IOWA CITY, Iowa — Four University of Iowa football student-athletes — junior Cooper DeJean, and seniors Sebastian Castro, Jay Higgins and Tory Taylor — have been voted All-America by the Associated Press (AP). The announcement was made on Monday by the AP.

DeJean and Taylor are first team honorees by the AP, Higgins is recognized on the second team, while Castro is a third team selection. Iowa has had at least one AP first or second team All-American 10 straight seasons (2014-2023). The AP has been one of five outlets recognized by the NCAA to determine consensus All-Americans (Walter Camp, Associated Press, Sporting News, Football Wristers Association of America).

DeJean was one of top defensive players in the nation before going down with a season-ending injury on Nov. 15. The Odebolt, Iowa, native finished the season with 41 tackles, two TFL, two interceptions and five pass break-ups in 10 games. DeJean did not allow a touchdown pass in 388 snaps in coverage in 2023. As a punt returner, DeJean was one of the nation’s best. He had a 70-yard punt return for a game-winning score against Michigan State and he had a second touchdown return for the game-winning score negated because of an “invalid fair catch signal” against Minnesota. DeJean is second in the Big Ten and ranks 14th nationally, averaging 11.5 yards per return.

DeJean is also a first-team All-America honoree by Walter Camp, FWAA, CBS, Sports Illustrated and The Athletic. He was a finalist for the Jim Thorpe and Bronko Nagurski awards and a semifinalist for the Lott IMPACT Trophy. He was previously named the Tatum-Woodson Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year and the Rodgers-Dwight Big Ten Return Specialist of the Year last month. DeJean was also a first-team all-conference honoree by the Associated Press and league coaches and media.

Taylor, the 2023 Ray Guy Punter of the Year, broke Iowa’s single season punting yardage record for a third consecutive season. He has an NCAA-best 86 punts for 4,119 yards with his 47.9 average leading the Big Ten and ranking third nationally. Thirty-six of his punts have traveled 50+ yards (six punts of 60+), 27 have been fair caught, 30 have been downed inside the 20, 11 inside the 10 and six inside the 5. The Australia native only has six touchbacks and opponents average just 8.8 yards per return. He has 288 punts for 13,297 yards — both school records — and his 46.2 career average will break Jason Baker’s mark come season’s end.

Taylor is also a first-team All-American by Walter Camp, FWAA, CBS (unanimous), The Athletic and Sports Illustrated. Taylor (46.2) will finish his collegiate career breaking the NCAA’s career punting average record; currently held by Baylor’s Daniel Sepulveda (42.5). Taylor, who is a two-time FWAA first-team All-America, has averaged 40 or more yards (min. four punts) in an NCAA-best 42 career games. He was named the Eddleman-Fields Big Ten Punter of the Year and first-team All-Big Ten by the coaches and media last month.

Higgins has been a tackling machine for Iowa’s defense, racking up 155 tackles — the most in the Big Ten, the third-most nationally (most by a Power 5 player) and the fourth-most in a single season in school history. The Indianapolis native has led the team in tackles in 11 of 13 games with two 15+ tackle games and nine games with 10 or more stops. He has been a leader on an Iowa defense that is fourth nationally, allowing 13.2 points per game.

Higgins was previously recognized as first-team All-America by FWAA and Sports Illustrated, and a second team honoree by CBS. He is also a first-team All-Big Ten honoree by the Associated Press and league coaches and media.

Castro has been a menace in the CASH position, amassing 61 tackles, nine tackles for loss, one sack and a team-best three interceptions. The Illinois native had a 30-yard pick six in Iowa’s road win at Iowa State and he had the game-sealing interception in the road win at Wisconsin. Castro was previously honored as a first-team All-American by Pro Football Focus.

The No. 17 Hawkeyes will play No. 21 Tennessee on Jan. 1, 2024, in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida. The game will start at noon (CT) and will be televised on ABC.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Ninety-eight University of Iowa student-athletes have been named to the 2023 Big Ten Fall Academic All-Conference team. The list includes student-athletes from men’s cross country (9), women’s cross country (18), field hockey (12), football (39), women’s soccer (14), and volleyball (6).

The Big Ten Conference recognized 1,573 fall sports athletes. The list includes 139 field hockey players, 586 football players, 132 men’s and 219 women’s cross-country runners, 133 men’s and 242 women’s soccer student-athletes and 124 volleyball players.

Among the fall Academic All-Big Ten honorees, 68 had unblemished GPAs, including seven Hawkeyes.  The group included cross country’s Lillian Schmidt and Kelli Tosic, field hockey’s Harper Dunne, women’s soccer’s Samantha Cary, Halle Skibo and Camille Welker and volleyball’s Anna Davis.

To be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten selection, students must be on a varsity team, as verified by being on the official squad list as of November 1 for fall sports, who have been enrolled full time at the institution for a minimum of 12 months and carry a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.

For the full list, click the link here: https://hawkeyesports.com/news/2023/12/11/98-hawkeyes-named-fall-academic-all-big-ten/

The 1-2 CAM Cougars basketball team have had a slow start to the year, losing their first two games of the year to Coon Rapids-Bayard 56-48 and Woodbine 69-51. Now, the Cougars are coming off a 65-54 win against West Harrison last Friday. Where Head Coach Ian Hunt enjoyed the high amount of ball movement and scoring production from his squad.

Four CAM players reached double digits in scoring with the win against the Hawkeyes. Ryan Bower had 18 points, Chase Spieker had 12, Collin Bower 15, and Chase Jahde with 16.

The leading scorer for the Cougars is Jahde who has gathered 46 points through three games and averaging just over 15 per game. Coach Hunt has been impressed with the various ways that Jahde has been able to score, not limiting himself to just one style of play.

Even with Jahde being the leading scorer on the team, the Cougars do a nice job of sharing scoring opportunities and playing selfless basketball. Everybody in the starting lineup has the opportunity to score. Chase Spieker has 26 points and Colin Bower has totaled 35.

The mentality of consistently passing and waiting for open looks has been a focus for Coach Hunt beginning in the offseason. He believes it is one of the reasons why CAM plays such balanced basketball.

The Cougars have two games this week. One Tuesday night at Boyer Valley and the other at home on Friday against Paton-Churdan. Coach Hunt hopes that his team can jump out to an early lead and control the tempo in both games.

KJAN will bring you the coverage of Tuesday night’s contest with the pregame show beginning at 7:20 p.m.

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IOWA CITY, Iowa — Three University of Iowa football student-athletes — junior Cooper DeJean and seniors Jay Higgins and Tory Taylor — have been voted first-team All-America by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA). The announcement was made on Monday by the FWAA.

• Iowa is the only school in the country to have three first team All-Americans by FWAA in 2023.
• The Hawkeyes have had a FWAA All-American (first or second team) 11 straight seasons, dating back to 2013.
• Iowa has had eight FWAA All-Americans the last three seasons, second only to Georgia (9).
• The Hawkeyes have had a special teams All-American three of the last five seasons.
• Iowa has had multiple FWAA All-Americans each of the last five seasons (2019-23).