AMES, Iowa – Iowa State softball coach Jamie Pinkerton has announced the addition of Illinois transfer Sydney Malott to ­the 2025 roster. She will join the Cyclones with two seasons of eligibility remaining.

Malott becomes Iowa State’s first addition via the transfer portal since Sophie Maras joined the team in May 2022.

Malott, along with an eight-player freshmen class, will look to help replace 11 Cyclones from last year’s roster.

“We’re excited to have Sydney join our program. She’s an experienced player who will help out our roster. She’s played multiple positions in her college career and will help our team at all infield positions including catcher. Sydney will also play a big role in providing leadership to our young roster.”

A 5-7 infielder from Liberty, Mo., Malott played in 49 games for the Illini this last season, making 46 starts. Malott played all over for Illinois, making starts at first, second and third base as well as catcher.

An Academic All-Big Ten member, Malott slashed .283/.386/.390 as a sophomore and posted seven multi-hit games. She finished this past season with 24 RBI on 36 hits while drawing 23 walks.

As a freshman, Malott posted similar numbers, racking up 35 hits with 23 RBI. In her first season, she appeared in 48 games, making 45 starts with five long balls.

Malott tallied a career-best six RBI last season against South Dakota. She also owns a pair of three-hit games. To date, Malott totes 71 hits with 47 RBI and seven home runs.

The field will be set Friday night for next week’s John Deere Classic in the Quad Cities. Two-time John Deere champ and three-time major winner Jordan Spieth was the latest big name on the PGA Tour to join the field. Tournament director Andrew Lehman.

Lehman says being two weeks before the British Open has helped them attract more big names.

Lehman says the John Deere Classic has a mix of tour regulars and young golfers trying to break through.

Players have until Friday after the second round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit to join the field and Lehman says there is the possibility of adding three more players ranked within the top 50 in the world.

Today is the final day for the public to play the TPC at Deere Run and Lehman says the tournament takes it over Thursday morning.

Lehman says they already have more than two thousand volunteers for next week.

The first round of the John Deere Classic is July fourth.

Iowa added two more commitments to 2025 recruiting clas.

New England cornerback CJ Bell announced he would be joining the Hawkeyes via social media Monday afternoon.  Defensive linemen Brad Fitzgibbon announced his commitment Tuesday.

They became the 11th and 12th known verbal commitment in the recruiting cycle.

Fitzgibbon (6-3, 280) is a three-star prospect, the No. 90 DL nationally in ’25 and the 23rd best player overall in Illinois for the cycle according to 247Sports Composite. The On3 Industry Ranking also sees him as a three-star recruit. That site puts him No. 82 on the D-Line and 24th in his state.

Bell joined fellow weekend visitors Cameron Herron and Lucas Allgeyer, who announced their pledges on Sunday.

At the end of May, the 6-foot-2, 168-pound Bell released a list of his top schools. It included Iowa, Notre Dame, Penn State, Minnesota, Boston College, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Rutgers and NC State. He officially visited the Hawkeyes and Rutgers before deciding.

The On3 Industry Ranking shows Bell as the 81st-best cornerback nationally in ’25 and the No. 8 overall player in Connecticut for the class. The 247Sports Composite Ranking pegs him as the No. 96 player at his position and 12th in the state for the cycle.

A Texas teenager is in the points race at the Knoxville Raceway this season. Two years ago as a 17-year-old Chase Randall began competing in the 360 sprints at Knoxville with the goal of getting noticed.

After winning the 360 track title last year Randall is in his first season driving for TKS Motorsports in the 410 division. He has two feature wins already and sits fourth in points as a 19-year-old.

Both of Randall’s feature wins have occured in the past month and he likes how the team has progressed.

Randall says he had to transition to dirt racing after coming to Knoxville.

Hawkeye Ten 

Shenandoah 3, Essex 0
#9 Clarinda 13, St. Albert 3
Kuemper Catholic 6, Denison-Schleswig 0

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Four University of Iowa football players have garnered Athlon preseason All-America honors for the 2024 season, it was announced Tuesday by the publication.

Fifth-year linebacker Jay Higgins was named to the first team, sixth-year linebacker Nick Jackson was a second team selection, center Logan Jones was a third-team honoree and defensive back Sebastian Castro was a fourth-team selection.

The Hawkeyes also had 14 players earn preseason All-Big Ten recognition by Athlon. Higgins, Jackson and Jones were first-team selections, senior Luke Lachey (tight end), senior Connor Colby (guard), senior Yahya Black (defensive tackle), graduate Quinn Schulte (defensive back) and Castro were second-team honorees, senior Deontae Craig (defensive end) and junior Xavier Nwankpa (defensive back) were tabbed as third-teamers and senior Leshon Williams (running back), senior Mason Richman (offensive tackle), graduate Jermari Harris (defensive back) and junior Drew Stevens (placekicker) were fourth-team selections.

Higgins, who was also named a preseason first-team All-American and the preseason National Defensive Player of the Year by Phil Steele, tied a program record with 171 tackles in 2023 to lead the Big Ten and rank third nationally.

Jackson earned his second All-America nod (fourth team by Phil Steele) after making 110 tackles in his first season as a Hawkeye. The Atlanta native has 464 tackles in his collegiate career, sitting just 113 stops from tying the all-time NCAA record.

Jones received his second third-team All-America nod after starting 13 games at center in 2023. He was a third-team All-Big Ten selection a season ago.

Castro earned his first preseason All-America honor after making 67 tackles, recording three interceptions and having eight pass breakups in Iowa’s CASH position a season ago. The Illinois native earned Pro Football Focus first-team All-America and Associated Press third-team honors in 2023.

