The gist of the story is that the U of I encouraged the victim to keep the matter in house, that it would be handled swiftly within the athletic department and university. All the while, for a month after the alleged incident, the victim’s mother claims the victim was harassed by Satterfield and Everson and other Iowa athletes, including other members of the football team.

Didn’t the U of I learn anything from the Pierre Pierce case? Why, after the way all that went down, would they encourage a victim of a sexual assault not to report it to police? Why wouldn’t they wash their hands of any responsibility in how the investigation was carried out? The alleged victim didn’t file a complaint until a month after the Oct. 14 incident, and, according to the ICPC article, the university hadn’t done a whole lot in the interim to take action. Satterfield and Everson were suspended from the team, but they weren’t kicked off the team, and Everson, allegedly, was living right down the hall from the alleged victim. There is a lot of “allegedly” still in this case that is going to come out when it goes to trial. It’s going to get ugly. Both Satterfield and Everson are going to plead not guilty — Everson already has — and Ferentz and Barta probably will be among those who will testify.

Now, according to another article the ICPC had today, Gov. Chet Culver is getting involved, and he wants answers. I can’t say I blame him. This whole thing is embarrasing for the football program, the university and the state. And it’s only going to get worse when this goes to trial.

My question is this: How much more of this can Ferentz survive. He’s the highest paid coach in the Big Ten. Fans probably could forgive a 19-18 record over the past three seasons if his players were model citizens off the field and the program appeared to be on the upswing. But that is not the case. Eighteen Iowa players have been arrested or cited 23 times in the past 15 months. A lot of people around the program and university will say that a lot of those incidents were typical alcohol-related citations, and, yes, that’s true, 11 of them were. But, the undeniable fact is that 12 of them weren’t. And of those 12, five were felonies.

Last August, after the arrests of Dominique Douglas and Anthony Bowman in the now-infamous credit card case puncuated what Ferentz thought was a particularly troubling summer of off-field issues, the coach, sitting alongside Barta at a news conference, announced a zero tolerance policy for his players. Within weeks, Clint Huntrods (public intoxication/public urination) and Dana Brown (domestic assault) were dismissed from the team after run-ins with the law.

Since Ferentz’s declaration, though, 12 of his players have been arrested or cited on charges ranging from possession of alcohol to domestic assault to shoplifting to drunken driving to possession of marijuana to sexual assault. And last night, incoming freshman Riley Reiff, 19, took Iowa City police on a 20-minute drunken foot chase through downtown. He was cited for public intoxication and interference with official acts. 

So much for zero tolerance.

My question is: How much tolerance will Iowa fans have for Ferentz, especially if the Hawkeyes struggle on the field, as is predicted, in 2008? Could this be Captain Kirk’s last season in black and gold?

And what about Barta? This all went on on his watch. Should he be held accountable?

This is bad news for the Hawkeyes.

Stanzi probably wasn’t going to be the starter when Maine comes to town six weeks from Saturday, but he did figure to challenge Christensen during camp. If Stanzi is in fact out six to eight weeks, Christensen will be pushed only by redshirt freshman Marvin McNutt and incoming freshmen John Wienke and James Vandenberg. That’s not enough. After a sub-par sophomore season during which Christensen took every meaningful Iowa snap, he needs all the competition he can get as he prepares for 2008.

I have no doubt Christensen will be the starter against Maine — I had little doubt before learning of Stanzi’s injury. But competition in camp would have helped him be a better quarterback to start the season. And it would have been good for the Hawkeyes to build some depth at the position — some much-needed depth. If Stanzi were to play, say, the fourth quarter of each of Iowa’s first two games, against Maine and Florida International, both of which figure to be lopsided wins, that would have, at the least, given Stanzi some valuable game experience, and, if he played well, given the coaching staff confidence to go to him if Christensen struggles as he did in 2007. They had no confidence in either Stanzi or Arvell Nelson last year and had no choice but to stick with Jake through thick and thin.

Now, let’s say Stanzi is out six to eight weeks — again, I can’t confirm that. Best-case scenario, he misses all of training camp and returns as a distant backup before the opener, and probably doesn’t see much time. Worst-case scenario, he returns before the Sept. 13 matchup with Iowa State, probably as the third-string quarterback behind McNutt, Wienke or Vandenberg, whichever one plays mop-up dutie against Maine and Florida International. This, right here, could be the defining juncture of Stanzi’s career at Iowa. Right when he’s in position to compete for playing time, even the starting job, he could be pushed to the back of the line.

Again, all we know right now is that Stanzi hurt his shoulder and he left Friday with his arm in a sling. That’s it, but that certainly isn’t a good sign for Stanzi or the Hawkeyes as they sit just a few short weeks from opening camp.         

Before making his announcement, Scheelhaase sat down for an interview with Rivals.com’s Jeremy Crabtree. Here’s an excerpt from Crabtree’s article: 

Another big factor for Scheelhaase was the possibility of getting early playing time. He said he loved how coach Ron Zook isn’t afraid to play true freshmen if they’re ready.

“You’re going to get competition no matter where you go,” he said. “We saw at Illinois that they weren’t afraid to play kids early and give kids competition. Even right now with Juice being the quarterback he is, he knows he’s got competition behind him. If he’s not getting the job done, they’re not afraid to move another guy in there.

“Coach Zook is also not afraid to play young guys, too. He’s going to put in the guy that’s going to get the job done, whether he’s a true freshman or a redshirt senior. Whoever will go out there, put in his work, put in his time and help the team win will play. And that was something really important for me to hear.”  

That got me thinking, or wondering, rather: How did Scheelhaase view Iowa in that regard? Did he think he’d have a chance to see the field immediately, or did he watch last season as Kirk Ferentz stuck with Jake Christensen even as the first-year starter struggled to put up the lowest passer rating in the Big Ten? Did that weigh in Scheelhaase’s decision? We all know Ferentz is the last coach to hook a starter and that he traditionally has been reluctant to play freshmen over older, more experienced players. Zook, meanwhile, showed last year that he won’t hesitate to mix it up. Even as the Illini were in the midst of a 9-win, Rose Bowl season, he was more than willing to switch in Eddie McGee for Juice Williams when Williams was struggling. Heck, McGee nearly led the Illini to a comeback win at Kinnick Stadium.

I talked to Scheelhaase today, and he said not to read too much into his comments to Rivals, that his statements about Illinois’ strengths in recruiting didn’t necessarily point to weaknesses in the programs he turned down — Iowa, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas. The question I had for Scheelhaase was how Zook and Ferentz, and their staffs, go about it, how their styles differ on the recruiting trail.

Scheelhaase, who had a several-page list of what he was looking for in a school, was reluctant to compare the two programs.

“Everybody has their different styles,” he said. “You deal with different coaches, different personalities. But at the end of the day, it wasn’t any one style that hurt or helped one program or another. It was the overall package. It’s not really about the style and how they go at it. It’s about big factors, what the academics are, what the offense is. That’s what put Illinois over the top.

“I don’t know if there was a ‘pitch.’ They just sold the program as the people inside it, just as good people and a place that I could succeed not only as a football player but in school and off the football field. They were down to earth the whole time and straight forward. That was really something that was important to me. I can’t say that there was anything that hurt any one school. It’s that Illinois was that great in all the phases. It was just that right place for me.”

For the record, Scheelhaase seems like a nice kid who made his college decision for the right reasons. And, sorry Hawkeyes fans, I wish him well.

A FRESH LEG

This time of year, everyone wants to talk about which incoming freshmen are going to get a chance to see the field. With a vacant backfield, running backs Jeff Brinson and Jewel Hampton certainly are two, and there are a handful of defensive backs who will get a shot. But place-kicker Trent Mossbrucker, from Mooresville, Ind., might be one who could make a real impact.

