Lunch Links Strikes Out

Hallo!

There’s not that much going on in the world of Iowa sports. Let’s lead with the bad news!

The portal giveth, the portal taketh

It doesn’t look like Iowa basketball is filling any long-term roster roles via the NCAA transfer portal at this time.

DJ Harvey, a guard from Notre Dame who many thought Iowa had a chance of landing is willing to try out the Jerry Stackhouse experiment, I guess. Nashville is nice until you realize you’re in the same city as Jay Cutler.

And then the Hauser brothers, who many thought Iowa had a good shot at getting after they left Marquette seem to have taken the Hawkeyes out of the running. It’s down to Virginia, Michigan State and Wisconsin for Sam and Joey. (HINT: they’re going to go to Wisconsin).

We didn’t want them anyway!

In semi-related news, Tyler Cook and Peter Jok were invited to the NBA’s G-league Elite Camp. There’s some Iowa State guys on that list too.

While we’re still on basketball, I’d like to observe it’s a little odd we haven’t heard anything in regards to filling Andrew Francis’ vacancy on staff. He left the program three weeks ago, and I’m sure Fran had some heads-up with the move.

And still on hoops: Iowa is one of three schools (Iowa State and Minnesota) recruiting star Minneapolis point guard (and quarterback) Jalen Suggs to play both sports. ($) I like that!

Football fodder

Last week, we brought you the news that Iowa is hiring Jay Niemann to replace Reese Morgan on staff. Some liked the move, others didn’t. The biggest knock on Niemann I could surmise from the comments were a combination of his lack of Iowa recruiting bona fides, and the fact he isn’t the coach from Dowling Catholic.

Well, Niemann is going to have a big responsibility for in-state recruiting by the looks of it. And personally, I think he’s going to crush it:

“He’s very comfortable with that,” Ferentz said. “Having grown up here and having played high school football here, he’s coached in the state so much, I think there’s a real comfort level there. He understands the state of Iowa and the importance of it within our program.

• Here’s a nice read on the Paulsen twins.
• Iowa football is one of 16 programs NOT playing an FCS team next season. Of those 16, 11 are Big Ten schools:

• Scott Dochterman projects Iowa’s depth chart along the defense, offense, and special teams. I already forgot we snagged a grad transfer punter. ($)
• Gotta say, I’m all for the mental health awareness that Iowa athletes are talking about lately:

The rest

• Barry Petchesky is the best hockey writer on the internet.
• Could the controversial Kentucky Derby finish lead to a federal lawsuit?
• A guy who helped bring you Netflix wants to innovate your life another way: by bringing you water in a can.
• The chef behind my favorite restaurant in the world won a James Beard award this week. Young Joni is worth the trip to Minneapolis by itself.
• If you’re in the area on May 29, you’d be wise to take advantage of this opportunity: