Iowa
Caitlin Clark and her Iowa teammates give Hoosiers a bad case of senioritis
IOWA CITY — Calling Caitlin Clark sensational is from the handbook of the Department of Redundancy Department.
Her name symbolizes basketball excellence, and America has known it for a while now. Recently, an Uber driver in Orlando asked his Iowan passengers where they were from, than proceeded to tell them why Clark is so good.
Former Iowa men’s assistant basketball coach Kirk Speraw said Saturday that Clark wasn’t a once-in-a-generation player, but a once-in-two-generations players, comparing her skills and visions and fearlessness to past greats Pete Maravich and Ernie DiGregorio.
But no woman is an island. Without a crew of skilled, tough and intuitive players around her, Clark is scoring a lot of points without winning much of consequence, and she’d be the first to tell you as much.
Senior moments filled Carver-Hawkeye Arena Saturday night along with the amazingly large crowd that shrugged off the elements. Those fans simply had to be here to see who won between Indiana and Iowa teams that came in 5-0 in the Big Ten, 11 months after it took a last-second Clark 3-pointer to beat the Hoosiers.
Senior moments? Oh yeah. That’s seniors as in fourth-year player Clark, fifth-years Gabbie Marshall and Molly Davis, and sixth-year Kate Martin.
Davis had her Iowa-high of 18 points in this 84-57 Hawkeyes romp. She played superb defense against the Hoosiers’ Sara Scalia despite spotting her 4 inches.
Marshall rained in four 3-pointers after Iowa got off to a woeful start shooting from deep. Martin had a career-high 12 rebounds.
Clark seemed content to walk the ball down the court after an Iowa rebound with six minutes left and the game in hand, but saw Martin sprinting down the court. Clark hit Martin in stride, and there were two more points.
“They all just kind of understand,” Clark said. “I don’t always have to say what I want when I’m on the court. I think they can read my eyes pretty well.”
Davis had her best game as a Hawkeye since transferring from Central Michigan before last season. She had seven points, an assist and a steal in a second-quarter span of 1:50, with Clark on the bench with two fouls.
Clark was the straw that stirred this rout with 30 points and 11 assists, but Davis didn’t let the Hawkeyes do anything but gain ground during Clark’s brief absence.
It was a long way from playing her home finale at Central Michigan two years ago before 1,318 fans on a team that went 4-25 that season. The previous season, though, ended with CMU losing to Iowa in a first-round NCAA tournament game. Davis had 18 points and five steals, and left a good impression.
“She lit us up,” Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said.
Here Davis was Saturday, playing before 15,000 or so crazy-loud fans and a national, prime-time television audience. And she played so well.
“It kind of chokes me up a little bit thinking about it,” Davis said. “It’s really cool Coach Bluder gave me the opportunity to play at a place like this.”
“Molly, she had a couple really nice backdoor cuts tonight when I was able to hit her,” said Clark, “and that’s just a high basketball IQ play. Molly’s that type of player.”
Martin and Marshall, what don’t they know by now? How often do you see them get open for their shots? A lot. But you don’t see it until Clark sees it a second before you.
“They know what’s going to happen and what’s going on,” said Clark.
“It’s just kind of a comforting thing to be out there on the floor with three other people that really have your back and really know what your mind is thinking even if you don’t have to say it.”
In reality, this game ended late in the third quarter. Clark made one of her beak bombs, a 3-pointer from the Tiger Hawk logo. Then she stole the ball and hit a streaking Davis, who made an athletic lay-in with six seconds left.
It went from 60-48 to 65-48, the decibel count in the arena broke the needle, and No. 3 Iowa was soon to be 17-1.
“I think the sky’s the limit,” Bluder said. “Right now I’m just worried about beating Wisconsin on Tuesday. though. That’s my only concern right now.”
It’s supposed to be really cold again Tuesday night in Iowa City. Hawkeye fans will deal with it much better than the Badgers will handle their opponents.
