Ferentz extension through 2015

Adam Rittenberg, ESPN blogger for Big 10 football, is reporting Kirk Ferentz recieved a new seven-year contract extension that runs through 2015.



Read the article here.

HOLYJERSEYAWESOMENESS

So it has been rumored over the intranet that Iowa is unveiling some new uniforms against Purdue this Saturday on Valentine's Day.

Ironically, I love them. Especially the black ones.

Apparently these new uniforms are the Nike fit ones that the likes of Ohio State and Syracuse wear. It'll be interesting to see Kelly and Bawinkel swim in these jerseys.

What does everyone think of the new unis?

Note: I totally stole the image from Black Heart Gold Pants.

Victory...

(courtesy of AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Northwestern LOLcats v. Iowa Hawkeyes

Finally. One went the way of the Hawkeyes. The players needed this one. The fans needed this one. I'm sure Coach Lickliter and the rest of the staff didn't mind the victory either.

Devan Bawinkel did the only thing he can do in his first career start: make 3-point shots, including an ice-in-his-veins type shot from the corner with only 55 seconds left and the Hawks trailing.

Freshman star Matt Gatens hit four clutch free throws down the stretch on his way to a 13 point night.

Point guard Jeff Peterson had the unenviable task of dissecting the long 1-3-1 zone of the LOLcats. He had 6 turnovers on the night, most in 4-5 minute period, but had a really good game other than the turnovers. He finished with 16 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. Not too shabby considering he's playing with a broken bone in his wrist.

The young Hawks hoisted up an astounding 30 3-pointers, hitting at a 40 percent clip. They made a whopping two field goals inside the arc.

But somehow, some way, the baby Hawks stole this game away from a Northwestern team that isn't completely awful this year.

One thing is for sure, Lickliter is rebuilding a broken program the right way.

First, he's finding the right players for his system. Gatens is a star that fell into his lap, but either way, is the type of player/leader you can build a program around. Tucker, when he's not contracting mono or passing out behind Union, can definitely shoot. If he sticks around and gets out of the massive doghouse he's surely in, he could be a special player.

Secondly, Lickliter has obviously stressed the importance of protecting home court. The Hawkeyes are 11-2 at home this season, with their only losses coming to ranked Minnesota and Michigan State squads.

Finally, he realizes the importance of getting the community and students involved in the program again. Some suit decided to lower all remaining tickets to $10. Drastic, but proved to be effective Saturday. Someone else also convinced the players to wear the student section "Hawkamanic" shirts as warm-ups for the Michigan State game and to toss shirts during the Northwestern introductions.

Random Game Notes:

• Jarryd Cole is baaaaack. Despite only scoring two points in the Northwestern game, he averaged 9 points the three games before that. He also blocked the Wildcats feeble last shot off the backboard for, just good measure. He's not a skilled big man, but he's a physical force. There's a reason why Coach Lickliter made this kid a captain before the season.
• The President David Palmer didn't even take off his warm-ups. Yikes.
• Cy Tate is also back. It's clear he's not 100% yet. Hopefully he gets there soon, this team needs its senior leader.
• Northwestern C Kyle Rowley is one of the worst Division I basketball players I've ever seen. He's humongous and really, really bad.
• Bill Carmody reminds me of my mildly creepy great uncle. I don't what it is about that guy. He made me uncomfortable from the stands.
• Prediction: Kevin Coble will be cast in a Revenge of the Nerds remake by 2012.
• "Hawkamaniac" is just an awful title for the student section. It's a travesty.
• Special Note: I won the musical lay up contest during the 4th media timeout. I ordered a large, stuffed crust pepperoni pizza from America's favorite pizza place, Pizza Hut. Deliciosity.
  

More Pub for Doak Walker Winner

Here's some excerpts from the Dallas Morning News.



Mr. 100



Iowa Runner Takes Long Way



**Interesting Note: In the Mr. 100 article is a list of past winners of the Doak Walker Award. They are pretty hit or miss as far as NFL careers, but the good ones on that list are really, really good.