Iowa’s kickers – junior Austin Signor and sophomore Daniel Murray – were not good last season. Together, they made 10 of 16 field goals and 24 of 28 PATs, stats that ranked 10th and 11th in the Big Ten, respectively. Mossbrucker has the leg, and it seems the demeanor, to compete. (Click here for a link to a story on Mossbrucker in the Indy Star, and click here for another about him being a finalist for Indiana’s Mr. Football). Mossbrucker is a talented athlete, much like former Hawkeye Nate Kaeding, who played football, soccer and basketball in high school. As a senior, the 6-foot, 195-pound Mossbrucker set school records for completions (526) and passing yards (4,208), while throwing for 39 scores. He probably would have gotten a lot of attention as a QB if he were a few inches taller. As it was, his kicking numbers — 8-for-11 field goals, 47-for-48 PATs and 46 of 65 kickoffs into the end zone — landed him a scholarship.

Ferentz said at the end of spring practice that neither Signor nor Murray had won the job. As it was last season, Signor appears to have the stronger leg while Murray has been more accurate. Perhaps Mossbrucker will be both.

THE HOLY BIBLE

While at Hy-Vee the other night, picking up a gourmet dinner of lukewarm chicken and cold noodle salad — nothing but the best — I grabbed Athlon’s college football preview, the national edition. I read these preseason publications like the Pope reads the Bible, so it’s always a big day when I see the first one on the magazine rack.

A couple notes from Athlon: Iowa is not listed in the top 10 in any of the position rankings, not even the D-line, which I think could be one of the best in the nation. From that unit, senior Mitch King is picked as a second-team All-American. The first-teamers are Terrill Byrd (Cincinnati) and Gerald McCoy (Oklahoma). Athlon’s top 10 teams: Florida, Ohio State, Oklahoma, USC, Georgia, Missouri, West Virginia, Auburn, LSU and Clemson. Wisconsin is No. 12, Illinois 16 and Penn State 23. Iowa is picked sixth in the Big Ten and 38th in the nation. I’d say that’s about right. As far as All-Big Ten goes: King’s a first-teamer, tight end Tony Moeaki and offensive tackle Seth Olsen are second team along with linebacker A.J. Edds and Derrell Johnson-Koulianos as a return specialist. And here’s where Iowa stands in Athlon’s unit rankings within the Big Ten: QBs (8), RB (11), WR/TE (3), OL (6), DL (5), LB (5) and DB (8).

Click here for Athlon’s profile of the Hawkeyes, who they think will win between seven and nine games, with Pitt and Michigan State as swing games and losses coming to Wisconsin, Penn State and Illinois in succession. Or check out the magazine. Iowan Zach Johnson is featured in a TransAmerica ad on Page 23. Right now, Zach is tied for 23rd at the British Open.

And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the “Sideline Spirit” section in the back (Pages 184-188) that profiles four cheerleaders from around the country. Congrats to 2007 Sideline Spirit winner Brittany Baumann of Cincinnati. Not bad.

AND SPEAKING OF HOT … 

In his latest mailbag, Sports Illustrated college football writer Stewart Mandel answered a question from a frustrated Iowa fan asking whether or not Ferentz is on the hot seat coming off a 6-6 season. Here is Mandel’s response:  

While Ferentz certainly gained himself some mileage (not to mention a hefty paycheck) with his impressive run a few years back, he’s definitely treading dangerously. By no means is it realistic to expect him to win Big Ten titles every year at Iowa, the past two seasons have been particularly mediocre (a combined 12-13 record). To add insult to injury, his players seem to be constantly in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. According to the Cedar Rapids Gazette, the Hawkeyes have endured 17 arrests (including five felonies) over the past 15 months. Most of the players connected to the more serious crimes are no longer with the team.

Strangely, I think Iowa’s early success under Ferentz — three straight 10-win seasons and a share of two Big Ten titles from 2002-04 — may have caused the seeds of his demise. Those early teams were molded around largely unheralded recruits who bloomed late in their career like QB Brad Banks, Outland winner Robert Gallery and linebacker Chad Greenway. That success allowed Ferentz to start hauling in some bona fide blue-chippers, culminating in a 2005 class that was ranked in the top 10 by most services.

