Transcript
KXEL Presents: The Jacobsen Group Podcast – March 22, 2025
The Jacobsen Group with Jon Jacobsen · Mon Mar 24, 2025
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John Jacobson here on the Jacobson Group and our special guest out of the shoot today, Scott Corey.
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Well, shockwaves in the last week.
We've got March Madness.
We've got coaching changes all over the place.
We're going to hit
post Fran McCaffrey world here shortly, but I can't think of a better guest to have on than Scott Corey.
Scott is not only the Uber Hawkeye fan, but he's got inside scoop.
His sources are so good and so secret that if he told us who they were, he'd probably have to hurt us.
But Scott, part of the team that has won dozens of IB&A awards, including for Best Sports Cast, Best Overall Sports Coverage, and Scotty, part of the awarded large market radio best play-by-play in Iowa.
with yours truly.
Scott, welcome back to the program.
Well, thanks, John.
It's great to be part of the KXEL Network again.
It's kind of like the old hat you find in the back of the closet every now and then.
You just have to wear it around town.
Absolutely, Scott.
Well, you have nailed so many things in the past.
You were, you had the receipts for the early news on the transition with Gary Barda and the new athletic director ship.
You've had your fingers on the pulse very well for what's going on in the Ferris administration with the dismissal of Brian Ferris.
You haven't missed a beat prognosticatingly.
And let's just take a look real quick.
Let's recap.
We're proud of a lot of our Iowa teams, and you know, Scott, you and I were in that Omaha area.
Let's start out.
The next one neighbor, the Creighton fans are real happy right now.
I give them grief for choking, but they did get by round one, the Creighton men.
Yeah, they did.
It was kind of surprising how well they handled that.
It was a hostile crowd, but you know, they've been kind of running under the so-called radar this last season.
And so it can be very interesting as the pressure builds.
That's normally when Greg McDermott folds like a cheap suit, but it'll be interesting to see how far he can actually go with this team because, you know, with
So many of his players, uh, this is basically all or nothing now.
So he's going to have a huge, uh, remake of his roster going into next season.
So he's basically got to do everything he can the next couple of weeks to put his best foot forward.
Well said, it should grins me that those Creighton fans actually turned out better than the Iowa men's fans did at Carver this year, which is one reason why we need to change.
But Blake Griffin, uh, your brackets have been superb home and away voice of the Ottawa Braves.
54% of everyone who filled out a bracket had their bracket busted because they picked Louisville, but Blake you pick Creighton.
Why so?
It's good.
It's gonna sound weird.
All right, it's it I saw you know that Underdogs of the eight nine splits are normally winners and Creighton was the underdog in that matchup and you know
I put my life on the line for it, and you know, I think I paid off right now.
And this is from a baseball guy, but you're what,
14 for 16?
And so far in your games, you're rocking it.
Yeah, pretty good in the early going.
There's some games that are definitely going to probably shake me up, as most people do, that Alabama game got a little...
Harry, but I think we're going to be okay.
Scotty, let's talk about Drake.
We're proud of Drake, even though we're Waterloo Cedar Rapids.
This signal goes all the way over there into Minnesota and the Dakotas and Nebraska and Kansas and Missouri and Indiana and Illinois and Wisconsin and Michigan, Ohio and Canadian provinces.
How about those Drake Bulldogs?
You know, they are kind of the
Cinderella team this season.
It's amazing how they've really flown on on the radar But if you've watched them at all during the season, you know how well they're coached how well they play together It was pointed out last night by several people even on X as well as during the broadcast Unfortunately had Drake slipped up at all during the season They probably would not have been in the NCAA tournament and that's just a crying shame.
They are just put together one of the great
teams as well as seasons they've had in history.
First time they've made it out of the first round since their final four run.
It's just really amazing what's happening over there.
And as this shows too, the bias of not only the NCAA committee members, but also CBS sports, the way they kind of just backhanded Drake this year.
How many SEC teams were in there?
Was it 12 or 14?
14
is a
joke.
And as a Hawkeye fan, I know we were all cheering for Drake because there is no love lost when it comes to the frauds down there in Missouri.
Every time anybody plays Missouri, I'm always reminded of that great grandpa Simpson, quote, when March says, grandpa, why does your flag only have 49 stars?
And he says, it'll be a cold, cold day before I recognize the state of Missouri.
Here was Scott Curry Scott, uh, with his legendary takes, uh, Scott, I remember that magnificent Drake final four team in 68 or 69 under Murray John literally
almost beat UCLA for the national championship in the semifinal round that year, lost by three points.
Just amazing performance.
Well, it's the best at the times in a disappointing time for Iowa State cyclones.
Now, this is Eastern Iowa.
This is Hawkeye country.
The women may be underperformed this year, Scotty, and the man, the injury verdict is out.
The women are out.
The men are still in it.
What do you think is going to happen?
Yeah, it's been kind of a up-and-down season if you're a cyclone fan.
Obviously there was great expectations for the women's basketball team.
I believe they were ranked
Preseason number eight in the nation and then you know, they kind of faltered throughout Ended up having to play the play-in game here earlier this week barely got by there and then they just ran into a very decently coached Michigan team on Friday afternoon It's gonna be very interesting to see how Iowa State moves forward Because they're gonna have a huge roster change as well moving forward Emily Ryan, you know, she she is done now and probably
I could be looking at an NBA, WNBA or even overseas and this can be very interesting to see where that program goes.
And then Iowa State handled Liskum earlier on Friday afternoon just demolish them.
But as it gets going further and further, it's going to be interesting to see how coach TJ handles the rotation of Iowa State men due to all the injuries they've had and they will start playing tougher competition as well.
I told Geraldine the year they could make a deep run, but how battered and bruised are they, Scott?
Are they hampered at this juncture or can they catch on fire here again?
You
know, I think it's basically, it's a crapshoot of basically how everything lines up for them, especially regarding their future opponents and how that plays.
It is amazing though.
I grimously tip my hat to the coaching job that TJ has done over there.
I just wish they had enough money in their budget to actually get him a t-shirt that fits.
But, you know, moving forward, it's going to be interesting to see how he handles it.
But he is, as long as he stays at Iowa State, unfortunately, Iowa State will be a problem for the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Big 12 moving forward.
You know Scotty Blake and I do work in the Kansas City area here and did you hear the thud of early season number one, Kansas J Hawks, one and done.
Blake, you didn't have him going anywhere.
You, you heard the footsteps, didn't you?
What
happened, Blake?
I mean they've just they've not had a killer the entire year I think they if any other team was had the season that Kansas did I think they would have been a little bit lower I think they were probably a little too high in the in the seedings and I mean I mean I'm a Kansas sympathizer because we were so close to Lawrence and I love my Jayhawks but this season just wasn't for them and they ran into a buzz off a coach as well Calla Perry's got
Pedigree in the in the in the tournament.
So it was it was an easier pick for me I'd say Scott are
you surprised that Kansas fell so flat after so much promise at the beginning of the year?
You know, it couldn't happen to a better program in my opinion When it comes to Kansas bill itself, it's amazing how they pay him 50 million dollars to
in his contract, you put out such a product is unbelievable.
And I believe, what was their NIL?
I think it was well over five or $6 million this year.
And what a huge waste of resources.
It's going to be interesting to see how restless the natives are in the off season, because according to the message boards on Thursday night, it would not be a very pleasant reception when they get back to Lawrence.
John Jacobson here, you're listening to the Jacobson report on KXEL on this beautiful Saturday morning as we are curing into spring.
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Scotty, let's talk about the Iowa Hawkeye women's hoopsters.
What hopes do you have for them here in the post season?
You know, it's gonna be very interesting to see how coach Jan Jensen handles this, but it is just something to put together that what they've done with Lucy Olsen as well as the entire team of the fabulous freshman and then you have Taylor and then we had the huge news that Aferoback is coming back for another season.
She
announced that earlier this
week.
You know, it is
He talked about kind of the pecking order and we've talked about it on previous shows, John.
It's just amazing how far the Iowa women have disengrained themselves, not only in the state of Iowa, but on the national level.
And if Iowa gets by their opponent later today, they will be in a possible matchup against Oklahoma.
And don't forget, their coach in Oklahoma played for Jan Jensen and Lisa Bluter in
Iowa City.
And she was on the shortlist to replace Lisa moving forward.
So there's a lot of things.
But let's just say, if everything goes according to plan, and Iowa was playing in that second weekend of the tournament, who's going to be lurking out there?
but our old friend Gino and Yukon.
And it's going to be very interesting to see how things progress, but just a shout out to what Coach Jan Jensen and the Iowa women have done this year.
It's
a tremendous effort.
Amen, brother.
Great, great job with a tremendous season.
And they had that little valley and righted the ship and are playing strongly at the end of the year here.
Yeah, absolutely.
And so, you know, I think this is just really put Iowa women on the map.
And if they're not considered a blue blood now, I don't know what more it could take because I believe it is 20 or excuse me, nine seasons in a row of 20 plus victories.
That is just unheard of in women's sports and even in men's basketball.
The kind of consistency that Lisa Bluter and Jan Jensen have put to this program through is just amazing.
And don't forget, next year is even brighter with some of the all stars that we've
recruited.
Oh my goodness, yes.
And Iowa
is set up to have a tremendous run.
And I couldn't be more excited about the Iowa women moving forward.
Agreed.
Such that, Scott, you were talking yesterday.
You know, the women are filling up Carver when the
arena was a third fall for the men's basketball.
You say the pecking order right now, this was astonishing, but based on butts and seats in Iowa City, I agree with the pecking order of one through five.
What are they Scott in your opinion?
This will bring us to the basketball discussion very resolutely.
Sure.
I would say everybody would agree that in college football or excuse me, in college sports football drives the bus.
In Iowa, there's no difference.
So it's always going to be current parents in the program at Kinnick Stadium.
Then I say it's going to be the Iowa women at number two.
tied by then 3A would be the Iowa men's wrestling followed by 3B the Iowa women's wrestling and then fourth it would be the Iowa men's basketball program and that is it's a very surprising Iowa's unique in that situation kind of how things
transpire obviously everybody always says if you have a football program that's usually number one unless you go to a different state like Kansas or something like that but having a wrestling dominate the way it does is very unique and probably the only program that has a dominant wrestling program that would compare to Iowa would be Penn State but then to have the Iowa women basically the number two juggernaut in that athletic department
It's going to be very interesting to see moving forward in the men's coaching carousel how President Wilson and Athletic Director Beth Getz brings home the next head coach.
Well, you seem to be able to read their minds pretty well, Scott, before we go there.
Hey, Blake Griffin, just want to digress.
Women's wrestling, I'm a believer seeing the crowds
in Ottawa and in Baldwin City, Kansas that show up for women's wrestling.
It's amazing.
Yeah.
And we have to, uh, shout it out for, for out of the university, Darryl Waddell finished second in the NAI and, uh, and all American to the NAI level, uh, big believers here in, uh, the Ottawa area.
And, and they've got great
crowds.
So Fran McCaffrey out at Iowa.
My big question is, uh,
Probably a good move.
I'll have Scott O'Pine, but my follow-up will be who do we get and is the NIL cupboard bearer, is that's what's hurting us from getting our next coach.
And will this be a multi-year rebuilding project with all these guys heading in the portal?
A troika of questions.
Scotty question one, was it time to part company with Fran McCaffrey as the Hawkeyes have done?
Unfortunately I believe it was and you know there's been a lot of chatter in the donor class as well as on the online message boards and around the fans did Beth and President Wilson wait too long to finally
come to a conclusion of the Fran McCaffrey era at Iowa City.
It's very interesting as we move forward.
He'd been at Iowa for 15 years, won a Big 10 men's basketball championship in the tournament, but just it never had success in the NCAA tournament.
It's been since.
The final year of Dr. Tom Davis 1999, where the Iowa men's basketball program has been in the sweet 16
is in the last century is in the last century.
Yeah.
Well, even worse, last millennium.
So and so it's, uh, uh, you know, that, uh,
I, I say that the Iowa has been very tolerant of a lot of things and for 15 years and not to get to the sweet 16 is unacceptable for any program, especially a big 10 program.
Was the straw that broke the candles back?
Do you think it was on court behavior?
Just lackluster record not making the term at the last two years.
The fact that butts and seats, they were averaging 5,000 or is the NIL covered bear?
Cause people just don't want to throw money in under the.
Until recently, now it's the former regime, but the McCaffrey regime.
What do you think was the straw that broke the camel's back, or was it a combination of factors, Scott?
I believe with a combination of factors, there were several big money donors that have donated to the football program that would not open the checkbook or their aircraft facilities or anything like that to the men's basketball program for recruiting just because of Fran and the way he acted towards the donors as well as, you know, his on-court antics.
Now, granted, after
saying all of this, we should say, we want to thank Fran
and
Gaffrey
for what he did.
Because the Todd Licklider years were just abysmal.
And he brought consistency, but unfortunately this is a results-based business and the results in the NCAA tournament were just not acceptable.
And
I
think as we move forward, it's unsustainable when you only have 5,000 people showing up at a home game.
And it also put to rest and we had this conversation many times, John.
Carver Hawk arena is not the problem.
No, look at the women.
Look at the women filling that place up.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
The wrestlers filling up Carver for crying out loud.
Yeah, absolutely.
And one of the loudest venues there was was the last couple years when obviously, you know, Caitlin Clark, Gabby Martial, and Kate Martin were there.
And so this really brought the attention of basically dollars and cents and apathy in the program.
And with the new TV deal that the conference has signed with our TV partners, the amount of money being spent and the amount of success that our neighbors
to the West have had in their their little program.
Iowa cannot be caught standing still.
And it was basically athletic director gets as well as the administration deciding now is the time to act.
And, you know, people that have got to know athletic director gets know she is a woman of action.
She has a situation with the football program.
She did.
She did.
That was
That was basically the line in the sand that said there's a new sheriff in town.
And we also need to also lay some of the blame of what's happened to former athletic director Gary Barda, his mismanagement of the athletic department for all these years, the lawsuits, the settlements, the contract extensions that were not warranted.
You know, this can take a little while for the programs, all the programs across the board to dig themselves out of this.
but I am confident that athletic director guests will find the right candidate to fit the Iowa culture and bring back a winning program to the Carver Hawk arena.
Here with the ESPN clairvoyant precognitive Scott Corey when it comes to the Iowa Athletic Department and picking up on the vibes of the Zeitgeist.
Scotty, I'll digress for just a second.
So maybe they should have hired Darian DeVries last year out of Drake because we lost him this year.
A, how do we lose him?
B, did we really want him?
I mean, he coached for 20 years at Creighton, and then Drake, and he doesn't have a ton of March wins, although Creighton did win their first round the other day, but he's not on that staff.
And Creighton has won a few other NCAA tournament games, but never really went deep until a few years ago with that Elite Eight, but at that juncture,
You know, DeVries got a few wins as an assistant coach at Creighton, but just, I was never sure that he was the guy to win in March for us, but maybe he was the guy, but seems like we were a year late.
How did we lose him?
Was it due to NIL?
Indiana's versus Iowa's NIL.
What say you?
