Iowa State Athletic Director Jamie Pollard issued a letter to fans on Tuesday morning stating that the University will allow limited fan attendance for sporting contests starting again this weekend. They will continue to follow their previously established COVID-19 attendance protocols.  The full letter is included below.

“Dear Cyclone fans,

Coach Campbell and his team won a historic game in Austin, Texas, Friday and I could not be happier for Cyclone fans who have waited a lifetime to experience such a meaningful and impactful victory.

I am pleased to share that we are resuming our COVID attendance policies (as previously implemented) beginning with Saturday’s football game against West Virginia and basketball games Sunday vs. South Carolina (women) and DePaul (men).

The decision to allow fans to return to our venues was made after thorough discussion with university leaders after reviews of state and local COVID positivity trends and hospitalization rates.

Safety continues to remain our priority, and thus, it is critical for all fans attending our games to be diligent in following our mitigation measures. We have had great compliance to our policies all season and are confident you will continue to do your part.

We will continue to monitor local COVID cases closely and adjust our plans accordingly if warranted.

Go Cyclones!

Sincerely,

Jamie Pollard
Director of Athletics”

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast with Jim Field.

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Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Andy Reid was gushing after watching his Kansas City Chiefs beat Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and for good reason: Patrick Mahomes and Tyreek Hill had an eye-popping day and the defense came through in the clutch. The Chiefs coach also acknowledged there is plenty of room for improvement. The reigning Super Bowl champions were penalized 10 times for the second consecutive week, and were flagged eight times the week before that. They also were 0 for 3 when it came to converting touchdowns in the red zone and that same defense also gave up more than 400 yards.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Royals agreed to a two-year deal with pitcher Mike Minor and finalized a $1.75 million, one-year contract with outfielder Michael Taylor as they piece together a roster in their rebuilding effort.. The deal with the 32-year-old Minor was reached late Sunday and requires him to pass a physical before it can be completed. Taylor signed his $1.75 million contract Monday and it includes up to $1 million in incentives.

UNDATED (AP) — Gonzaga and Baylor remain the top two teams in the first Associated Press men’s college basketball poll of the regular season. The Zags received 57 first-place votes from a 63-person media panel. The Bears received six first-place votes, with Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois rounding out the top five. Gonzaga was the preseason No. 1 and lived up to the billing by rolling over Kansas and Auburn in Fort Meyers, Florida. The Jayhawks dropped a spot to No. 7 this week but were ranked for the 222nd consecutive week to break UCLA’s all-time record set from 1966-80. Villanova and Virginia plunged after losses while Virginia Tech entered the rankings at No. 16 and Richmond at No. 19.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

East Mills 56, Diagonal 16
Clarke 29, Mount Ayr 26
Creston 60, Winterset 34
Earlham 50, Grand View Christian 49
Fremont-Mills 76, Heartland Christian 8
Griswold 45, Southwest Valley 41 (Gris: Josie Mundorf and McKenna Weichman 12pts each)
Harlan 34, Treynor 25
MVAOCOU 56, Missouri Valley 35
Nodaway Valley 63, Clarinda 19 (NV: Maddax DeVault 28pts)
South Central Calhoun 62, Audubon 48
Underwood 44, Shenandoah 27

BOYS BASKETBALL

AHSTW 61, Woodbine 50 (AHSTW: Raydden Grobe 29pts)
Clarinda 53, Nodaway Valley 45
Fremont-Mills 71, Heartland Christian 28
Mount Ayr 65, Clarke 43
South Central Calhoun 60, Audubon 27
Southwest Valley 81, Griswold 37 (SWV: Blaine Venteicher 25pts)
Winterset 78, Creston 57

Lewis Central 54, Sioux City North 35

Underwood vs. Shenandoah, ppd.

The Southwest Valley Timberwolves boys basketball team jumped on top early and pulled away from the Griswold Tigers for a 81-37 opening win on Monday night. The Timberwolves outscored the Tigers 24-8 in the first quarter and used some full-court pressure to make Griswold uncomfortable throughout much of the game.

Blaine Venteicher led the way for Southwest Valley with 25 points on the night, that included 4 makes from long-range. Tucker Tepoel picked up where he left off last season with an 18 point performance. Gabe Fuller also hit double figures with 13. Southwest Valley will head to Shenandoah on Tuesday.

Griswold was led by 15 points from Kamron Brownlee, all of which came on 3-point makes. The Tigers settled for outside looks most of the night against a zone look from Southwest Valley. The Tigers will host Heartland Christian next on Friday.

The Griswold girls basketball team only picked up two wins in the 2019-20 campaign. They already have one under their belt now in 2020-21 after an opening road win over the Southwest Valley Timberwolves 45-41.

It was a tight game throughout with Griswold up one after the first and Southwest Valley ahead by three at halftime 26-23. The Tigers grabbed the lead back in the third quarter and built the advantage to as much as ten in the fourth. The Tigers had to hold off a furious finish by the T’wolves though. Halle Pearson knocked down a runner and the Timberwolves got a steal that Norah Lund turned into a bucket to get within 1 at 42-41 with about 30 seconds left. Brenna Rossell was then fouled on the next inbound for Griswold and she came up big at the foul line. She knocked down both freebies to push the lead back to 3. Southwest Valley then threw an errant pass to waste their next possession and Griswold used some nice passing to run the clock down to 6 seconds before Rossell was fouled again. She hit 1 out of 2 to seal the Tiger win.

After the game Griswold Head Coach Chris Hamilton said he was proud of the improvement shown by his team that brought back almost everyone from last year.

Josie Mundorf had a couple of big buckets to get Griswold back in front in the third quarter and finished with 12 points. Coach Hamilton said she has become a big leader.

