IOWA CITY, Iowa — Three University of Iowa football student-athletes — junior Cooper DeJean, and seniors Jay Higgins and Tory Taylor — have been recognized as All-America by Sporting News. The announcement was made on Wednesday by Sporting News.

DeJean and Taylor are first team honorees by Sporting News, while Higgins is recognized on the second team.

DeJean and Taylor have reached consensus All-Americans after each being recognized as first-team All-America by Walter Camp, FWAA, AP and Sporting News (American Football Coaches Association announces its selections on Thursday). Iowa now has 31 consensus All-Americans in program history, including 16 in the Kirk Ferentz era. The Hawkeyes have had multiple consensus All-Americans six times in program history (1981, 1984, 2002, 2003, 2017, 2023).

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 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 (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 the AP and CBS. He is also a first-team All-Big Ten honoree by the AP and league coaches and media.

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.

Nate Heise had a double-double with 25 points and 10 rebounds as UNI beat Prairie View A@M 74-55 in the McLeod Center. The Panthers improve to 4-7 on the season.

The Panthers turned it over 16 times against Prairie View A@M’s pressure defense but shot an efficient 51 percent and led by as many as 21 points in the second half.

The Panthers host Alcorn State on Sunday,

Northern Iowa women’s basketball Tanya Warren is using finals week to help her team regroup. Named the Missouri Valley Conference preseason favorite the Panthers are just 1-7 and return to action on December 20th at Iowa State.

Injuries have been a factor. Junior standout and preseason Valley Player of the Year Grace Boffeli has missed the last three games.

Warren is confident the Panthers will get things turned around.

The CAM Cougars boys basketball team shot well in their win Tuesday night  72-59 at Boyer Valley. The Cougars and Bulldogs battled early in the game and exchanging leads 5 times in the first quarter. The Cougars led 19-16 at the end of the first quarter and the margin of points was also similar at halftime. CAM then pushed the lead to 10 by the end of the third and led by as many as 19 down the stretch.

Four Cougars finished in double figures on the night and Head Coach Ian Hunt thought the team moved the ball well on the offensive end.

Chase Jahde led all scorers in the game with 17 points, 14 of those coming in the first half. Coach Hunt thought Jahde had a great game slashing to open spots in the Bulldogs zone and wants to see the high scoring continue for Friday’s home game against Paton-Churdan.

Collin Bower finished with 15 points and Ryan Bower had 13 for the Cougars. CAM improves to 2-2 on the season overall.

The Bulldogs were led by 14 points from Ben Lantz. Boyer Valley slides to 1-4 on the year.

The CAM Cougars girls basketball team looked strong with a road win over the Boyer Valley Bulldogs on Tuesday night 66-41. The Cougars used a 7-0 run to start the first quarter followed immediately by an 12-0 run early in the second quarter to blow the game open. CAM led 18-12 at the end of the first and grew the lead to 23 by half at 39-16. The Cougars led by as many as 28 down the stretch.

The Cougars were led by 29 points from Eva Steffensen. Two other players finished in double figures with Meredith Rich dropping down 14 and Kiera Nichols chipped in 10 points.

Boyer Valley got 15 points from Lauren Malone in the loss. CAM Head Coach Joe Wollum liked the effort and accuracy from Eva Steffensen on Tuesday night.

CAM improves to 5-1 on the early season and will host Paton-Churdan on Friday Night. With their return home, Coach Wollum noted that he would like to see the same offensive ability Friday.

Boyer Valley falls drops to 1-6 and will host Glidden-Ralston-Ralston on the 15th.

Hawkeye Ten Conference:
Glenwood 56, Harlan Community 46
Norwalk @ Lewis Central
East Mills @ Red Oak
Kuemper Catholic @ Atlantic

Western Iowa Conference:
Underwood 77, Logan-Magnolia 34
Treynor 75, Tri-Center 53
Audubon 64, Riverside 49
Missouri Valley @ AHSTW

Rolling Valley Conference:
West Harrison 75, Paton-Churdan 56
CAM 72, Boyer Valley 59
Woodbine 62, Glidden-Ralston 48
Coon Rapids-Bayard @ Exira-EHK

Corner Conference:
Griswold 45, Hamburg 39
Stanton 95, Essex 65
Sidney @ Fremont-Mills

Raccoon River Conference:
Ballard 50, Carlisle 40
Bondurant-Farrar 50, Boone 29
Carroll 50, Winterset 42
North Polk @ ADM