Well, I think it was a combination of a few things one if we I will may have waited a year too long to To you know, maybe pull the trigger and get rid of Fran McCaffrey and go in a different direction There was also rumors that you know After the West Virginia situation when DeVries basically became was on the market absolutely lost their game to Colorado in the big 12 tournament
There was a very strong sense in a higher echelon part of the Iowa community that this was a done deal.
based on the conversations that they had.
Moving forward and then also it looks like he was a hymnist agent and rightfully so they were playing Iowa against Indiana.
Indiana has a storied history but the last 25 years basically like Iowa they have been
underperforming.
And, uh, but their donor base, uh, was willing to shell out millions upon millions of dollars, uh, that Iowa either did not have access to or unwilling to spend on him.
And they fired the, uh, Indiana fired their coach.
They had that buyout and the dollar paying the buyout at West Virginia for degrees.
And then they have roughly five to $6 million of NIL money committed to their program.
I think history will judge us for the next few years.
Uh, but you know, based on degrees as actions, I don't know if you fit the culture quite right at Iowa city.
His brother was a standout in the football program, but.
You know, there are a lot of good coaches out there.
And unfortunately though, now we are in a 24 hour news cycle.
This is the first major coaching, uh, I was gone into a social media and there's a lot of pressure on the athletic department with, uh, uh, best guests and.
You know, kind of the perceived that we've lost to him.
There's some angst.
Yeah.
Let's zero in.
Scott, this is brilliant.
Let's zero in on this.
I'm going to go on the record and say, frankly, I'm glad we did not get DeVries.
I just don't think he's going to be a March winner.
We need a March winner.
And I say that because DeVries was at Creighton for so many years.
And even last year at Drake, they didn't go very far.
I want someone who's got the March moxie.
So Scott.
Who are we going to get?
Is it an attractive job?
Are we short of NIL money?
Is this going to be a multi-year reclamation project?
Everybody seems to be hitting the portal.
Are we staring into abyss of disaster next year?
Or can we pull a proverbial rabbit out of the hat?
I want to let you opine and riff here.
We need to hear from you, chief.
I think, you know, it is still a premier program.
You know, unfortunately, we're probably in the middle tier of the big 10 conference in perception wise.
However, we have shown with stability, not only in the men's.
basketball program, but the women's basketball program and our football program, that if you were a proven winner, we will give you enough latitude to go out there and bring in the players and the people that you think you need to succeed in.
We've been pretty hands off in the last 25 years, so look at kind of the broad picture of that.
The money will be there.
I am confident in the donor class.
I have talked
with several big named donors.
Uh, they are willing to write the checks to turn this thing around because they understand that this is no longer the big 10 conference and the NCAA that we were used to even five years ago, especially with our new, uh, uh, programs that we've brought on with expansion and the new TV, uh, deal.
I think.
And
UCLA being big 10 teams that's still just.
cuts against the grain with me what USC and UCLA they're leading the big 10 what's
going
on
yep absolutely and so this is a whole new world we have to uh to navigate and you know what the house settlement is going to be uh activated later this year too
then the university will be able to coordinate more money going into our NIL as well.
And I think the NIL is in good hands.
It just needs to be a little bit more aggressive, I think.
And I think the fans are willing to do whatever it takes, whether by the swarm merchandise and things along those lines, as well as the big name donors, as well as sponsoring more of these players.
Obviously, the big name right now in the coaching circle is
Ben McCollum, what he's done at Northwest Missouri State National Championships numerous times, and what he's done in the NCAA tournament as well as Thursday night, the way he handled a Missouri team, it was just masterful.
So another Drake, another Drake, another Drake candidate.
Absolutely.
And the thing that's really going to keep an eye on is now that degrees at West West Virginia,
Well, the West Virginia program is open.
Now, why do I bring that up?
Because when he was at Northwest Missouri State, who was his athletic director, Ren Beriker, the same athletic director that's at West Virginia.
Oh, the intrigue begins, and West Virginia is smarting from a perceived snub.
They may really pony up the dollars to make a statement.
Absolutely.
And so it will be a bidding war.
You know, McCollum's contract, he's only making a little under 50 some thousand dollars a year.
It's unbelievable.
You know, Iowa is prepared to go north of four million dollars on the right coach.
And the NIL commitments would be basically, oh, I've been told from one source almost dollar for dollar.
So who could we get that would come to Iowa that
We could get for that kind of money with that kind of an NIL pool, with all the kids leaving the portal who wouldn't be intimidated about rapidly recruiting and bringing some of his guys in.
You mentioned McCullum.
Who else is out there?
You have bandied about the name of Chris Jans.
Talk about him.
I have, and he would be a natural fit, I believe, at the University of Iowa.
One thing that Iowa's program on the last three coaches has really suffered under, has been rebounding and defensive intensity.
Chris Jans would bring that in there.
Our mutual friend and past co-host coach, Pat Knapp.
Yeah, from George
Stump.
He knows him very well.
Chris Jans just wrapped up a very nice season down there at Mississippi State and FCC.
He's making about $4 million down there, so the buyout would not be terrible.
He would be a natural fit for the Iowa culture.
I know some fans are concerned about McCullum and his style of play.
They're more worried about the Todd Licklider.
situation in comparison.
That's how shell-shocked I was or still are of the Toblick writer years.