However, most of the studs from that class and the ones that followed never panned out. Some are the same ones whose names now appear in the police blotter. Maybe they arrived with bigger egos than their predecessors. Maybe they did not work as hard. Maybe Ferentz and his staff got caught up in four-star ratings and did not pay as much attention as they normally would to character.

Whatever the case, he needs to get things turned back around in a hurry — an eight-win season and return to the upper third of the Big Ten would suffice — because right now his program is causing nothing but embarrassment for Iowa. I could see the Hawkeyes’ 2008 season heading in either direction: Either the remaining players grow closer and regain the type of chemistry those old teams had, or the whole thing just implodes on Ferentz and the season seals his fall from grace.

Mandel’s right. This is a make-or-break year for Ferentz and his staff, on and off the field.

That’s all for now. The Big Ten Media Kickoff is a week from today in Chicago. I’m still not sure if I’m going to be able to attend as my wife and I still are awaiting the birth of our first child — she’s due Monday. If the baby comes early or on time and without complications, I’ll most likely be there. But if we fly the due date, I’ll be watching on ESPN like the rest of you.

What’s on your mind as we sit just more than six weeks from the opener? What questions do you have about the upcoming season? What’s your prediction for 2008? Six, seven, eight wins or more?

Let me know.  

Wow! What a blow to Hawkeyes fans.

Scheelhaase had his college choices narrowed to six — Oklahoma, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska. Rumors early this week had him headed for the Sooner state, which, I think, is a choice most Iowa fans could have lived with. Oklahoma is an elite program the Hawkeyes likely won’t see on the schedule. But Illinois, ILLINOIS!!!, that’s a different story. That’s a direct slap in the face to an Iowa program that sees itself as far superior to its Orange and Blue rivals across the Mississippi River.

Seriously, though, why, other than the fact that his father, Nate Creer, played at Iowa in the mid-80s, would Scheelhaase, the No. 2-ranked dual-threat QB in the Class of ‘09, go to Iowa, where he’d be a square peg pounded into a round hole in offensive coordinator Ken O’Keefe’s drab offensive system. At Illinois, he’ll have a year to study under dual-threat prototype Juice Williams before competing for the job. And, at Illinois, he’s joining a program that appears to be on the rise coming off a trip to the Rose Bowl. Iowa, meanwhile, is 19-18 the past three seasons, including an 11-13 mark in the Big Ten, and, right now, there are not a whole lot of reasons to believe the Hawkeyes are on the upswing.

This is a blow to Iowa’s Class of ‘09, which stands at two commits, West Des Moines Valley lineman David Barrent and Ohio running back Brad Rogers. (For the record, Iowa probably only will sign between 12 and 15 players in February) I still believe Scheelhaase’s buddy, Mt. Pleasant wideout Jordan Cotton is Iowa-bound. His father, Marshall, played there, and the Hawkeyes have shown him by far the most interest. He told me last month that it would take a lot for a school to pull him from out of state. But Kansas still is in the picture, and Cotton and Scheelhaase were in Lawrence on Tuesday checking out the new football complex on the Jayhawks’ campus. 

Cotton sent me a text message yesterday saying he expects to announce his decision next week. Losing him would be a bigger blow than losing Scheelhaase, who was considered somewhat of a long shot because of his national clout. But of the three major instate recruits still out there – Cotton, Cedar Rapids receiver Keenan Davis and Sioux City running back Brandon Wegher — Cotton is considered the most likely to pick Iowa. If he were to commit out of state, there could be a mass exodus – not to mention a major meltdown among the Iowa faithful. So far, Cotton has offers from Iowa, Kansas, Wisconsin, Iowa State and Colorado. Illinois has shown interest but has yet to offer. If Cotton were to follow his buddy Scheelhaase to Champaign, well, there may be a black and gold mob showing up at Kirk Ferentz’s door wielding pitch forks.

