By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com
Iowa Extends Season Ticket Deadline Extension:
The University of Iowa Athletics Department announced Monday the extension of the 2020 football season ticket renewal deadline to Friday, May 29, 2020, with flexible payment options being made available.
The updated ticket renewal deadline extension and upgrade process is as follows:
- May 29: 2020 football season ticket, per seat gift and parking deadline
- June 8: Seat upgrade process begins
- June 19: Seat upgrade process concludes
- June 26-29: Season ticket holder opportunity for additional mini-plans
- July 27-29: Season ticket holder opportunity for additional single game tickets
- Late August: Season tickets delivered digitally or arrive in mail
The athletics ticket office and I-Club are available to answer any questions to make the renewal process as smooth as possible in regard to ticket purchases and flexible payment options.
Fans can contact them at 1-800-434-2957.
College Basketball:
Hawkeye big man Luka Garza and guard Joe Wieskamp were both honored as All-District selections by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, Monday afternoon.
Garza was a first-team choice along with Cassius Winston of Michigan State, Penn State’s Lamar Stevens, Maryland’s Anthony Cowan Jr. and Daniel Oturu of Minnesota.
Wieskamp, a sophomore from Muscatine, Iowa, was picked to the second team alongside Maryland’s Jalen Smith, Ayo Dosunmu of Illinois, Ohio State’s Kaleb Wesson and Zavier Simpson of Michigan.
Wisconsin’s Greg Gard was named the Coach of the Year in District 7. Gard led the Badgers to a Big Ten regular season title after the team won each of its last eight games.
Meanwhile, in District 16, both A.J. Green and Austin Phyfe of Northern Iowa were first team members.
Cameron Krutwig of Loyola-Chicago, Valpo’s Javon Freeman and Bradley Brave Darrell Brown were the other first-team choices with the pair of Panthers.
UNI head coach Ben Jacobson was named the district’s Coach of the Year.
In Des Moines, both Liam Robbins and Roman Penn were second team All-District selections, alongside Southern Illinois’ Marcus Domask and Sycamore Jordan Barnes of Indiana State.
And ESPN has released their 2020-21 Way-Too-Early Top 25 and the Iowa Hawkeyes are well represented.
Senior college basketball writer Jeff Borzello has the Hawks are high as #7 to begin to the season saying:
“Luka Garza was my pick to win the Wooden Award, and I think he’ll head back to Iowa City for his senior season. If that happens, the Hawkeyes are undoubtedly a preseason top-10 team. Fran McCaffery will bring back all five starters from a 20-win team, one that would’ve likely ended up with a 6-seed in the NCAA tournament. Garza should be his dominant self once again, while double-figure scorers Joe Wieskamp and CJ Fredrick also are back. McCaffery should also get a boost from the expected return of Jordan Bohannon, who redshirted this season after playing just 10 games. A healthy Bohannon is a difference-maker at the point of attack. The Hawkeyes had some issues defensively, especially in Big Ten play, but they were able to outscore most opponents. And most of those weapons should be back again.”
His top five includes Villanova, Creighton, Gonzaga, Baylor and Kentucky.
Prep Wrestling:
The Iowa girls’ state wrestling tournament is moving to Coralville.
The new Xtream Arena will host the 2021 championships during a two-day event on January 22nd and 23rd.
The Iowa Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association will sponsor the event as it has the first two years when it was held at Waverly-Shell Rock High School.
When complete in August 2020, the 5,100 fixed seat Xtream Arena powered by Mediacom (6,600 concert capacity) will serve the state for concerts, family shows, and special events.
The arena will serve as the home for University of Iowa Volleyball as well as a yet-to-be-determined minor league hockey tenant.