Super Extensive, Extraordinarily Thorough Signing Day Coverage

So I was actually working on some signing day coverage, sifting through all the blue-chippers, class rankings, star ratings and statistics. I was looking at videos of Iowa high school stars Brandon Wegher, Keenan Davis, Jordan Cotton, etc. I had even started a draft of a post covering signing day.

And then I found this.

It's a university-run website (somehow it's not a piece of crap, it's actually really, really good!) featuring the greatest entity known to man: Hawkeye Football.

On a serious note though, this website (gohawks.com) has incredible recruiting coverage. There are highlight videos, biographies for all the recruits, and tons of other information.

So instead of boring you with my analysis of the latest Hawkeye recruiting class, I highly recommend you check out this website.

note: Check out Brandon Wegher and Stephane N'goumou's videos. Very impressive.

Fred's Interview: Hawkeye at Heart

This is Aaron. I felt this was worthy of a post cause this is a Hawkeye Blog and he was almost a Hawkeye himself. And he's got a picture with the fake Captain Kirk.

Aaron Friederich was a 4 sport star at Forest City High School (3A) in north central Iowa. He played basketball, football, baseball and ran track. He holds virtually every major passing record in Forest City High School, along with having held multiple basketball records. He also ran at state track multiple times. Aaron was invited to walk-on to the football team after his senior year of high school, but declined to focus on his academics. He’s moved on to have a wildly successful intramural career. Aaron’s greatest accomplishment, however, is being my roommate for 3 years.

Josh Heyer: What was your favorite sport in high school and why?

Aaron Friederich: Basketball was my favorite because we were a hugely successful team, and more importantly than that my hometown of Forest City was undoubtedly a basketball town. Home and away, games were all packed gyms and there was an excitement there that no other sport, or surrounding school for that matter, experienced.

JH: Did that place any additional pressure on you during your career that your school was known as a "basketball school?"

AF: It definitely added pressure. Every opponent that we faced brought their very best game with a chance to beat us. We couldn't afford to slip up against anyone because the whole town wanted to see us in the state tournament. In season it was all anyone in town talked to the starters about and while everyone was very supportive it made us want the win for more than just ourselves.

JH: Do you have any regret today that you didn't ever make it to Des Moines?

AF: I wouldn't use the word regret, because I don't feel like there is a lot more we could have done as a team. We lost to a good team, and they actually had an exceptionally good game that night. Unfortunately, we were one of the top rated teams in the state and couldn't get there. Initially when we lost, I assumed that years down the road I would look back and hate the fact that we never made it, but leaving high school you learn to put different things into perspective.

JH : Do you have any records intact at Forest City?

AF: I had career, single season, and single game steals record but I think Brett Putz (St. Cloud State) broke those. I held the most 3 pointers for a sophomore, but Putz broke that too. I currently hold point total for a sophomore.

JH: Having a brother on the varsity teams for much of the same time you were on there, did that change how you practiced, prepared, played?

AF: Having Ryan play varsity sports with me was the best part of high school sports for me. In practice you never want to hit any of your friends unnecessarily hard in football, but brothers are supposed to crush each other, because you can't be the one who gave up first. Pre-game it was awesome to eat supper together or talk about the upcoming game together. Playing together was the best experience. You can always count on him to be the first one to high five you or slap you on the back. To be completely honest , my proudest moments on the court or field were when I saw Ryan make a great play, or ones we made together.

JH: What were your parents like at the games or even after them? Were they supportive, pushy, hard on you, etc.?

AF: My parents were never hard on me. My dad loved to watch us play sports, as well as my mom does. My parents were not hard on me by any stretch of the imagination. I could have quit everything at any point and they still would have been supportive. My mom actually only got upset in the stands one time, and that was a night where she thought I was being too 'cocky' on the floor. Otherwise they were 'team parents'. If you would have been across the gym you wouldn't have known which kid was theirs, and I was always glad that was the case. After the games there would be nights where me, dad and Ryan would sit in the kitchen for hours going over what might have happened in the game. It was never a lecture type atmosphere or anything like that, but more just recollecting what happened through the game or meet that night. We all enjoyed it.

