Iowa took on Clemson last night in the ACC/Big Ten challenge in Carver Hawkeye Arena. The Tigers practically ran Iowa out of the gym on the way to a 71-55 victory. The Hawkeyes haven't won a game in the challenge since 2005 and are now 2-9 all-time. The loss drops Iowa to 4-3 on the year. For the third time this season freshman Josh Oglesby led Iowa in scoring with 15.
It was another bad night for Melsahn Basabe. If the Hawkeyes want to have success this season Melsahn has to break out of his early season slump. He is reportedly 24 pounds heavier than at the end of last season and is now working to lose the extra weight. According to McCaffery, "The only thing that gives me hope is he practiced well." McCaffery added, " I think offensively we can get him going, but he's not rebounding." Basabe ended the night with two points and one rebound.
Some other notes from McCaffery's post game press conference:
- Devyn Marble, who left the game late with an injury, should be fine
- Josh Oglesby may have earned a starting spot
- Marble could be starting in the near future too
- Eric May might be better suited coming off the bench
There isn't a lot on the football front this time of year. We wait for Iowa's bowl selection and maybe pay a little attention to recruiting. Monday there were numerous guesses at which bowl game will select the Hawkeyes. Rob Howe, of Hawkeye Insider, had a prediction of Iowa-Iowa State in the Insight.com Bowl. I thought that perhaps it was an attempt at page hits but according to the Gazette's Scott Dochterman the Insight is considering a rematch.
Dochterman contacted Kristen Pflipsen, PR director for the Insight, and she said "It's definitely not something we would write off." Pflipsen notes that rivalry games get the fans excited and that Iowa and Iowa State have had recent wins in the Insight.com Bowl. The Insight reps will have a decision to make, they'll more than likely get the choice of Iowa, Penn State and Ohio State.
Some recruiting news. Pat Harty, of Hawk Central, was able to scour the country and find a recruit that Iowa wasn't interested in. Cedrick Poutasi is an offensive lineman from Las Vegas, Nevada who holds offers from Oklahoma State, Arizona State and others. Poutasi reached out to Iowa but the staff showed no interest, as I'm sure they do to 100's of recruits each year. Harty concluded his article with "Poutasi still needs to meet the academic requirements for an incoming freshman, but that his grades are OK."
The Hawkeyes made Faith Ekakitie's top four. Ekakitie is a defensive lineman from Lake Forest, Illinois and will choose between Iowa, Northwestern, Georgia Tech and Boston College.
Ekakitie is rated four stars by Rivals but fell out of the latest Top 250 that was released this week. A few other potential targets also fell from the Top 250, they are linebacker Quanzell Lambert, offensive lineman Jordan Diamond and running back Greg Garmon. Hawkeye commit Ryan Ward is #84 and Jaleel Johnson is #160.
Jaleel Johnson's Montini High School won an Illinois state title Saturday. The game was held at Champaign, Illinois and televised by Comcast Chicago (highlights). I had a chance to watch the first hour or so and have a few obsevations of Johnson's performance.
He certainly was the biggest kid on the field. At 6'2" and close to 300 pounds he stood out along the defensive line. I felt he needs a lot of coaching at the college level. His technique off the snap was poor and his conditioning needs work. He had a tendency to get locked in with his man, sometimes pushing him four to five yards into the backfield. He certainly displayed strength and power, but it's his job to use his arms to get separation and find the ball. It appeared he was working in a one-on-one blocking drill and not a live game. I didn't like his pursuit at times and felt he took plays off, perhaps due to poor conditioning.
Johnson has the frame to become a solid Big Ten defensive tackle. After a couple of seasons of collegiate strength and conditioning I feel he can have a similar body type to that of a taller Mike Daniels. I don't feel he will be able to contribute at Iowa until he has a year of coaching and conditioning. In short, if you thought Johnson would provide Iowa instant help along the DLine, don't. Unless Johnson is an extremely hard worker this summer or Iowa suffers many injuries.
Other links of note:
- Full Big Ten Men's Hoops TV Schedule (Nov. 28-Dec. 4)
- Jess Settles is coaching Iowa Wesleyan College and won his debut
- On Iowa Podcast talks fixing Iowa football
- Former Hawkeye and current Florida State Seminole Jeff Peterson is ready to take on MSU
- Riley Reiff made his home town news
- Adam Woodbury had 13 points in his season opener
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Ten Disturbing Stats from the Clemson Game