Lachey missed all but three games in 2023 because of injury. He made 10 catches for 131 yards before sustaining a season-ending injury in Week 3. Colby started 13 games at right guard en route to third-team All-Big Ten honors, Black accumulated 51 tackles and had five tackles for loss in 2023, while Schulte started 14 games, recording 65 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and one interception. Schulte is a Lott IMPACT Trophy candidate.

Craig earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors as a junior after making 54 tackles, including five tackles for loss, three sacks and seven quarterback hurries. Nwankpa started 12 games at strong safety as a sophomore, where he made 42 tackles, including two tackles for loss, one sack and one interception.

Williams earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors in 2023 after leading the team with 821 rushing yards and one touchdown. The Illinois native had three 100-yard games. Richman started all 14 games and earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors in 2023, while Harris started 12 times, making 42 tackles, one tackle for loss, eight pass break-ups and one interception. He was Iowa’s Comeback Player of the Year Award recipient. Stevens was a third-team All-Big Ten honoree (coaches) and a Lou Groza Award semifinalist in 2023 after leading the team with 73 points on 18 field goals and 19 PATs.

The Hawkeyes open the 2024 season Aug. 31, hosting Illinois State at 11 a.m. (CT) inside Kinnick Stadium.

Athlon Preseason All-America Teams

Jay Higgins, first team

Nick Jackson, second team

Logan Jones, third team

Sebastian Castro, fourth team

Athlon Preseason All-Big Ten Teams

First Team: Jay Higgins (LB), Nick Jackson (LB), Logan Jones (center)

Second Team: Luke Lachey (TE), Connor Colby (OG), Yahya Black (DT), Sebastian Castro (DB), Quinn Schulte (DB)

Third Team: Deontae Craig (DE), Xavier Nwankpa (DB)

Fourth Team: Leshon Williams (RB), Mason Richman (OT), Jermari Harris (DB), Drew Stevens (PK)

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Seventy-three University of Iowa student-athletes have been named Big Ten Conference Distinguished Scholars, it was announced Tuesday by the league office.

Among the Iowa honorees, 21 maintained a perfect 4.0 grade point average during the 2023-24 academic term, including:

Sofia Bush, women’s soccer

Samantha Cary, women’s soccer

Hillary Cox, field hockey

Molly Davis, Women’s Basketball

Harper Dunne, field hockey

Sharon Goodman, Women’s Basketball

Aaron Graves, football

Abby Jaynes, rowing

Luke Lachey, football

Lauren McMahon, women’s track & field/cross country

Katie Moore, women’s track & field/cross country

Julia Pattison, women’s track & field/cross country

Felipe Pedraza, men’s golf

Abby Ryon, women’s track & field/cross country

Lillian Schmidt, women’s track & field/cross country

Cullan Schriever, men’s wrestling

Sofie Stribos, field hockey

Kelli Tosic, women’s track & field/cross country

Ellie Twedt, women’s track & field/cross country

Michelle Urquhart, volleyball

Kaia Vanney, women’s gymnastics

Big Ten Faculty Representatives established the Distinguished Scholar Award in 2008 to supplement the Academic All-Big Ten program. Distinguished Scholar Award recipients must have earned Academic All-Big Ten recognition in the previous academic year, must have been enrolled full time at the institution for the entire previous academic year (two semesters or three quarters) and earned a minimum GPA of 3.70 or better during the previous academic year, excluding any summer grades. The Academic All-Big Ten threshold is a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or higher for a student-athlete’s academic career.

The Big Ten recognized 1,695 student-athletes in 38 different sports as Distinguished Scholars, including 385 who maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA during the previous academic term.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Kate Martin (women’s basketball) and Jay Higgins(football) have been selected as Iowa’s 2024 Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Award winners. The duo were chosen from Iowa’s list of 2023-24 Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winners, which had a representative from each varsity sport.

Martin and the Hawkeyes set a program record and tied the Big Ten single season record with 34 wins in 2024, captured the Big Ten Tournament championship and finished as national runners-up for a second straight year.

The Edwardsville, Illinois, native stands as the first Iowa women’s basketball player to have amassed 900+ points, 500+ rebounds, 400+ assists, 120+ steals and 60+ blocks in a career and is the third player in school history behind Caitlin Clark and Sam Logic to net 1,200+ points, 700+ rebounds, and 450+ assists. Martin scored 10+ points in 30 games last season, 15+ points in 17 games, while averaging 13.1 points per game in her senior campaign.

Martin was selected by the Las Vegas Aces with 18th overall pick in the second round of the 2024 WNBA Draft.

Higgins anchored the Hawkeye defense in 2023 with a breakout senior season. Higgins and the Hawkeyes won 10 games and advanced to the Big Ten Championship Game. Iowa’s defense was one of the best in the country, ranking fourth in scoring defense and the unit yielded 4.08 yards per play in 2023 to lead the nation for a second straight year.

The linebacker finished the year with 171 tackles, tying the Iowa record, while leading the Big Ten and ranking third nationally. The Indianapolis native was a first-team All-American by FWAA, Phil Steele and Sports Illustrated and second-team selection by the AFCA, CBS, Walter Camp, Associated Press and Sporting News. He led the team in tackles in 12 of 14 games, with three 15+ tackle games and 10 contests with 10 or more stops.

Higgins was also the unanimous recipient of the 2023 Duke Slater Golden Gavel Award, presented annually to the Hawkeye football player who not only is most cooperative with local media but exhibits themself with professional integrity in all interactions.

The Big Ten first awarded the Outstanding Sportsmanship honor in 2003. The student-athletes chosen were individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior, were in good academic standing and demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.