Kirk Ferentz says gambling is ‘a big issue in our whole country’; plus more Iowa notes

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Through four-plus months in 2023, Iowa’s athletic department has engaged in enough drama to warrant “a timeout,” Yahoo columnist Dan Wetzel said on his “College Football Enquirer” podcast this past week.

From bringing back Brian Ferentz as offensive coordinator to athletics director Gary Barta’s instituting a contracted 25-points-per-game mandate to a state-forced settlement in a racial discrimination lawsuit to now a gambling scandal, Iowa football certainly has found itself in the center of headlines and controversy. Then there’s women’s basketball star Caitlin Clark’s success, Angel Reese’s gesture at Clark after the Hawkeyes lost the women’s national title, and men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery’s staredown of an official during an epic comeback.

We haven’t even reached Memorial Day and sports radio has enough topics to bump up its ratings for an entire year. On deck are the 2024 Iowa Caucuses, and at some point, someone will complain about the lack of organic almond milk for their lukewarm morning latte. Alas, maybe we all need a timeout.

This week, Iowa coaches hit the I-Club trail with three trips: Carroll County, Des Moines and Cedar Rapids. Kirk Ferentz and men’s wrestling coach Tom Brands participated in all three, and McCaffery attended the first two. Men’s basketball assistant Matt Gatens spoke at the final spot.

Plenty of topics were addressed by all three sports, but let’s start with the topic de jour.

GO DEEPER

Iowa, Iowa State athletes under investigation for online sports wagers

Gambling update

Gambling investigations at Iowa and Iowa State have become prominent national stories with 41 combined athletes implicated in five sports: football (both), wrestling (both), men’s track and field (both), baseball (Iowa) and men’s basketball (Iowa).

Athletes who compete in spring sports are being withheld from competition as Iowa’s Division of Criminal Investigation, the NCAA and Iowa’s Racing and Gaming Commission investigate this situation. Brian Ohorilko, the administrator for the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, said there were no “integrity markers” to suggest anyone was betting on their own sport or worse. Ohorilko’s organization is assisting DCI with potential criminal conduct, which could be related to underage betting or fraudulent means of access to gaming apps. No charges have been filed.

The NCAA provides clear direction in gambling that athletes cannot bet on sports in which it sponsors championships. That includes pro football, basketball, baseball and even golf. When dispensing penalties, it often comes down to money wagered, according to one school source who has knowledge of the investigation but is not authorized to speak about it. One example is former Virginia Tech linebacker Alan Tisdale, who initially was suspended for nine games for placing more than 100 bets totaling around $400 on the 2022 NBA Finals. He appealed the suspension, and it was cut to six games. That’s still half of the college football season.

The men’s track and field teams and Iowa’s baseball team are competing in their season’s latter stages, and their appeal for information is more urgent. As for the others, it’s about patience.

“Quite frankly, we still don’t have a lot of details,” Kirk Ferentz said. “We are being cooperative, and we’ll continue to be cooperative. We’ll see where it all goes.

“I’d venture to say gambling is a big issue in our whole country right now. I remember back in the ’80s, FBI agents used to come in and talk to our team, and I was amazed. They threw out estimates of what they thought was going on in Iowa City in those times. I read the other day, it’s $2.5 billion last year in our state. So it’s in our face, it’s accessible to pretty much everybody, and we’ll just see what all comes out of this.”

The Iowa and Iowa State athletic departments introduce gambling education and awareness to their athletes, among other life topics, through the compliance office.

“I don’t really pay attention to gambling,” Ferentz said, “but I’ve learned a lot in the last (few) days.”

Fran McCaffery’s basketball team ended its season with a loss to Auburn in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. (Vasha Hunt / USA Today)

Recruiting

Iowa football and men’s basketball picked up transfers within the past two weeks. The men’s basketball team landed Valparaiso forward Ben Krikke, who led the Missouri Valley Conference in scoring (19.7 points per game) and averaged 5.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists. Krikke (6 feet 9, 220 pounds) totaled 1,596 points in three seasons.

