While running back Kaleb Johnson and linebacker Jay Higgins are certainly the biggest names emerging from the Iowa Hawkeyes to enter the NFL Draft this spring, Iowa also has some other very interesting players who will be making the jump to the professional level.

Among them is cornerback Jermari Harris, who may very well be one of the most underrated prospects at his position in this draft class.

Harris is expected to be a Day 3 pick, but he is gaining some momentum as a potential sleeper who could be ready to help an NFL team from the outset.

Bryce Lazenby of The Sporting News recently conducted a seven-round mock draft for the New York Jets, and he has the Jets taking Harris in the fifth round.

“Jermari Harris out of Iowa is a solid mid-round option. Harris collected 27 tackles and three interceptions in 2024 while demonstrating solid ball skills and helping out the run defense,” Lazenby wrote. “Harris has the size to be a solid corner on the boundary and his physicality could be a good fit in Aaron Glenn’s defense.”

Glenn is a former Pro Bowl cornerback himself, so New York would represent a pretty nice landing spot for Harris.

“Harris ended his college career with eight interceptions and 19 pass deflections,” added Lazenby. “The corner doesn’t have the best speed, but his physical style of play prevents receivers from breaking open.”

Harris arrived at Iowa in 2019 but didn’t begin receiving significant playing time until 2021. From that point moving forward, he established himself as a crucial member of the Hawkeyes’ stingy defense.

The fact that Harris is already 24 years old may scare some teams away, but on the plus side, it means he is more prepared for the rigors of professional football.

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For just the second time in the past two years, Iowa State has lost at home.

The 10th-ranked Cyclones fell to No. 23 BYU 88-85 in a dramatic, double overtime affair Tuesday night that should go down as one of the most memorable contests in all of college basketball this season.

“BYU deserves a lot of credit in how they came in here and how they played, but at the same time we know we had our chances and we had our opportunities,” Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger told reporters after the game. “So that should be frustrating, and then what you do is you learn from it and become better for it.”

The Cyclones’ defensive pressure troubled BYU early, with the Cougars failing to find the scoreboard until nearly seven minutes had been played.

Once they woke up, however, the Cougars were off to the races, ending the first half on a 23-7 run. They then went on a 21-9 tear coming out of halftime to lead by 21 points with 13 minutes left to play in regulation.

“When we dug ourself a hole and were down 21, and it’s unacceptable on our end to allow our offensive disappointment to permeate our defense,” Otzelberger said. “We were careless in transition defense, we were not as locked in and we dug ourself a substantial hole.

“That is where, to me, the game was decided over that 15 or 16 minute stretch, where we put ourself in that tough spot. … We set the tone physically defensively right from the jump, and then they adjusted and drove the ball with more force. To their credit, that got them back into the game and helped them build that (winning) margin, and we weren’t as tough as we needed to be.”

Iowa State stormed back with a vengeance, closing out the second half on a 35-14 heater to tie the score, stun the Cougars and force overtime.

Though he appreciated the effort from his players to rally back, Otzelberger was still disappointed in them having been in such a position in the first place.

“Credit to our guys and their fight for continuing to compete and get back into it, but at the same time, you can’t (slow down) against good teams. You’ve got to have more pride,” he said. “It’s a lesson that we should have learned by now and should never have to learn again.”

Following two five-minute overtime periods, BYU escaped with a three-point victory, having forced a shot clock violation on the Cyclones in the final seconds to seal the hard-fought road upset.

Shockingly, the Cougars won despite committing a jarring 29 turnovers Tuesday night. BYU was able to overcome such ugliness in the rebounding battle, grabbing 52 total boards — with 17 coming on the offensive glass — to Iowa State’s 24.

In overtime alone, the Cougars outrebounded the Cyclones 12 to four.

“We turned them over more because we were playing faster, more quicker lineups and were able to pressure the basketball, and (with that) what you give up is a little bit of size and physicality on the glass,” Otzelberger said. “At the same time, I know that our guys are competitors, and it can’t be that every shot that we miss in the end of regulation and both overtimes that (BYU) gets the rebound. It can’t happen, that’s not OK … we’ve got to do a great job finishing on the glass, and we didn’t.

