With a new coordinator and three new assistant coaches Iowa’s offense is undergoing changes this spring. Brian Ferentz takes over after Greg Davis retired as offensive coordinator and head coach Kirk Ferentz says many of the changes will be in terminology.

While the Hawkeyes will not change how they play the coaches will be looking for ways to make the offense better, especially a passing game that ranked near the bottom in the country last season.

Ferentz says one thing they will try to do is simplify the offense.

Iowa’s spring game is April 21st.

(Learfield Sports)

Niko Medved is confident Drake can become a consistent winner in basketball. Medved was introduced as the Bulldogs new coach after a four year run at Furman that saw the Paladins go from a nine win team his first year to 23 wins and a Southern Conference regular season title this season. He takes over a Drake program that has averaged fewer than eight wins the past three seasons.

While many view Drake’s academic standards as a hindrance to winning basketball Medved views them as a positive. He says also, Drake has the resources required to win. Medved says he plans on winning the trust of the current players who were hoping Jeff Rutter would get the job. Rutter coached the Bulldogs after Ray Giacoletti resigned in December. Medved is a native of Minneapolis and says the chance to return to the Midwest helped make the job more attractive.

(Learfield Sports)

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast w/Jim Field.

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UNDATED (AP) – Drake announced Sunday that it has hired Furman’s Niko Medved as its new coach. Medved, the 2017 Southern Conference coach of the year, spent the past four seasons with the Paladins — where he led them to the 2017 Southern Conference regular season title.

Medved, 43, also spent six seasons as an assistant coach at Colorado State under current Nebraska coach Tim Miles. Before joining Colorado State, Medved spent a year as an assistant at Minnesota under Dan Monson after seven seasons as an assistant at Furman.

Medved was also the Gophers’ interim coach in 2006. Medved began his career at Minnesota in 1992 and was the associate head coach at Macalester College from 1997-99.

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities in central Iowa say Chicago Bears cornerback Deiondre Hall and Green Bay Packers cornerback Makinton Dorleant were arrested outside a bar in Cedar Falls. Hall was cited for disorderly conduct, public intoxication and interference with official acts. Dorleant was cited for interference.

Police say officers responded to a report of a fight outside the bar Sharkey’s Funhouse on Saturday night. According to a police affidavit, Hall did not respond to police instructions and spit in the officers’ faces. Police say an officer used a Taser on Hall’s legs in order to get him into the squad car.

Dorleant was detained after authorities say he approached officers “in a threatening manner” following Hall’s arrest. A Packers spokesman says the team is aware of the situation and “gathering more information.” The Bears have not responded to an email looking for comment.

Both men played college football in Cedar Falls at Northern Iowa.

The Iowa Hawkeye Women’s Basketball team ended their season with a loss Sunday afternoon to the Cougars of Washington State, 76-66 in front of a crowd of 5,146 on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa retires at 20-14; Washington State — winner of six of its last seven games — is 16-19 and advances to a WNIT semifinal against Georgia Tech.

Sophomore Megan Gustafson led Iowa with 19 points and 15 rebounds, her 18th double-double of the season. Senior Ally Disterhoft was 11-of-14 from the free throw line and finished with 16 points. Freshman Kathleen Doyle added 11 points, five rebounds, and two steals with a career-high eight assists.

Four Washington State players scored in double figures and two had double-doubles. Alexys Swedlund scored a game-high 20 points and Ivana Kmetovska added 14. Pinelopi Pavlopoulou had 13 points and 11 rebounds, Hailey added 10 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists.

Iowa finished a season with 20-or-more victories for the eighth time in the last 10 seasons.

(Hawkeye Sports.com)

(Iowa City) — A four-run eighth inning helped Iowa to a 5-1 win over Purdue on Saturday afternoon. It was the Hawkeyes first conference win of the season in the opening conference series for the two squads. The series is now tied 1-1 on the weekend.

With the game tied at one, Mason McCoy stated the eighth inning offense with an infield single and advanced to second on an error. Jake Adams doubled in the go-ahead run before Justin Jenkins, Luke Farley and Tyler Cropley all followed with run-scoring at bats.

Zach Daniels (4-1) earned the win in relief, throwing 3.2 innings of shutout baseball. He allowed two hits and two walks while striking out four. Shane Ritter got the final two outs of the game to earn his second save.

A number of Southwest Iowa schools competed at the 2017 Jenner Invitational on Saturday at Graceland University in Lamoni. Follow the link to check out all of the results. Jenner Invite Results

(Story from njcaa.org)

HARRISON, Ark. – In a highly anticipated showdown, No. 1 Kirkwood (Iowa) defeated No. 2 Johnson County (Kan.) 61-46 to capture the 2017 NJCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Championship at Pioneer Pavilion in Harrison, Arkansas.

With the win, Kirkwood caps off an undefeated season at 37-0 and takes home its seventh national championship in program history – setting the all-time mark in NJCAA DII Women’s Basketball.

• Tournament MVP Simone Goods led the charge for the Eagles with a double-double, posting 19 points and 17 rebounds. Goods wraps up her 2017 season averaging 16.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per outing.
• Tayana Wilson also reached double-figures for Kirkwood with 10 points.
• Kirkwood outdueled Johnson County on the boards 42-29.  Deleyah Harris helped Goods control the glass with six rebounds of her own.
• Johnson County closes out its season’s run at 33-3.
• Monroe Community College (N.Y.) took down Kankakee (Ill.) 66-57 in the consolation finals to finish third in the tournament.
• St. Louis (MO) won the second consolation game against Essex County (N.J.) 75-52 to round out the top five finishers of the tournament.

(Story from njcaa.org)

DANVILLE, Ill. (March 25, 2017) – In the 2017 NJCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Championship, Southwestern (Iowa) took down Louisburg (N.C.) 77-53 for the first national title the program’s history.

Southwestern led 31-25 at intermission. Tournament MVP Brodric Thomas and Jamil Maddred each tallied 11 second half points as the Spartans outscored the Hurricanes 46-28 to capture the championship 77-53.

• Thomas finished with a game-high 18 points.
• Southwestern finishes its championship season 36-1.
• Louisburg drops to 30-5 to close out its season.
• Southwestern averaged 84 points in the tournament, resulting in a winning margin of 15.75 points per contest.
• Southwestern 6-1 all-time in tournament.
• South Suburban (Ill.) and Richard Bland (VA) finished the tournament third and fourth, respectively.