Going back
to 20 years ago.
Yeah, but my response is as long as he's not another Steve Alford, I'll write the check.
I don't care.
And so that's how far I'm willing to go on this.
Chris Jans is one of those guys that is a blue collar guy.
He reminds me in a lot of ways of Curt Ferris.
Scottie.
Moving forward, now McCullum is a very interesting person as well.
We said this in the chat the other night, John.
McCullum reminds me a lot of Tim Floyd.
Interesting.
The way they, those guys play.
You did mention that.
You did mention that, yes.
So it'd be very interesting the style of play would be there the efficiency would be there the rebounding in the you know both of these please manage run class programs, so we're not going to have to worry about a lot of the
How do we say that?
We don't want to worry about the Steve Alfred type of situations moving forward.
And so it's going to be very interesting.
But the key right now is Beth gets the athletic director at Iowa.
She has to find her man to come in here and get this program basically on stable footing because we are in a PR battle right now too.
And Beth needs a win because at the end of the day, we all know
Unfortunately, at Iowa, we have been blessed with coaches that have been around for quite a while that have been, for the most part, very outstanding.
But at some point, Curt Farrance is going to say, I've done my bit for King and Country and he's going to retire.
That
probably after next year, let's face it.
He wants to beat Woody Hayes' record.
I think this is his last year, Scott.
That's just me going out on a limb, but it's not, it's going to be sooner rather than later when she has to make another huge hire.
Yep.
And, uh, you know, so she, this is why it's so important to get these right.
And, you know, she had a very good, uh, situation when Lisa Blutter retired, Jan Jensen was a natural
And now.
But the key now is also Beth has made it clear to all the, all the programs under her department.
We expect results.
This also goes to Tom Brands too.
Could that make, could that make wrestling a little bit on edge, on eggshells?
You know, absolutely.
And you know, as they say, a steel, sharpened steel.
And
that's
what we need right now.
And it's going to be very interesting.
That's three years.
And this is why Beth Getz was brought in to be athletic director.
We all knew that we're going to have to change the coaches out due to age and everything else because they were all in their 60s and Kirk is pushing 70.
Father time is undefeated.
So we need to make sure we turn the page.
And there's going to be quite a
quite a turnover in the athletic department in the next four to five years, but I am confident that president Wilson and, and Beth gets, or the right people to lead that the donors are confident.
And I think the fans are confident because they have shown year in and year out, you put it on a good product, they will fill bank stadium, they will fill Kinnock stadium and they'll fill Carver Hawkeye arena.
It's true here with Hawkeye Uber fan and the ultimate prognosticators here like
connect the magnificent Scott, Corey.
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So Scott, who's your shortlist?
One, two, and maybe is there a third?
And is it better that Beth gets it right or gets it done quickly because Indiana is already out recruiting in the portal and we need a coach.
I think right now, I said it the other day on social media, and I'll say it again.
If it was me, and if I was advising Beth Getz, I would say call Chris Jans.
The only reason I say that is because Chris Jans has been throughout many programs.
He's been at the SEC, he's a solid
and we don't have to basically get into a bidding war with West Virginia.
Ben McCollum is a winner.
I would be very confident in that.
I'm just not sure Beth on a PR battle needs to have another loss and then it shows that we're at number three.
But
we have to be aggressive with trying to get Ben McCollum.
But we need to be prepared to, if he goes to West Virginia with his old athletic director, to move and move fast.
It's going to be very interesting.
The NIL and the portal will take care of itself.
But we also as a fan base need to understand too, it's going to take at least two years
to bring
on the roster that the new coach wants to play with and move forward in the program because the Big 10 is very unique.
We have our old Big 10 teams like Purdue and Michigan State.
We all know how they play.
But now we have to get used to how UFC and UCLA play as well.
And so it's going to be very interesting to see how we navigate that moving forward.
But the resources, I am very confident, will be there.
The fan support will be there.
It's just a matter of time.
And unfortunately, you know, father time is not on our side at the moment, just because the way the portal works, as well as the NCAA bracket or the bracketology works as well, because, you know, Drake is still active at this moment.
It seemed pretty hard to reach out to McCall and why he's trying to get moving forward.
Yeah.
But let's not forget the last time Iowa hired a Drake bulldog, it turned out pretty good.
And that was Lisa Bluter.
Indeed.
Indeed.
Well, you know, Scott, it's just, uh, to me, the whole thing is fascinating.
And you're right.
You want to PR win.
You don't want two coaches to turn you down.
And, uh, I can think of two classic Arkansas examples that ram that home to me.
Remember when the Huskers sent the plane to get Houston nut in Arkansas and he didn't come back to Lincoln?
That was one of the greatest moments in Hawkeye history.
I still bring that up to my family members that somehow still root for Nebraska even though they live in Omaha.
You know, and so moving forward, that is going to be huge on how we handle that PR battle.
Well, Scotty, I'll give you another story because I totally agree with you.
This PR battle is huge.
Speaking of revenge against Arkansas, so Arkansas recruits Creighton's Dana Altman.
He goes down there, accepts the
job in front of everybody in the Coliseum.
He does the suey pig chair and he comes crawling back to the hilltop in Omaha.