Former Belmont center Even Brauns (6-9, 240) committed to Iowa this past week. An Iowa City West graduate, Brauns averaged 7.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.4 blocks last year. The Hawkeyes still have one available scholarship for 2023-24, but it’s undetermined whether they will use it.

In front of a crowd of about 450 in Carroll, McCaffery lauded his new newcomers but lamented how name, image and likeness and the transfer portal have had an impact on his sport.

“(Recruiting) has changed dramatically, in particular in our sport, as it relates to NIL and the transfer portal because now it has become pay-to-play,” McCaffery said. “That is unfortunate, but it is reality. And I think a lot of people don’t truly understand what that means. They think NIL is a big negative thing. It’s a positive thing, because it enables our student-athletes to connect with the business community in ways that were not allowed before.

“The difficulty is when the transfer pool was instituted at the same time, it became pay-for-play. The transfer portal is the NCAA’s mistake in declaring every athlete a free agent at every point in time. It’s not how it works in any other sports entity. In the NFL, MLB, the NBA, the players collectively bargain with the owners. I think we all know and understand that when the NCAA men’s basketball tournament and TV package gets in the billion dollars range, it’s only fair for the players to share in some of that compensation. They should have been more proactive, and they were not. That’s on them.”

Iowa football picked up former Ohio State receiver Kaleb Brown, a 2022 top-80 recruit, last week. Brown is one of three transfer commitments who will arrive in June, joining Virginia linebacker Nick Jackson and Miami (Ohio) offensive lineman Rusty Feth.

“I really feel good about the kind of people that have joined our program and I think what they’ll bring to our program,” Ferentz said. “Not only are we getting some guys that were pretty good players, but they’re going to be guys that really help continue to give us a leadership base and younger guys can model good behavior watching them.”

GO DEEPER

Former Ohio State WR Kaleb Brown commits to Iowa

NFL Draft

Four Iowa players became NFL Draft picks last month, including three in the top 34 selections. Green Bay drafted Lukas Van Ness No. 13, which was the highest Iowa defensive lineman selected since Alex Karras went 10th in 1958.

Most of the focus last month was set on All-America linebacker Jack Campbell’s going No. 18 to Detroit. Most projections had Campbell as a second-round selection.

Ferentz, who has coached 13 first-rounders, said he had no inkling the Lions would take Campbell or tight end Sam LaPorta, whom Detroit selected three picks into the second round. But Ferentz was confident in Campbell’s ability to live up to the pressure.

“I saw Jack Campbell as a first-round player, and the experts weren’t quite seeing it that way,” Ferentz said. “But when you’re around somebody for four years, five years, you really get a good feel of who they are and what they are. The draft doesn’t always go the way you predict it. But I’m not at all surprised that he was taken. He’s just done so many great things in our program, and he’s such a quality person, a really good football player. I think he’ll have a long, really successful career.”

The Hawkeyes have 43 players on NFL rosters, plus others who might pick up opportunities before training camp.

Wrestling numbers

As construction continues on a $31 million, 38,500-square-foot wrestling-only training facility, Brands pointed the finger at himself to return Iowa to the top of NCAA men’s wrestling.

The Hawkeyes won the 2021 NCAA title and were the unanimous favorites in 2020 before COVID-19 shut down the national tournament. But in the last two seasons, Iowa finished third and second. That doesn’t sit well for this program.

“When the stakes are high, you’ve got to deliver,” Brands said. “Brands, you’ve got to deliver.”

The Hawkeyes sold out every dual for the second straight season and set an NCAA record for total attendance (118,870), breaking the previous record (97,325) it set in 2015-16. Iowa averaged 14,858 fans for its eight home duals. National champion Penn State ranked second in both categories (64,577 total/9,225 average) and Iowa State was third (37,012 total/5,287 average).

Iowa also was the top draw in six road duals: Penn State (15,998), Minnesota (5,250), Wisconsin (5,256), Chattanooga (2,743), Purdue (1,956) and Army (1,903).

(Top photo: Matthew Holst / Getty Images)