," said McCaffery. "But you need to understand: we were at our wit's end trying to come up with something that would work on defense."

In recent games the Iowa defense has returned to the bad defensive habits that marked some of their early season performances. Lowly Nebraska scored 48 points on the Hawkeyes in the second half of their victory at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, and #17 Indiana scored 103 points via 28 dunks or layups. McCaffery called his ploy a "last resort".

"We had tried everything: not guarding players, having our defenders switch which players they were not guarding, using a zone defense so that every defender was not guarding a certain area of the court -- you name it, we had tried it, and nothing had worked. So the only thing left was to stuff a jersey full of straw, slap on some rec specs and a headband and hope the other team didn't look at it too closely."

The figure, nicknamed "Hayseed Earl" by the coaches, measures out at an imposing 8'6" and has a wingspan of 9'8". Big Ten Network cameras noted the figure occupying a prominent place near the basket, as well as several Minnesota players seeming to sense the dummy's presence and then giving it a wide berth.

According to McCaffery, the original plan was to use the straw-pivot in addition to the normal starting five, but that proved impractical. "We knew that several of the Gopher players were extremely near-sighted, but it turned out they were still able to distinguish whether there were five or six players on the court. So we played the thing instead of a traditional center." McCaffery described the move as a necessary compromise.

"Ideally we would have liked to have him out along with our current five players. Because, you know, playing defense is much easier with six players than five. But when we were forced to make a decision, the choice was obvious. Our current post players have many advantages over an immobile hay golem, obviously, such as the power of locomotion and ... well, many other qualities I'm sure. But the overwhelming advantage of our straw figure is that he stays put in front of the basket. That and his monstrous size give him the edge over our other options."

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[A-bump. Bump. Bumpity bump. A-bump bump bumpity bump. -- PTV]

Chapter Four: The Corpse in the Copse

I awoke the following morning with such a sense of foreboding as I had not experienced since I was on campaign in the Kush. The events of the previous night had well robbed me of a peaceful sleep and my own nerves, which had served as faithful faculty on many previous Holmesian adventures, were in outright, tremulous rebellion. The day was calm and moist. The early spring air seeped into my bones and only exacerbated the shaking first caused by my neurotic affliction. I found Holmes in the common room; he was staring rather intently at a set of chess that was placed on the desk near a great window.

"What do you think of these pieces, Watson?" Holmes called out without turning away from the object of his question. "Peculiar, are they not?"

Eager for reprieve from my own depressed thoughts, I walked to where Holmes was standing and attempted a feat of observation for which my companion was well known and I, myself, had gained some skill.

"I see nothing peculiar. They are of the Staunton design and appear perfectly regular examples of Jacques' fine craftsmanship." I said in a rather defeated tone.

"Quite right, Watson. To a man suffering infirmity of the eye or to a simple child these pieces would be exactly as you have said."

"Holmes! Really, I must protest!"

"However, to a trained eye, one familiar with the equine nostril flare specific to over one hundred and twenty different master chess designers, this set is an obvious, ill-executed forgery."

My companion rattled on regarding the intricacies of the St. George carving style, but I had ceased to listen. It was clear that Holmes was exhibiting the same diversionary train of thought that had oft times served to relieve his mind during a stressful case. That we did not have his chemical apparatuses available to occupy him and smother me in fumes was something for which I was exceedingly grateful.

"Shall we proceed to breakfast Holmes? I am sure that our guests will be waiting for us."

"Yes, of course Watson."

We entered the HotelVetro's dining room and met Mssrs. Podolak and Dolphin and Ms. Conners. The mood of the gentlemen appeared much improved from the previous night, as they both, following our greeting, embarked on a surprisingly jovial, salutatory circuit of the hotel's other patrons.

"It seems that the pillow has worked its somnial wonder yet again. Our friends seem refreshed anew." Said Holmes.