JH: Did you have any superstitions in the locker room?

AF: In basketball, I was always the last one to get ready. I don't know if that was so much a superstition as much as I just hated to just sit and wait for the game to begin. I definitely was superstitious though, every game day I would have a foot long Subway roast beef sandwich with nothing on it. They would actually have it made for me when I would come in after school. I also wore the same white and red cutoffs under my home and away uniforms for all 3 years of varsity basketball. I couldn't find my white shirt one night. I didn't even get to the gym until after the girls game started because I was tearing the house up for it. When I got to the gym I found out my brother had it on under his shirt in the stands...needless to say I made him come in the locker room and take it off so I could wear it.

JH: Favorite memory from any sport at any age?

AF: My junior year we played at Osage the first game (our biggest conference rival) and we lost on my own buzzer-beater. Later that season we played them at home and it was the area news station's "Game of the Week". The gym was standing room only fifteen minutes before the girls’ game, and obviously nobody was interested in that game at all. I know at least a couple opposing teams from the conference came to watch a great game. The game was anything but great; we came out of the gates and destroyed them. We were up 25 points at half, and at no point in the game did the crowd get any less excited. The greatest feeling I’ve had on the floor was to win so convincingly over a top rated 2A team that had beaten us previously.

Combine Approaching

Really!? No. Of course not.

This. I bet he got Gisele with this picture too.

The NFL Draft is coming up in a couple months. This means a few things. One, executives of their respective teams get to over-analyze 21-24 year old kids. Vince Young scored incredible low on the famed Wonderlic test. Officials over-analyzed this to death, which probably is the reason they failed to investigate if he was mentally stable. Two, the world gets to over-analyze Mel Kiper's hair for the next few month. Three, Keyshawn Johnson will talk about players in the Draft and what qualities of 'Key' they have in them. And finally four, a few Hawkeyes may get invited to the NFL Combine to be poked, tested, skewered and tested.

The Hawks turned their season around after a mediocre 3-3 start, finishing 9-4 with an Outback Bowl pounding of South Carolina for good measure. This also means a few things. Because of the drastic turnaround, the young Hawkeyes had good senior leadership in the locker room. Also, a 9-4 season is not too shabby, meaning the Hawks had some darn good players, some of whom may even be drafted.

Five Hawkeyes were invited to the week long festival of running and jumping. Seniors Mitch King, Rob Bruggeman, Bradley Fletcher and Seth Olsen. Junior RB Shonn Greene also got invited (duh) after declaring for the Draft immediately following the Outback Bowl.

Graduating seniors absent-minded-ly left off the save the date list were DT Matt Kroul and TE Brandon Myers. Myers is a bit of surprise here as was a 1st Team All Big Ten selection and possesses both good speed and above average hands.

Interesting topics to look at going into the NFL Combine:

• Shonn Greene's 40 time? I know he's so called "football fast." But how fast is he in a straight line for 40 yards. A good time at the combine and he could shoot way up the draft boards. Recent examples: Chris Johnson and Matt Forte. However, all teams are going with two feature running backs, as the position is so vital in the NFL. So even if he doesn't run a great time, he could definitely be some teams 'power' back.
• Mitch King. Is he big enough? Is he strong enough? I know that he's mean and crazy enough. He won't fit in well with a 3-4 scheme as defensive tackle. So he needs to be drafted in the right situation.
• Bradley Fletcher. He's a big corner, weighing in at 6'2 and 200 lbs. He was scary good this season for the Hawkeyes. He's easily the second best cover corner in the Ferentz era, right behind Charles Godfrey. One possible option is a switch to safety, like the Carolina Panthers did with Godfrey.
• Rob Bruggeman and Seth Olsen. Both these guys are better than you think. Olsen was a Rivals.com All-American. Bruggeman replaced Raf Eubanks and completely transformed a dismal line from the year before. I'm not sure if they get drafted, but Bruggeman is strong as an ox; hopefully that shows at the Combine. I'm betting Bruggeman gets drafted in a late round and will be a pleasant surprise.

Here's the link to all the invitees: http://www.nflcombine.net/players/official-invite-list