Comments: (319) 398-8440; mike.hlas@thegazette.com
IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – Iowa City police are asking the public’s help identifying persons of interest connected to a vandalism investigation.
Police said a business was vandalized in the alley behind the 200 block of East Washington Street on Sunday at 2:35 a.m.
Investigators would like to speak with the persons of interest pictured. Police ask anyone who recognizes these individuals to contact them.
Anyone with information or security camera footage of the incident should contact the Iowa City Police Department at 319-356-5275. Iowa City Area Crime Stoppers is also offering a reward up to $1,000 for information that leads to an arrest.
Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.
Iowa State football coach Jimmy Rogers assesses the Cyclones’ spring
Iowa State football coach Jimmy Rogers assesses the Cyclones’ spring
Spring commencement arrives at Iowa State this weekend, with a whole new generation of Cyclones set to get their diplomas and move on to the next things in their lives.
The options and choices will set their path for, potentially, the years and decades ahead.
Which got me thinking about the choices and circumstances of this school year that came for Iowa State athletics. There were no shortages of inflection points at which, it seems, programs and an entire athletics department pivoted to new directions.
Let’s explore.
What if Iowa State had hired Taylor Mouser as head football coach?
This seems to be the most discussed “Sliding Doors” moment for Iowa State football fans regarding head coach Matt Campbell’s departure to Penn State. And with good reason. It’s the most obvious, could have had the most immediate impact on the program and would have been largely seen as a continuation of the most successful run in school history.
Would promoting the Iowa State offensive coordinator, though, have been the right move?
If you assume a best-case scenario in which some of the star Cyclone players on offense – think Rocco Becht, Ben Brahmer, Carson Hansen, etc. – stay at Iowa State and a bulk of the coaching staff does as well, there are still likely defections that weaken the roster. Nothing like we saw back in December, but, still, there would be holes – and Campbell’s shoes – to fill by a first-time head coach taking over for a legend.
The calculation, as I see it, has to be – does the Year 1 continuity and relative stability gained by hiring Mouser provide for better long-term results than hiring Jimmy Rogers, who has the benefit of head-coaching experience?
It certainly would have made the fan base feel better back in December, but would it have positioned Iowa State to have better results in 2027 and beyond?
The roster almost certainly would have been “better” in 2026 if Iowa State retained Mouser, but would that have created a more solid foundation for the future or just delayed decay?
This “What If” becomes a lot less intricate and interesting if Rogers just wins a ton this fall and going forward.
What if Penn State had been able to hire Kalani Sitake as its football coach?
I think this is the most interesting question on the list.
By reports, Penn State was on the verge of hiring Sitake from BYU when the Cougars’ boosters – led by the Crumbl Cookie fortune – banded together to put together a financial package to keep Sitake in Provo.
What if they hadn’t, though?
Sitake goes to Penn State, and Dec. 5, 2025, is an uneventful day in Iowa State history rather than one of its most feverish.
But … what happens a few weeks later when Sherrone Moore is fired at Michigan?
Rather than plucking 66-year-old Kyle Whittingham from Utah/forced retirement, do the Wolverines try to make a Michigan Man out of an Ohioan? Does Campbell inherit the seat of Bo Schembechler?
And, for the sake of this thought exercise, if Campbell did move to Ann Arbor, does the timing of that decision change athletics director Jamie Pollard’s options and calculus about Iowa State’s opening? Is Jimmy Rogers still available? Or would he have taken a different opening or opted not to leave Pullman at that later date? Is Mouser the answer in this scenario?
Or is the Buckeye State distaste for the state Up North too much and Campbell returns for Year 11 at Iowa State?
Addy Brown on what went wrong in Iowa State’s loss to Syracuse
Iowa State’s Addy Brown talks about her team’s struggles in a loss to Syracuse in the NCAA Tournament.
What if Addy Brown doesn’t get hurt?
Iowa State women’s basketball was 14-0 on Jan. 4 when it played Baylor in Waco, and the season felt sure to realize the potential that was clear before it started with one of coach Bill Fennelly’s best rosters.