As I’m writing this, I received a text from Cotton saying it’s between Iowa and Kansas, so he will not be following Scheelhaase to Illinois (collective sigh of relief from Iowa fans). 

As for Iowa landing a quarterback in 2009, there still are offers out to four others, including Jordan Reed, a 6-foot-3, 230-pounder from Connecticut who has family ties in Iowa. His father and most of his extended family live in Dubuque, and he grew up a Hawkeyes fan. But Reed, a 4-star prospect who some liken to last year’s biggest prep star Terrelle Pryor, has offers from Florida, Oregon and Penn State, among others. So, why would he come all the way to Iowa? He sounded lukewarm when I talked to him last month.

The other QBs Iowa has offers out to, according to Rivals, are Dolapo Macarthy (3-stars, Merrillville, Ind.), Darren Jones (3-stars, Harvey, Ill.) and Morgan Newton (3-stars, Carmel, Ind.). The Hawkeyes signed three quarterbacks in the Class of 2008 and still have incumbent Jake Christensen for another two seasons, but Ferentz has said, ideally, he’d like to add a quarterback each year.

Will he or won’t he? That’s obviously the big question Iowa fans are asking about the player Rivals ranks as the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback in America. The 6-foot-3, 185-pound Scheelhaase is worthy. He passed for 1,861 yards and 20 touchdowns and ran for 917 yards and 14 scores while leading Rockhurst High School to an undefeated record and a Missouri Class 6 state championship as a junior last season.

My guess is he won’t. There are just too many other intriguing offers on the table from programs that are already among college football’s elite (Oklahoma) or are on the rise (Missouri, Kansas, Illinois) for a top-tier prospect like Scheelhaase to pick a school that has struggled of late (Iowa, Nebraska).  

The one thing working in Iowa’s favor is that Scheelhaase’s father, Nate Creer, played for the Hawkeyes in the mid-80s. Played on some really good teams, in fact. Scheelhaase was born in the Quad-Cities and spent some of his youth in Iowa before moving to K.C. Plus, Iowa was the first school to offer Scheelhaase a scholarship, something he said was important to him when I talked to him for a story last month. (Click herefor the story on Scheelhaase and Connecticut dual-threat QB Jordan Reed)

“I’m looking for a program where I’ll be comfortable on campus, comfortable with the coaches, some place I can see myself playing in the future,” Scheelhaase said at the time. “Iowa was my first offer, so that means something to me. And my dad played there, so that’s something that is cool with it. I feel really comfortable there. I like the campus a lot. It’s a good school. I definitely do like Iowa. It’s a solid school.”

Since I talked to him, though, Scheelhaase has made visits to more than half-a-dozen other suitors, including Oklahoma. Here’s what he told the Star about his visit with the Sooners, who, apparently, are interested in him as a quarterback now after showing early interest in bringing him in as an “athlete.”

“Oklahoma was the last school that was recruiting me as an athlete,” he said. “When I went up this summer, it was for sure quarterback. It’s definitely a school I felt comfortable with since I was young, but you get a lot of those same feelings, especially with the local schools. We’ll see what happens.”

I put a call into Scheelhaase earlier today and sent him a text message yesterday but haven’t heard back. I did hear back from Scheelhaase’s buddy and fellow Iowa recruit, Mt. Pleasant (Iowa) receiver Jordan Cotton, and he said he expects to announce his decision next week. Will Cotton, whose father Marshall played at Iowa with Creer, be swayed by Scheelhaase’s announcement. The two have been lifelong friends, spent time working out together this summer in Kansas City and took visits to schools together, including Kansas.

We will see what happens, first with Scheelhaase live on Kansas City TV at 6 p.m. Wednesday, which to me seems more than a little excessive for a verbal commitment that could be broken as easily as my dinner plans for Saturday. Recruits flop on verbals all the time, and signing day isn’t until the first Wednesday in February, which will give Scheelhaase a lot of time to reconsider and, dare I say, other coaches ample opportunity to try to change his mind.