He gets a mulligan.
How do you feel about that?
Yeah, let's not forget our old friend Burt.
He was coached and played under Hayden Fry in Iowa, went to Wisconsin, went down there and did the pig call at Arkansas, and now he's at Illinois.
So we have to understand too that the amount of money that we're throwing out there in college sports now
It's not the old days of the coaches sticking around for, you know, 15, 20 years.
Basically, if you can get five to six years out of a coach, uh, you're doing a good job.
And, you know, you would look over our, our friends to the, to the West there in Ames.
How many coaches have they gone through in the
last few years?
Oh, parade.
It's been a parade of coaches.
My goodness.
Absolutely.
And I always kneel our good friend, uh, Matt Darst, every time the bulls have fired a coach.
If I was an Iowa State fan, I'd be really nervous because of a Huyberg and, uh,
And Tim Floyd and the like and you know look at Hoyberg he starts out at the mayor and then he's gonna own everything goes to the Bulls and now he's wasting away in Lincoln
Oh boy after that great year last year kind of had a tough go of it again this year in Lincoln and Scott I I've got to think Iowa is an attractive job for someone who can win and You know it it's amazing
I thought DeVries would be a natural because I thought West Virginia getting snubbed might impel him to move more than ever.
I was just wrong about Indiana.
I thought he would go to Iowa too.
You have to be of a certain age, but one of the reasons we got Hayden Fry at Iowa was because after a great stint at SMU,
He went to north Texas and had 10 and one and nine and two records back in the days when there weren't as many bowl games.
He got snubbed for bowls as a division one team with great records.
And he came to Iowa because he knew if he wanted Iowa, he was going to get to go to the Rose Bowl or a great bowl, Scott.
You know, absolutely.
That's a great point too.
And you've got to think a coach like Ben McCallum, some of that house is also playing.
You know, his decision making as well.
Sure.
Let's not forget he is an Iowa city boy.
that's a great folks.
That's a great Iowa city with Dr. Tom Davis.
There you go.
And, uh, you know, it's going to be very interesting to see how he handles that.
Now I don't, I assume his relationship with the West Virginia athletic director is still strong because of their, their time and their victories down there at Northwest Missouri state.
Uh, but like you said, the pressure in Iowa city will not be as a tense.
And I think the lilies should be a little bit longer for him than it would be in say West Virginia.
And so it's going to be very interesting to see how he handles all that.
Chris Jans, as well, you know, coming from New Mexico State and now over in the SEC and seeing all that stuff, he might decide the Big Ten is a lot better too.
And who knows, there might be a candidate out there that
Nobody knows that Beth has already signed up that she's just waiting to announce at any moment now, too.
There could be that.
that proverbial ace in the hole.
Yeah, the dark horse has happened before.
We weren't expecting Ludo Olsen.
We weren't expecting Hayden Frye.
Of course, a bump.
Yeah, a bump Elliott comes along once in a lifetime.
And indeed we were crestfallen when we lost Bobby's too.
So we got Ference.
The same thing could play out in basketball.
I'm hoping for that kind of an analogy there.
But you know, Scott, for me, the win went out of my Hawkeye basketball sales.
The year we had that, I thought a top four team with Luca Garz and we went out in that first game of the big 10 and I just about, I don't think I've ever recovered from that.
Is there a Tom Davis jinx on this team, Scotty?
There was for the Boston Red Sox for getting rid of Babe Ruth.
What do you think?
You know, absolutely.
I've said it for years that one of the biggest athletic director
malpractices ever took place was in 1999 when then athletic director Bob Bolsby did not renew and basically fired.
Dr. Tom Davis that was the last time Iowa has had a sweet 16 appearance.
And that's why a lot of fans I think are kind of leaning towards McCullough just because of his relationship with Dr. Tom.
And
so, you know, I think the, yeah, still living in Iowa city, Tom Davis at 85, 86 still in Iowa city, still beloved at Drake because he took the reins there on a somewhat interim basis and brought them back up to competitiveness.
Scott, you might be onto something there.
Yep, and whoever the new coach is, they need to make sure that Dr. Tom is there at half court on that first game so
that
the Iowa faithful can see that and put that jinx to rest and move forward because if that is something that has really dogged Iowa for a long, long time, and let's not forget, let's just say for a moment that here on Saturday night, if Drake wins, that means every program in the state of Iowa minus Iowa
will be in the sweet 16 this millennium that is unacceptable
that that is it to be the fourth best team in your state at at the universe of Iowa which was known
primarily in the 50s and 60s and 70s into the 80s and 90s as a basketball school with football success.
But that long drought from 62 to 70 to 81 without winning seasons put a dent temporarily for two decades in the Hawkeye football fortunes there.
Scotty, who are your picks?
Uh, who's going to go the deepest of any Iowa team, women's or men's in this tournament?
Do you see it from here?
It pains me to say it.
Uh, if it really falls away, I think it would, I would say the Iowa state men, uh, should at least get to the sweet 16, if not the elite eight.
However, the dark horse is actually going to be Jan Jensen's Iowa women.
If they do what I think they've been doing, the way they played against USC and Carver Hawkeye Arena, the way they've handled their business the last few
weeks.