The Cyclones, though, returned home with their first loss and with Addy Brown sidelined with a back injury.
Four more losses in a row followed, and when Brown returned to the floor after six weeks, the Cyclones’ season was floundering.
They salvaged an NCAA Tournament bid, but a first-round exit gave way to a roster collapse with nine players – including Brown and superstar Audi Crooks – leaving via the transfer portal, putting Fennelly’s tenure and future under fire.
If Brown doesn’t get hurt – or just isn’t out as long – does that change the trajectory of the season? The offseason? And what the eventual end of Fennelly’s Iowa State career looks like?
What if Joshua Jefferson doesn’t roll his ankle?
The most recent “What If” I think is also the most straightforward.
If Jefferson’s ankle doesn’t roll in the early minutes of Iowa State’s first-round NCAA Tournament blowout win over Tennessee State, I think the Cyclones get a long second weekend in Chicago, but the Final Four drought probably remains intact.
Jefferson’s rebounding and offensive impact are, I think, enough to give the Cyclones the edge against Tennessee, but Michigan, the Cyclones’ would-be Elite Eight opponent, was just a juggernaut.
I’m not sure even a full-strength Iowa State team would have had more than a puncher’s chance. The Wolverines were just one of the best college basketball teams we’ve seen over the last few decades.
Iowa State columnist Travis Hines has covered the Cyclones for the Des Moines Register and Ames Tribune since 2012. Contact him at thines@amestrib.com or (515) 284-8000. Follow him on X at @TravisHines21.
One of the top Iowa high school football prospects in the state has made his college decision official.
Iowa City Regina High School senior-to-be Tate Wallace has announced he has verbally committed to the University of Minnesota in the Big Ten Conference. Wallace picked the Golden Gophers and head coach PJ Fleck over a finalists Notre Dame, Nebraska, Arizona, Arizona State and Wisconsin.
Wallace narrowed down his list of schools to six at the end of April before making his final decision.
Iowa City Regina Football Standout Tate Wallace Ranked As No. 2 Overall Prospect In Iowa High School Football
The 6-foot-2, 226-pound linebacker is considered the No. 2 overall prospect in the state of Iowa for high school football, and is the No. 21 linebacker in the Class of 2027, according to 247Sports.
In the 247Sports Composite rankings, Wallace is No. 2 in Iowa high school football, No. 29 at linebacker and No. 359 for the Class of 2027.
Along With Minnesota, Tate Wallace Currently Holds Offers From Schools Such As Arizona, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Iowa State
Wallace currently holds 16 total offers including from the previously mentioned Minnesota, Notre Dame, Nebraska, Arizona, Arizona State, Wisconsin, Iowa State, Kansas State, Purdue, Tennessee, West Virginia, Eastern Michigan, Miami (Ohio), Toledo, UNLV, North Dakota and North Dakota State.
As a junior, Wallace registered almost 50 tackles on defense, with 29 of them being counted as solo stops. He had 18 tackles for loss, 8.5 quarterback sacks and forced two fumbles, as Iowa City Regina advanced to the state championship game of the Iowa High School Athletic Association State Football Championships.
Future Minnesota Golden Gopher Has Been Key Two-Way Starter For Regals
Wallace also hauled in 40 passes for 611 yards with 10 receiving touchdowns on offense for the Regals. As a two-way player for Iowa City Regina during his sophomore season, Wallace had 27.5 tackles, including 16 solo stops, four tackles for loss and a quarterback sack, adding 51 receptions for 752 yards and eight touchdowns.
Back in March, Wallace announced seven spring visits to Notre Dame, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Arizona, Kansas State and Arizona State. He also visited Tennessee this past fall, taking in an SEC contest with the Volunteers.
Along with his success on the football field, Wallace helped lead the Regals to the Iowa High School Athletic Association Boys State Basketball Tournament this past winter. He earned High School on SI all-state honors in the process.
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