While I was gone, the Big Ten announced kickoff times for Iowa’s first three games. The Hawkeyes games against Maine (Aug. 30), Florida International (Sept. 6) and Iowa State (Sept. 13) all will start at 11 a.m. and all will be shown on the Big Ten Network, which has yet to strike a deal with Mediacom (I’m almost guaranteeing it’ll be done by Aug. 30, so don’t worry). Times for Iowa games against Northwestern (Sept. 27), Michigan State (Oct. 4) and Minnesota (Nov. 22) had already been announced. Northwestern and Michigan State will go at 11 a.m., and Minnesota is set for 6 p.m. — the final game at the Metrodome. All three will be on the BTN.

That’s at least six Iowa games on the BTN. That’ll be a lot of lonely TVs in Iowa if Mediacom doesn’t get a deal done, as Comcast did last month.

Aside from that, some big news from around the Big Ten: Indiana quarterback Kellen Lewis, an Iowa killer the past two seasons, has been reinstated after serving a suspension this spring. That’s huge news for Hoosiers fans. Lewis is, if not the best, easily the most versatile quarterback in the conference. He was a unanimous second-team All-Big Ten selection a year ago. He’s just a guy who strikes fear into the heart of opposing coaches because he can do so many different things with the ball in his hands. Without Lewis, IU would have been lucky to win three or four games. With him, the Hoosiers could contend for a bowl. He’s that good.

Outside the Big Ten but on Iowa’s schedule: Rivals has Pittsburgh ranked 25th in the nation. Click here for their breakdown of the team the Hawkeyes meet on the road Sept. 20. I’ve said it before, but any love Pitt gets is good for Iowa. That’s going to be a tough game, but it’s one the Hawkeyes could conceivably pull off and gain some momentum early in the season.

I’m working at the John Deere Classic golf tournament all week here in the Quad-Cities. I’ll be at my computer a lot, so if any of you have questions about Iowa football, drop me a line. Big Ten media day is two weeks from tomorrow. Mitch King, Matt Kroul, Seth Olsen and Kirk Ferentz will represent Iowa at the annual event in downtown Chicago. Not much news comes out of something staged like that, but it’s always a nice kickoff to the season, which is right around the corner.      

Last season, 10 teams from the Big Ten reached six wins — the traditional “bowl eligible” plateau — but only eight of them went bowling. Iowa (6-6) and Northwestern (6-6) stayed home.

On top of Ohio State, Wisconsin and Iowa, Schlabach predicts Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State and Purdue will also qualify for bowls. That leaves Indiana, Northwestern and Minnesota home for the holidays.    

I think Schlabach’s pretty close, though I could just as easily see Northwestern and Indiana going bowling as I can Iowa and Michigan State. And Illinois and Penn State certainly could contend for a BCS berth since the Big Ten almost always gets two.

The key for Ohio State will be the Sept. 13 game at USC. Win that, and I don’t see the Buckeyes slipping up on their way to a third straight championship game.  

Interesting Iowa-related note: Iowa only will play one bowl-bound team in the nonconference schedule, according to Schlabach’s projections. He has Pitt contending for the Big East title and the BCS bowl berth that goes along with it, writing “The Panthers are a serious dark horse to win the Big East and compete for a spot in a BCS bowl game. Pitt fans have waited patiently for coach Dave Wannstedt to turn his talented recruits into winners, and this might be the year.” Ultimately, Schlabach went back on that when making his predictions, putting West Virginia in the Orange Bowl and Pitt in the Meineke Car Care Bowl against North Carolina.  

Any preseason hype Pitt receives only can help Iowa this season, because if the Hawkeyes can pull an early season upset on the road, they will catch the eye of a lot of AP voters. And a win at Pitt should have Iowa 4-0 entering Big Ten play, because Maine, Florida International and Iowa State at home should be wins.