"Alas, that is only partly true, Mr. Holmes. They are brave men and in the light of day they may act as they once were, but their own brightness does not last. This malignancy hangs about us like a dense fog and it is inescapable. It is a villainous hand that blinds and wounds, but has, itself, no form to behold and no heart to strike." Replied Ms. Conners with a sad desperation in her eyes.

"There is no denying the truth of what you have said; nevertheless, I hold that even in the deep of earth the spring knows there is light and seeks its warmth and so must you my dear." Said Holmes, displaying a depth of compassion starkly absent from his usual calculative process.

This kindness was short-lived, as a clamor near the hotel's lobby drew our attention. In my haste to investigate the commotion I walked squarely into detective Brewster, who was in a state of intense agitation.

"Mr. Holmes, where is he? I must speak with him."

"What is it my good man? What could have you in such a fluster?"

"Mr. Holmes? I must speak with him, Mr. Watson. It is of the utmost importance."

"I am here Mr. Brewster. What is the matter, dear man? You have disrupted our breakfast"

"Mr. Holmes, there has been a development." Said Detective Brewster. By this time, Mssrs. Podolak and Dolphin had returned to the table to learn more of what had caused such tumult in the dining room. "A body has been found and I believe it is connected to our case."

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We entered Wednesday knowing that National Caring Is Creepy Signing Day could bring new signings to Iowa's 2012 recruiting class: Texas defensive end Aaron Curry and New Jersey wide receiver Ian Thomas were scheduled to announce their decisions Wednesday morning, with Iowa a finalist for both men. Well, neither Curry nor Thomas opted for Iowa, but Iowa added two new commitments anyway. Enter: lineman Reid Sealby out of Illinois and wide receiver George Kittle out of Oklahoma, two lightly-recruited prospects who emerged out of the blue to earn scholarship offers at the last minute.

Kittle has some definite Hawkeye bona fides: his father, Bruce Kittle, was an offensive lineman on Iowa's 1981 Rose Bowl team, and his cousin, Henry Krieger-Coble, is a current tight end at Iowa. The elder Kittle has since gotten into coaching and been an assistant under Bob Stoops at Oklahoma since 2010 (he's currently the tight ends/offensive tackles coach). The younger Kittle played wide receiver, tight end, and free safety at Norman High (His quarterback there? Zach Long, Chuck Long's son.) and his position at Iowa is also in flux. He certainly has the frame to add more mass (he's listed at 6-4, 200 lbs. and he looks almost comically skinny in several photos), which is probably why he's currently projected as a tight end or linebacker at Iowa. Rivals pegs Kittle as a 3* recruit, while Scout, ESPN, and 24/7 Sports all list him as a 2* prospect; depending on the service he also had offers from Air Force, Navy, and Weber State.

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[Photo credit: AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall]

In many ways the game Wednesday night was the polar opposite of several other games the Hawks have played recently:

• Whereas Iowa shot a better percentage than Indiana and yet lost due to offensive rebounding, turnovers and free throws, against Minnesota, all four categories switched: Iowa shot a pretty miserable percentage from the field while Minnesota shot very well, especially from three. If it weren't for Iowa's 16 offensive rebounds, 11 steals and +12 margin in free throw attempts, the Hawks would have been hard-pressed to overcome their poor shooting. Zach McCabe, Aaron White and Melsahn Basabe deserve credit for their rebounding, grabbing three offensive rebounds each. White recorded a crucial (and awesome) play on an offensive rebound, throwing down a nasty dunk on 6'11" Elliott Eliason after sprinting down from the three point line to collect the board.
• Whereas Minnesota struggled to make threes against Iowa's zone in their previous match-up, in this game, the shots were falling. The Gophers shot 10-19 from three, even though many of the shots were contested. They needed those threes, too, because they shot just 10-32 from two-point range. Julian Welch in particular seemed to give the Hawks fits, finding holes in the zone and going 3-5 from three.
• Whereas Minnesota was the team that looked totally befuddled by the zone in their previous game, in this game it was Iowa that looked lost when the Gophers ran a zone. The Hawks spent long stretches of the game looking totally lost on offense. It's no exaggeration to say that on several possessions in the second half, the offense consisted of Devyn Marble or Matt Gatens or Bryce Cartwright pounding the ball into the ground at the three-point line while no one else on the team moved an inch.