With the almost speed Ohio State.
Oh, they should have won that game.
Absolutely.
They are a very tough team right
now.
And if Taylor McCabe and Lucy Olson and let's not forget, Sid Alford.
The way she has played the last few years has just been amazing.
She's on my Hawkeye Mount Rushmore, the way she's handled everything.
And just a true bright spot in this program.
They could make a serious splash moving forward.
And I think that would be great considering all the success that we've had the last couple of years.
with Lisa Bluter, Caitlin Clark, Kate Martin, and Gabby Marshall.
And Scott, aren't you pleased?
There's not all the drama on this team that there seems to be on all these other
uh, teams right now.
I mean, let's not even talk about LSU and there's all these portal changes, you know, some of these, uh, how many teams was Haley von Lithwith for crying out loud and, uh, you got Kim Mulkey and you got Gino's attitude and it just seems like Iowa, they have character, they like each other, there seems to be
a good vibe between and amongst the teammates and including with their coaches, it seems like a very functional environment, doesn't it?
You know, absolutely.
And it all goes back to that coaching stability in the coaching genius, at least the Bluter and Jan Jensen put on that program.
And I think, you know, as an Iowa fan, one of the great things I always enjoyed about their social media presence was the way they always handled the circle.
And if you're an Iowa women's fan, you know exactly what I'm talking about.
Those clips with those young women were in the circle around half court before the games.
do talking and going over the game plan.
Talking about important things in life.
That was some of the best content.
And that really shows you the type of love that those women have for this state and that program and for each other as well.
And it's just amazing.
And I think, unfortunately, I think Lisa Bluter gets kind of overshadowed because of the antics of Gino and that.
Oh, totally.
Yeah, Moki.
Totally.
What she's done in Iowa, as well as what Jan Jensen is doing right now, is truly remarkable because we're not giving the all-star, five-star WNBA players that Gino had all these years.
They recruit these very, very talented women and they find a way to make them gel because let's face it.
If you put Caitlin Clark of the last few years with a different team, they might not have exceeded the way they did because of the egos
and
everything.
Completely agree.
They found the right players together.
And like you said, too, look at how LSU just completely cratered last year with all the drama and everything.
So yeah, hats off to Louis.
Jan Jensen and Lisa Bluter have created for the Iowa women in the last 20-some years.
I couldn't agree more, Scott.
And I do think there is a little bit, let's call it an intangible, I think makes some of these Iowa jobs attractive.
Scott, tell me if I'm wrong, but.
We have essentially a new Nile Kinnock at Iowa, Nile Kinnock Caliber in terms of talent, recognition, and great strength of character.
And that is Caitlyn Clark.
And then you couple that with arguably now the newest, greatest tradition in college athletics, which is the wave at Kinnock Stadium during football season at the end of the first quarter, waving to the grievously ill children at
Children's Hospital there which literally overlooks the stadium like skyboxes for VIPs Scott those are intangibles right the the Clark effect the the wave effect There's something just good decent and wholesome about Iowa that it's kind of an America's team in a way am I wrong
You know absolutely and you know we talk about you know even what Hayden Frye did that Kirk Farrance has kept a tradition in the AMF.
America needs
farmers on the helmets.
Exactly.
You know it's amazing and it all goes back to the stability of the programs and I've always said this.
that the reason Iowa has been successful as a university over the years is because of its coaches.
But the coaching at any university that has a football program goes the way the football program.
And the stability of almost 40 years, over 40 years of Curt Farrance and Hayden Fry really set the tone for all the other coaches and all the other programs.
And it's just amazing.
You know, there are stories about how, you know, Kirk could be walking down the street in Iowa City or wherever and people will just walk up to him and it doesn't matter if you're a multi-million dollar donor or if you're just a, you know, a 12 year old kid.
He will treat you the same.
He will graciously take photos and do everything.
It just goes back.
to that Iowa NICE.
And I think that's part of the equation that Beth Getz is looking for the next coach for the men's basketball program as well.
That Iowa NICE, that person that fits that blue collar work ethic that we've seen it, we'll say it, I'll say it.
Steve Elfer came in with an attitude and he never really ingrained
into the culture in Iowa and he did not last.
There was issues with Fran McCaffrey and Margaret as well dealing with the fans.
And it just goes to show that the fans in Iowa, if you put out a good product and a good person, they will stand by you no matter what.
And we've proven that with the wrestling program.
We've proven that with the women's basketball program, the football program, and now the women's wrestling program as well.
And so as we move forward, there's a lot to be nervous about.
But I can't tell you how excited I am for the next few years for the Iowa Athletic Department as we go on to the next stage and move forward because of the College Football Playoff, the new Big Ten tournaments, and our media markets.
We are very, very well positioned as a university.
And there's not really many other universities, I would say.
I would swap with in our conference, maybe only two.
And that's just because of their donor base as well as their fan base.
Other than that, I wouldn't change it in a million years for what we have here at Iowa.
I agree.
And our wonderfully progressive university going back to the 1920s with Duke Slater, the great African-American, later a distinguished judge.
wrecking newt rock knees for horsemen and the seven mules as part of the, uh, early, early, uh, Hawkeye iron men of the twenties.
