Iowa

Iowa football: Kaden Wetjen wins 2024 Jet Award for nation’s top return specialist

Published

12 months ago

January 7, 2025

Iowa football: Kaden Wetjen wins 2024 Jet Award for nation’s top return specialist

IOWA CITY — On Tuesday, Kaden Wetjen was announced as the winner of the 2024 Jet Award, which honors the most outstanding return specialist in college football.

Wetjen became a weapon on special teams in 2024 as the Hawkeyes’ full-time punt and kickoff return man. He took a punt for a touchdown against Northwestern in October. Then he returned a kickoff to the house in Iowa’s matchup against Missouri in the Music City Bowl.

Wetjen finished the 2024 season amassing more than 1,000 combined kickoff and punt return yardage.

A standout at Williamsburg High School, Wetjen’s recruiting process in high school was not chock-full of college football’s elites. Division III programs wanted him. NAIA-level Grand View offered. Seth Wallace talked to Wetjen about walking on at Iowa.

But Wetjen opted to go to junior college, taking his talents to Iowa Western. His time there earned him some recruiting attention but it still was relatively limited. Iowa came around again.

Ultimately, Wetjen decided on a preferred walk-on opportunity with the Hawkeyes over scholarship offers elsewhere, the most prominent of which was FBS-level UMass.

Wetjen worked his way into a bigger role at Iowa over time. He didn’t play in his first season, but in 2023 he led Iowa in kickoff returns and filled in at punt return following Cooper DeJean’s season-ending injury. In 2024, Wetjen had his best season and became one of the nation’s premier returners.

For the second consecutive season, a Hawkeye was named Big Ten’s Rodgers-Dwight Return Specialist of the Year. DeJean took the honor in 2023, Wetjen did it in 2024.

Ahead of the Music City Bowl, Wetjen indicated he was likely to return to Iowa in 2025, but not yet certain.

“The plan is to come back,” Wetjen said in December. “But I’ll say I’m 98% sure.”

If Wetjen does return, Iowa is projected to return multiple key pieces of its 2024 special teams unit.

Drew Stevens, who was 20-of-23 on field goals last season, is set to come back, along with punter Rhys Dakin, who gained meaningful experience as a freshman.

Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at ttachman@gannett.com

Source link

Click to comment

Iowa

Pat McAfee praises Audi Crooks, plays hype song for Iowa State star

Published

4 hours ago

January 6, 2026

Press Room

Pat McAfee praises Audi Crooks, plays hype song for Iowa State star

Audi Crooks and Iowa State women’s basketball are officially sweeping the nation.

On Tuesday’s edition of “The Pat McAfee Show” on ESPN, the Cyclones’ star and NCAA women’s basketball scoring leader garnered significant praise from the former-NFL-punter-turned-media-personality.

“I’m a huge fan of the way she operates. Huge fan,” McAfee said. “She just gets buckets. That’s literally all she does.

“Did I know anything about Iowa State’s women’s basketball team ever? Nope. But Audi Crooks highlights pop up on my (algorithm), and I say, ‘Boys, immediately, I’m making a song, we’re making a highlight,’ because people are trying to take shots at Audi right now.”

The song and video McAfee referenced was posted on his social media and played on his show before his monologue about Crooks. It features a stylish edit of Crooks points accompanied by what appears to be an AI-generated song with the chorus of, “You’re about to get cooked, by Audi Crooks.”

The “shots” at Crooks that McAfee mentioned refer to a TikTok posted by ESPN with the caption, “Baylor exposed Audi Crooks on defense,” which came in ISU’s first loss of the season on Jan. 4.

Audi Crooks stats

2025-26 season (14 games): 29.1 points (NCAA leader), 6.7 rebounds, 71% shooting
2024-25 season: 23.4 points, 7.5 rebounds, 60.5% shooting
2023-24 season: 19.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 57.7% shooting

Source link

Iowa

Iowa women’s basketball, Chit-Chat Wright sick, Kylie Feuerbach update

Published

16 hours ago

January 6, 2026

Press Room

Iowa women’s basketball, Chit-Chat Wright sick, Kylie Feuerbach update

Hawk Central report
| Des Moines Register

Iowa women’s basketball was lacking some of its vocal leadership on Monday at Northwestern.

Part of that was the fact that Hawkeyes senior Kylie Feuerbach is still sidelined with an ankle injury. Another part was the fact that Chit-Chat Wright was not feeling great.

“No excuse, but Chat’s really sick,” Iowa coach Jan Jensen said after the Hawkeyes’ 67-58 victory. “She didn’t have the flu game like (Michael) Jordan. But she’s really sick, like fever. And I think that just threw her. She was really not vocal tonight. So we were kinda searching, because Chat had been coming (as a leader).”

Wright fought through it and played 34 minutes, scoring 12 points and dishing out seven assists.

Jensen confirmed that Feuerbach remains day-to-day. She hasn’t played since getting hurt Dec. 20 vs. UConn.

“I think (our leadership tonight) was by committee,” Jensen said. “It just wasn’t the same person every time. … It’ll be nice to get Kylie back in that lineup.”

Feuerbach, the team’s best perimeter defender, has missed Iowa’s last three games. Jensen said she is pleased overall with how her team has played defensively in Feuerbach’s absence.

“(Against Northwestern) it was more an ‘us’ problem offensively,” Jensen said. “Our defense held. … We turned the ball over 20 times.”

Source link

Iowa

Two killed in Dubuque after bar fight escalates into police shooting

Published

1 day ago

January 5, 2026

Press Room

Two killed in Dubuque after bar fight escalates into police shooting

Two people are dead after a Dubuque bar fight escalated, with one man shooting another and then being killed by police.

An officer with the Dubuque Police Department was outside the Odd Fellows bar just before 1 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 4, when he witnessed a physical altercation, according to a news release from the Dubuque Police Department.

As the officer exited the patrol vehicle, an adult man allegedly used a handgun to shoot one of the people involved in the fight. The officer fired at the offender, who then ran into the bar.

The victim who was shot first was provided medical treatment by officers at the scene and then transported to MercyOne Hospital in Dubuque.

The offender was treated by police officers inside the bar and then transported to UnityPoint Finley Hospital.

Both were later pronounced dead.

The names of those involved are not being released at this time pending notification of family members.

The incident is being investigated by the Dubuque Police Department and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. The officer involved was not injured and has been placed on critical incident leave in accordance with the department’s policies.

Nick El Hajj is a reporter at the Register. He can be reached at nelhajj@gannett.com. Follow him on X at @nick_el_hajj.

Source link