Always of interest to Big Ten fans: The SEC led the way with 10 of 12 teams qualifying for bowls, according to Schlabach.

Meanwhile, Scout.com has its “way too early” bowl projections out and has Iowa playing Oklahoma State in the Insight Bowl on New Year’s Eve in Tempe, Ariz. That’s the same game — and the same opponent — the Hawkeyes would have had with a win over Western Michigan in the regular-season finale last year.  

Hayes listed Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops, an Iowa alum, as the best program-building head coach. Hard to argue with that. Stoops has done quite a job in keeping the Sooners among the very best teams in college football.

Four players on Iowa’s 2008 schedule were listed by Hayes as the best in one category or another. He listed Purdue’s Curtis Painter as the best pro style quarterback in the nation. Painter lit up the Hawkeyes last year in West Lafayette, but he lost most of his receiving targets. If Painter can follow through on Hayes’ prediction this fall, we’ll know just how good he is. Pittsburgh running back LeSean McCoy is listed as the best running back between the tackles. McCoy, whom the Hawkeyes will try to contain Sept. 20, was a terror as a freshman last season, rushing for 1,328 yards and 14 touchdowns. He’ll be tough to stop, especially with Iowa breaking in two new starting linebackers and a pair of defensive ends. Michigan State running back Javon Ringer is Hayes’ best back on third-and-short. I don’t really get that one, as I don’t really see Ringer as a power back. Finally, Wisconsin tight end Travis Beckum is tabbed the best tight end/receiver over the middle. Hard to argue with what Beckum has done the past two seasons. I don’t know that he’s going to play much tight end in the NFL, but he sure has been productive in the Badgers’ offense.

Speaking of Wisconsin … do you think running back John Clay is wishing he would have come to Iowa instead of staying home to play for the Badgers. Right now, coming off his redshirt year, Clay is listed No. 4 on UW’s depth chart. He had a nice performance in the spring game but is going to have a tough time getting carries this fall. If he were at Iowa, he, without question, would be entering fall camp as the starter.

Andy Staples of CNNSI.com has a great recruiting package on the Web site right now. Pretty interesting read on how it all works. Staples is new at SI, having come from the Florida beat at the Tampa Tribune. He’s done some good work in his first few months there but seems to really be hitting his stride lately. This one is definitely worth a look.

I saw today Ohio State just received commitments Nos. 19 and 20 from prospects in the class of 2009. Must be nice. Iowa has two thus far.

According to Wegher’s personal Web site (http://www.wegherfootball.com/), he now has scholarship offers from Arkansas, Auburn, Arizona, Buffalo, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Penn State, San Diego State, Texas Tech, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Reminds me of that song we used to sing in grade school: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut … you get the point. He has a lot of offers.

I hadn’t seen his Web site until today. Pretty nice way to get yourself out there to college coaches. There are more highlight films on there than the one we have on Hawkmania. So, check it out. It’s amazing the lengths high school athletes are going to these days to attract attention.  

Oh, and we didn’t get a Keenan Davis highlight video up yet. I put a request in to his high school coach a few weeks back, but then Cedar Rapids got hit with the flood, and I’d imagine Coach Lombardi had more to worry about than getting the tape in the mail. We’ll get it up as soon as we can.     

A month from now, I’ll be headed to Chicago for the Big Ten’s annual media kickoff event at the downtown Hyatt (that’s assuming my wife has given birth to our first child, which is due July 22). When submitting my request for a credential, I placed my vote for the preseason top three teams and the offensive and defensive player of the year. I think it’s pretty obvious this year — some years it’s not — and it could be unanimous in all three categories. I voted Ohio State, Illinois and Wisconsin, in that order, for the league favorites (the Big Ten only releases a top three, though I’d expect Penn State to contend for No. 3). I had Ohio State running back Chris “Beanie” Wells as my offensive player of the year and Buckeyes linebacker James Laurinaitis as the top defensive player in the league. Let’s be honest, Ohio State is going to be scary good. The Bucks have almost everyone back from a team that, other than a late-season loss to Illinois, dominated the Big Ten. Their Sept. 13 game at USC might be the game of the year in all of college football, certainly the nonconference season.