And Scott, you're right.
I mean, the, the Bluter family, uh, made name, Geski, there were great family in Mary in Iowa.
We knew them.
They were just terrific people.
Uh, she recruited my sister, attempted to recruit my sister years ago, class act.
My parents just love Lisa Bluter, uh, Hayden Fry and.
Kirch Ferris and their interactions with me, always gracious, just always tremendous.
Even our announcers, how can you not love Gary Dolphin and Jim Zabal and Bob Brooks?
They're all part of the tapestry here, Scott, and I agree with you that
you get ingrained in the community when you're coaching at Iowa and they've got your back like no other fan base.
And so Scott, this has been awesome.
Scott's been with us the entire hour, but so much going on with Hawkeye Sports.
Scotty, you've been right so far on all of these episodic visions in the past.
Let's see how you do on this.
I think you're on to something.
We'll bring you back here in a couple of weeks.
and do an analysis of where we've continued to progress and where we'll go from there.
Sounds great, John.
Thanks again for having me on here and say hi to the great Jeff Stein.
I give him grief on social media every now and then.
I think he's got me muted at some times, but I always enjoy giving him a hard time.
Jeff Stein loves you and I know he's listening in right now as he always listens in on our show.
Scott Corey here with Blake Griffin and John Jacobson.
John Jacobson here with Curtis Haymes.
You know, Curtis, I recall over half a century ago watching those original television ads by Kurt and Norma Haymes on then WMT, now KGAN, channel two.
These were over-the-air channel assignments.
And I remember playing Cracklin' Rosie and how appropriate we're still playing Cracklin' Rosie today as the Neil Diamond life story is hitting the stage as a musical and it's nice to know that some things not only survive but thrive.
And Curtis Hames Holmes is one of those stories.
What a magnificent legacy.
business and vocation your grandfather grandmother set up that you are custodial steward of today along with the rest of the next generation of hams is
well good morning and thank you for those kind words we love love looking to the future while still honoring our past
Curtis
There is so much good going on right now, and I know that if you get out to your two communities, you literally have manufactured homes both at Summit View and at Grand View.
Talk about these.
These are like two beautiful Iowa small towns on the edge of Cedar Rapids with both rural and urban accessibility.
Yes, absolutely.
We are on the southwest side of Cedar Rapids, a thriving, growing, the newer side of town.
We're getting more amenities all the time.
The city's building a huge library over here.
The Westdale Mall area is changing and growing.
More restaurants, more growth over here.
Very easy access to the airport down to Iowa City.
Down to Kinnick Stadium at Burr football fan.
We think we have the best of all worlds here, spacious.
You're
not really out on the farm, but you're not downtown.
Ease of access to anywhere, five minutes from the highway, 10 minutes from downtown.
Well, well, this is awesome.
Curtis Hames, the Hames Homes people guys.
Now Curtis, I'm going to give you a very tough multiple choice question.
Here's the question.
What amenities make Hames's all-age communities feel like home?
A. Site lease, including garbage and recycle service, stormwater fees and property taxes on the land.
Or B. Abundant green spaces, recreation areas, playgrounds and community events.
Or C. Safe, peaceful environments.
or D, Off Street parking and mail delivery to individual home sites, or E, emergency storm shelters, or F, on-site management to serve resident needs, or G, all of the above.
All
of the above, all of the above.
Correct, the bells are going off and the crowd gives its assent of approval.
Well, multiple choices, my favorite in school.
Very excited to know the answer here.
We are very proud to be a safe, clean, planned, family-owned community.
We love providing all these amenities for our homeowners.
Maintaining our community is one of our biggest goals.
When communities get rough and they fall into disrepair, it's very, very hard to get them back.
We want to have a lot of discipline and work together with our homeowners.
and make the financial commitments of ourselves to keeping the community top notch and one of the nicest in Iowa and maybe the nation.
You do that magnificently well.
Again, these are safe, affordable, beautiful.
homes for families.
The key is we got a lot of people listening in today.
Curtis on this giant 50,000 watt blowtorch.
How do they get in touch with you?
Where do they drive to take a look?
Where do they telephone?
Where do they find you online?
Where do they email
you?
We accept all forms of communication.
Someone wants to call.
Someone wants to email.
You want to send a smoke signal.
You want to stop by.
We love all of the above.
319.
377-4863 is how you reach myself or my co-worker Clint.
Our website is HamesHomes.com.
We keep it very simple.
You type it into
the
Google machine.
It's just Hames Homes, our mobile homes.
Cedar Rapids will get us right away or stop by.
We love to take appointments.
We love walk-ins.
Please come see us on this beautiful weekend.
We're on the corner of Wilson and West Post Road.
we're off of stony point on the southwest side of the figure at
guys go see these wonderful people i always enjoy my visits you can always tell they fly the flag of america iowa
and always for our missing in action POW as they love our veterans.
Haymes Homes, the Homes people.
This is John Jacobson telling you to catch the webcast out there in perpetuity.
Just type in kxl.com slash Jacobson, J-A-C-O-B-S-E-N.
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Guys, be safe, be smart, be good, be strong.
Love Jesus Christ in this Lenten season.
And God bless us, everyone.
Bye-bye.