Coach Hamilton was happy for Rossell to get the chance to hit those big free throws down the stretch after she missed most of last season.

McKenna Weichman also had 12 points for the Tigers. Griswold will next host Heartland Christian on Friday. Southwest Valley was led by 14 points from Maggie Haer. The Timberwolves head to Shenandoah on Tuesday night.

The Griswold Tigers open up the 2020-21 basketball season with a road trip to Southwest Valley for a varsity doubleheader.  We’ll have coverage on KJAN with pregame starting about 5:45 p.m. and the girls game set to tip-off at 6:00 p.m.

The girls game was won on December 2nd last season by Southwest Valley 64-28. Griswold finished the season 2-18 and the Timberwolves finished 9-13. Top scorers Mikala Pelzer and McKenna Wiechman return for the Tigers. The Timberwolves bring back Maggie Haer who averaged around 6 points per game last year.

The boys game was won by the Timberwolves in the opener last year 61-38 and Southwest Valley then also ended the Tigers season with an 80-38 win in the play-in round of the 1A playoffs. The Tigers were 4-18 and the Timberwolves finished last season at 6-17. The Tigers return top scorers Jayden Amend and Adam Houser. SW Valley also brings back their top scorer in Tucker Tepoel.

Tune in on KJAN AM 1220, FM 101.1, or online at kjan.com

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa Athletics Department conducted 346 COVID-19 PCR tests for the week of Nov. 23-29, 2020. Six positive tests and 340 negative tests have been received. As part of the return to campus protocol, testing began May 29, 2020, and includes student-athletes, coaches and staff. A total of 323 positive tests, 10,232 negative tests and one inconclusive test have been received.

The Big Ten Conference began daily rapid antigen surveillance testing on Sept. 30, 2020. Any positive tests identified through the surveillance testing process would be confirmed through a PCR test and reflected in the numbers listed above.

Following the positive test result, protocol established by UI Athletics and medical staff, including contact tracing procedures, is being followed to ensure the safety of all UI Athletics student-athletes and staff. This mandatory protocol also includes isolation for the individuals who test positive, and quarantine for those individuals who might have been exposed to someone with the virus.

Men’s Basketball’s Luka Garza Tuesday, September 3, 2019 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. (Brian Ray/hawkeyesports.com)

IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa men’s basketball All-American Luka Garza has been named the first Big Ten Player of the Week of the 2020-21 season following the Hawkeyes’ two victories last week. The announcement came Monday by the Big Ten Conference office.

Garza (6-foot-11, 265 pounds) averaged 33.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks in wins over North Carolina Central (97-67) and Southern University (103-76). The native of Washington, D.C., scorched the nets making 86.2 percent (25-of-29) of his field goal attempts, 75 percent from 3-point range (3-of-4), and 87.5 percent from the foul line (14-of-16). His 33.5 scoring average is tops among Division I players.

Garza torched Southern University for 41 points, nine rebounds, and three blocks. He netted 36 first-half points, which is believed to be the most points scored by a Hawkeye in a half in program history. In the first half, Garza made all 12 field-goal attempts and was 10-of-12 from the free throw line.     

Garza’s 41 points are the most points scored by a Hawkeye in a single-game in Carver-Hawkeye Arena history (1983), besting the 36 scored by Adam Haluska (2006) and Rob Griffin (2000). He finished the contest with a .933 field goal percentage (14-of-15), including a perfect 1.000 (3-of-3) from 3-point range, which is the best single-game mark by a Big Ten player since 1984 (Minnesota’s Tommy Davis, 15-of-16, at Indiana).

In Iowa’s season opener against North Carolina Central, Garza posted his 21st career double-double, recording game highs in scoring (26), rebounds (10), and blocked shots (3).

Garza tallied 20 points or more in both games last week and 18 straight, dating back to last season. That ties Oklahoma’s Trae Young (2017-18) for the second-longest streak by a major conference player over the last 20 seasons, trailing only North Carolina State’s T.J. Warren (19).

Garza’s 67 points last week moved him into Iowa’s top 10 in career scoring, surpassing Dean Oliver, Adam Haluska, and Jess Settles. Garza (1,626) is 10 points from moving past Matt Gatens (1,635) for eighth place.

The center is one of two players in program history to score 40 points or more in two games in a career (John Johnson, 49 and 46). Garza netted 44 points at Michigan last season.

Garza earned two Big Ten Player of the Week honors last season (Dec. 9, 2019 and Jan. 20, 2020).No. 3 Iowa (2-0) will entertain Western Illinois (0-0) on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. (CT) on Mediacom Court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

IRVING, Texas – Iowa State junior defensive lineman Latrell Bankston was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week, announced today by the Big 12 Conference.

The Woodstock, Ga., native was sensational in Iowa State’s 23-20 victory at No. 20 Texas on Friday, registering career highs in tackles (five) and sacks (2.0).

His two sacks were crucial. His first sack was on third down and halted a Texas drive at midfield.

Bankston’s second sack was even bigger. It occurred with Iowa State clinging to a 23-20 lead and Texas in possession with its final drive.

The Longhorns drove down to the ISU 36 and had 3^rd-and-10 with :09 seconds left in the contest. With one final play from scrimmage, Bankston busted up the middle and sacked Sam Ehlinger for a four-yard loss. It forced UT to use its final timeout with :04 seconds left.

Bankston’s sack pushed back the potential game-tying field goal attempt to 58 yards, as the kick hooked left and barely missed as time expired.

The win gave Iowa State its school-record seventh conference victory and clinched at least a share of the Big 12 regular-season title.

Iowa State enters its final-regular season game on Saturday vs. West Virginia ranked No. 12 nationally in the Associated Press poll.