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"I don't usually go to the top floor, but tonight I had a business meeting." -Devyn Marble via Jordan Garretson

For the video of Devyn Marble's late game dunk check out the video at High Porch Picnic

Iowa started out fast against the Gophers building an early 14 point lead. Cold shooting Minnesota started to find the bottom of the hoop and closed the gap and eventually went into halftime with a three point lead. Iowa's offense was lethargic for most of the second half until late when the Hawkeyes found a spark.

Marble drove down the court and did something we don't see every often, he stopped and popped a three. The very next possession Marble took the ball and drove around a Zach McCabe screen to rise up and throw down a one hand jam that fired up the Carver crowd of students taking advantage of free admission.

Marble finished with 12 points and senior Matt Gatens added 18. It was Iowa's first season sweep over Minnesota since 2007. The Hawkeyes will face Penn State Saturday at Carver-Hawkeye Area at 2 pm (CT).

After the jump, recruiting recap plus more links.

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Junior Senior - Move Your Feet from Manolis_G on Vimeo.

We try not to bust out the Junior Senior for every win, but after the abject misery of the last two Iowa basketball games and the fact that this win clinched the first season sweep of Minnesota in basketball since 2007, well, it seemed warranted. Iowa opened up a 12-point lead in the first half by playing okay... and Minnesota playing really, really, really badly. Minnesota stopped playing so badly, started making threes (they shot 53% for behind the arc for the game and over half of their total points came from threes), and eventually built a 10-point lead of their own in the second half. They led by five as late as 2:30 left in the game. And then Iowa took over.

Kudos to Roy Devyn Marble, who was as marvelously clutch down the stretch here as he was in Iowa's earlier B1G wins over Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Kudos to Matt Gatens, who was Iowa's leading scorer (18 points on 7/14 shooting) and seemed to play a role in almost every good play Iowa had.

Kudos to Aaron White and Zach McCabe, who overcame some tepid shooting (2/7 and 2/5, respectively) to still combine for 17 points and 17 rebounds and give Iowa a spark in the second half.

And kudos to Melsahn Basabe, who's often been the invisible man this season, but who contributed 8 points and 7 rebounds off the bench tonight and looked active and engaged when he was on the court.

But kudos to the entire team, really. This game just did not feel like a game Iowa would win after the early lead evaporated behind a barrage of Gopher long-range bombs. This felt like a game we've seen time and time again over the past few seasons, one where they piss away a lead and can never get enough stops to get back into the game. How nice to be wrong about that. Go Hawks.

I said in the Indiana gamethread that you never quite know what you're going to get with Iowa basketball this year and the Indiana game brought forth yet another new specimen: they paired an unfathomably bad defense with a stunningly good offense. If you've ever wondered how a team could shoot 80% from the field for an entire half and still lose by 20, well, now you know.

It's time get back on the horse tonight, as Iowa heads home to lick their wounds and take on a Minnesota team that's gotten inexplicably hot, winning four of their last five games and looking kinda good -- despite still being without their lynchpin, Trevor Mbakwe. Iowa barely hung on to beat Minnesota up north a few weeks ago, but this game represents a rare chance to sweep the Gophers in hoops. It's also a game Iowa needs to win if they want to keep their head above water and avoid plunging into the sub-.500 territory that's been their unwelcome home for the last several years. So please, guys: play a little defense, make some shots, and get a win. That would be real swell.

The game is on BTN at 7:30pm CT. The standard rules of open threading are in effect: no links to illegal online streams, no porn, no religion, no porn, no slurs, no douchebaggery.