I’ve seen a couple interesting preseason reads lately. The Sporting News’ Matt Hayes has a series of player and team rankings he’s come out with. In listing his top five players at each position in the Big Ten, only three Iowa players made the list: Tight end Brandon Myers, outside linebacker A.J. Edds and punter Ryan Donahue. I’d argue a few points: Myers probably isn’t even the best tight end on Iowa’s roster. And I certainly would have had senior Mitch King among my top five defensive lineman coming off an All-Big Ten campaign last season.

Hayes also ranks the nonconference schedules of Big Ten teams. He had the Hawkeyes eighth, ahead of Wisconsin, Indiana and Minnesota. Iowa plays Maine (FCS), Florida International, Iowa State and Pittsburgh. Wisconsin begged off a matchup with Virginia Tech and filled the open week with Cal Poly. Seriously, Cal Poly. Hayes’ top five games: Ohio State at USC, Illinois vs. Missouri, Utah at Michigan, Michigan State at California, Oregon State at Penn State. And his bottom five included Iowa’s Aug. 30 opener: Cal Poly at Wisconsin, Coastal Carolina at Penn State, Youngstown State at Ohio State, Murray State at Indiana, Maine at Iowa.

Concerning Iowa, according to the school’s online directory, running back Shonn Greene is back on campus. Greene played two seasons for the Hawkeyes before running into academic troubles last spring. He spent this past year at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids (not playing football) and apparently got his grades in order and is expected to be on the field in the fall. The big surprise is that safety Marcus Wilson also is back in school after leaving because of academic shortcomings last summer. He played a lot in 2006 and was listed as Iowa’s starter before last season. He might still have some work to do in order to get eligible, but he could give the Hawkeyes a big lift in an area they struggled last season.

Iowans have had a lot more on their minds than football these past few weeks as flood waters have taken over the state. The University of Iowa’s campus got hit pretty badly, and it was nice to see Iowa players helping out with the sand-bagging efforts there and with the tornado cleanup in Parkersburg. The floods forced the Iowa football program to cancel its elite camp, which is a potential blow to recruiting. Coaches use these camps as a chance to sell the campus, and the prospects get to know each other, which never hurts when it comes time to commit. You have to wonder if all the national press the Iowa flooding has received will have an effect on recruiting. When a kid sees a campus half covered in water on CNN, is that some place they want to move halfway across the country to play football? It’ll be interesting to see. I’m hoping to get in touch with recruiting coordinator Eric Johnson next week to see how this will change the way they move forward, if at all.    

Details in the Cedric Everson-Abe Satterfield rape case came out last week. Some pretty ugly stuff in those warrants. I’m not a legal expert, so I really don’t want to go there and probably won’t much as the legal process plays out.

Interesting bit from around the Big Ten: Clint Brewster, the son of Minnesota coach Tim Brewster, is leaving the Gophers after redshirting last season. The younger Brewster isn’t sure where he’s headed. He originally committed to Illinois out of high school but switched to Minnesota after his father got the job. Last year, he was stuck behind Adam Weber, who had a solid debut season as a second-year freshman. Clint probably figured, even with his dad in charge, he wasn’t going to get to play much for another three years.

My question to you: Would you take him at Iowa?  

Oh, and, of course, Comcast and the Big Ten Network finally got a deal in place that will let Comcast cable subscribers have the BTN on the basic package starting in August. Comcast was the big one. I’d expect Mediacom and the others to follow suit and get things worked out before the fall, which is good for Iowa fans, because with that schedule and a team coming off a rough season, the Hawks aren’t going to be first pick for ABC and ESPN.

Quick off-topic note before I sign off: I’ve been keeping an eye on the Olympic trails … Shawn Johnson is amazing. I hope all Iowa sports fans will be pulling for her this summer.