“There’s a part in defensive rebounding where if you want to win bad enough, you just find a way to get (rebounds), regardless of what’s going on. They had more fight on the glass to get the offensive rebound than we did to get the defensive rebound, unfortunately.”

With the loss, BYU captures the No. 4 seed in the Big 12 tournament along with a double bye. Iowa State, the tournament’s No. 5 seed, will face the winner of a No. 12 and No. 13 seed matchup next Wednesday.

Should the Cyclones win that game, they would earn a rematch with the Cougars in the tournament quarterfinals.

“We’ve talked to our guys a lot about our best being in front of us, and you don’t just speak it into existence. You’ve got to earn it with hard work and with what you do in practice and then demand that consistency of those habits in the game and not be a team that plays great for stretches and plays awful for stretches,” Otzelberger said.

““For a group that has a lot of older, experienced guys, we need to be a lot more mature as a team and play through those things instead of reacting to those things.”

DES MOINES — State lawmakers and the governor could see their salaries increase, in some cases by some 80 percent, in 2027 under a bill advancing in the Iowa Senate.

Senate File 464 would increase the salary for state lawmakers by $20,000. Currently, Iowa representatives and senators earn $25,000 per year, plus additional money for travel and housing expenses to come to Des Moines from their home districts.

It would also provide a $100,000 salary increase for the Iowa governor, which would be a roughly 77 percent raise. Gov. Kim Reynolds currently earns $130,000 per year.

The bill also would increase the salary for the speaker of the Iowa House, presiding officer of the Iowa Senate and majority and minority leaders of each chamber by $30,000. It would increase the salary for the president pro tempore of the Senate and speaker pro tempore of the House by $22,000.

Under the bill, salaries of the lieutenant governor, secretary of state, auditor, treasurer and secretary of agriculture would increase by $76,788. The salary of the attorney general would increase by $86,331.

This is the second time lawmakers have considered raising their pay since salaries were last increased in 2007. In 2024, legislation in the House proposed a $10,000 increase for lawmakers, state officials and the governor, but it failed to advance.

While statewide elected officials like the governor and treasurer hold full-time positions, lawmakers who are elected from districts often describe their jobs as part-time. Many are retired and most hold other jobs as well.

The bill’s sponsor, Republican Sen. Jason Shultz from Schleswig, said the proposed salaries are modeled after legislative pay in other states.

The legislation also would provide an increase for the cost-of-living allowance that’s the lower of either 3 percent or the pay adjustment received by executive branch noncontract state employees during the preceding fiscal year.

Shultz said the increased gubernatorial salary is necessary to keep or attract experienced candidates to serve.

“The governor’s office is in charge of about a $20 billion entity,” Schultz said. “I think it’s fair to put a relatively higher than other officeholders wage on there to make sure that the people who are looking at that job maybe have great business experience, great ability, the professional ability to run the state.”

Former Republican Rep. Phil Thompson, of Boone, testified in favor of the legislation, arguing that the salary for lawmakers is the main reason why he chose not to run for re-election. When Thompson first assumed office, he was unmarried. But after he married his wife and had a child, he said the salary wasn’t enough to provide for them.

“When I made that decision, I realized how many Iowans that are young families, that are working-class Iowans, that really anybody that comes from modest to moderate means how many of them are boxed out of serving office,” Thompson said. “A lot of Iowans that deserve to be represented in this building are not simply because they can’t afford to serve here.”

Sen. Carrie Koelker, R-Dyersville, said the salary is a barrier for young and low-income Iowans to serving in the Legislature, and a pay increase is needed to bring younger voices into the chambers.

“No one is clearly doing this for the money, and we’re public servants for Iowans, and we all represent our districts,” Koelker said. “Young representatives should not have to calibrate ‘do we want to have a family be married, or do we want to wait and serve when we’re 65 years old and retired?’ And that’s not Iowa, and we need to represent Iowa and make it a fair playing field.”

According to Schultz, the ballpark cost of the salary increase would be $570,000 this year and $3 million next year, but that would change as the bill will be amended to set the effective date for the salary increases to Jan. 1, 2027.

The bill advanced out of a Senate State Government subcommittee with Sen. Cindy Winckler, D-Davenport, declining to sign on.

It will be heard Wednesday by the Senate State Government Committee, Schultz said.