Pride of Iowa Conference:
Bedford 72, Southwest Valley 48
Central Decatur 56, Martensdale-St Marys 55
Lenox 65, Nodaway Valley 42
Southeast Warren 69, Wayne 67
Twin Cedars @ East Union

West Central Conference:
Van Meter 67, Madrid 66
Des Moines Christian 72, Woodward-Granger 29
Ogden 60, Pleasantville 49
Panorama 85, Interstate-35  48
Earlham 59, West Central Valley 54

Hawkeye Ten Conference:
Lewis Central 65, #3 Norwalk 58
#14 Kuemper Catholic 61, Atlantic 51
#7 Harlan Community 66, Glenwood 44
Clarinda 67, Grand View Christian 34
Creston @ Shenandoah

Western Iowa Conference:
Underwood 57, Logan-Magnolia 37
#14 Treynor 56, Tri-Center 33
Missouri Valley @ AHSTW

Rolling Valley Conference:
West Harrison 42, Paton-Churdan 27
#11 CAM 66, Boyer Valley 41
#15 Exira-EHK 48, #9 Coon Rapids-Bayard 42
#5 Woodbine @ Glidden-Ralston

Corner Conference:
Fremont-Mills 61, Sidney 18
Griswold 50, Hamburg 38
Stanton 70, Essex 22

Raccoon River Conference:
#5 North Polk 49, ADM 20
Carlisle 59, Ballard 39
Bondurant-Farrar 62, Boone 26
Winterset 47, Carroll 36

Pride of Iowa Conference:
Bedford 38, Southwest Valley 34
#3 Martensdale-St Marys 79, Central Decatur 41
#5 Nodaway Valley 81, Lenox 48
Wayne 39, Southeast Warren 32

West Central Conference:
Van Meter 59, Madrid 17
#3 Des Moines Christian 52, Woodward-Granger 23
#3 Panorama 58, Interstate-35  20
#10 Earlham 37, West Central Valley 31
ACGC 44, IKM-Manning 23
Pleasantville @ Ogden

Bedford defeated Southwest Valley in a back and forth game 38-34 in Bedford Tuesday night. The teams were tied at 8 after 1 quarter, Bedford led by 4 at half, Southwest Valley led by 2 after 3 quarters and Bedford ended up prevailing by 4. There were 5 lead changes in the game.

The Audubon Wheelers showed up big time Tuesday night as they defeated the Riverside Bulldogs 64-49 in a Western Iowa Conference matchup. The Wheelers set the tone for the night on the defensive end of the floor. Riversides Grady Jeppesen was averaging 28 points per game going into Tuesday night, but the Wheelers wouldn’t let him get anywhere near that average. Sophomore forward Carson Wessel got the assignment of guarding Jeppesen, but head coach Darran Miller made the decision to run a box and one defensively to make sure the Wheelers wouldn’t allow Jeppesen to get anything going offensively and the Bulldogs paid for it. Wessel held Jeppesen to zero field goals in the first half and just one point coming on a free throw. Coach Darran Miller gave high praise to his sophomore defender but also stated it was a team effort tonight.

The Bulldogs made a run to start the second half and cut the lead down to just two points, but the Wheelers responded with a run of their own to push the lead back to double figures thanks to Aaron Olsen and Edward Miller who both scored 15+ to lead all scorers tonight. But potentially the two biggest shots in the quarter came from Mason Steckler who buried back-to-back threes and pushed the lead all the way up to 16 points late in the third quarter. The Wheelers would go on to take a 15-point win as they beat the Bulldogs 64-49 and held one of the top scorers in the state to just five points and only one made field goal that came with 1:25 left in the game.

This is the first conference win of the season for Audubon and their fourth straight victory over Riverside. Head Coach Darran Miller said this is a huge confidence booster for his team.

The Wheelers improve to 2-4 on the season and will be back in action Thursday night as they travel to Boyer Valley. The Bulldogs drop to 4-2 on the season and will be back in action on next Tuesday night the 19th when they travel to Treynor.

The Iowa Hawkeye men are in a familiar spot as they get ready for Saturday’s game in Des Moines against Florida A@M. Sunday’s loss to Michigan was their third straight and they are 0-2 in the Big Ten. Last season the Hawkeyes opened conference play 0-3 before rebounding to finish 11-9 and making it to the NCAA Tournament.

That’s Iowa coach Fran McCaffery. The Hawkeyes are connecting on less than 30 percent from three-point range during their three-game skid.

Senior guard Tony Perkins is confident the Hawkeyes will get things turned around.

As one of the veterans Perkins is trying to provide leadership.

The Hawkeyes are 5-5 overall.