Can you really believe today is August 1st and
that football games will be played in the very near future? And after a
weekend of talking to a lot of football prospects, the talk is obviously that
their team is talented and will be hoping to make the UNI-Dome. But like
every year, you really never know what will happen until they put on the pads
and play some very meaningful district and conference games. For the
smaller teams, those first two games don't mean that much if you can run the
table in-district play.
Looking
at the Class 4A field, one team who is being extremely hyped up is Cedar Falls.
They return the majority of their players from last year and really could have
what it takes to win a State title on their home field. But before looking
that far ahead, they are going to have to get past the first two games of the
season. Tight end Schuyler Oordt broke his ankle in a 7-on-7
passing camp at Dike-New Hartford and will likely miss at least one game.
At this point it still depends on his progress but he is hoping to get clearance
at the end of August.
Also
missing time for the Tigers is running back Taylor Brookins. I
spoke with this senior-to-be after hearing a lot of rumors floating around and
Brookins will miss the first two games of the year. Because of a school
policy, this standout will be forced to miss those two games because he was
in-attendance at a party that was broken up. And although he was doing
nothing illegal, school policy was to suspend him for twenty percent of the
season just for being there.
The team that knocked the Tigers out of the
postseason last year was Iowa City High, who made it to the semifinals before
losing to the eventual champions Bettendorf. The Little Hawks are once
again loaded with talent and seniors Ben Evans and Dorian Davis will both play
huge roles this year. But it looks like sophomore-to-be James Ferentz
could also see time on both sides of the ball. James, who is the son
of Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz, has a chance to be a very special player for
City High. Remember that name this fall.
Moving
to smaller classes, Waukee quarterback Tim Getting was one of the few
returning players at his position who earned All State honors. As a
junior, this talented prep helped his team to a final four finish before losing
to Harlan. The main schools Getting has been receiving interest from have
been Northern Iowa, Iowa State, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Army, and Truman State.
As for Class 2A, the team that I expect to start
the season #1 is Sigourney-Keota. They are loaded to the brim with
talented seniors-to-be returning and have a very tradition-rich program.
One of their returning All Staters, Tyler Sheets, has continued to
receive interest from two in-state programs. It seems Northern Iowa and
Iowa State are showing him the most interest.
Although
the football season is nearly underway, the AAU basketball circuit just finished
up and there is always interesting news. Jason Bohannon, who was
named among the top five at the NIKE Camp, has been sidelined. This
senior-to-be and future Wisconsin Badger has once again torn meniscus in his
knee. Bohannon did the same thing last spring but this time he did it on
the other side of the knee. The cure to help his knee get better is rest,
which is a very difficult thing for a gym rat like Bohannon. Overall the
rest may help this standout because now he can spend more time in the weight
room and it gives him a breather before fall workouts.
Simpson held their huge team camp this past
weekend and although IowaPreps.com was not there, someone in-attendance reported
that three of the big school teams really stood out. They included
Bettendorf, Cedar Rapids Kennedy, and Iowa City West. For West and
Kennedy, it really is not much of a surprise because of the talent they have
returning. As for the defending State champions from Bettendorf, it is a
surprise considering they lost a number of contributors from last year.
One player who really looks like he has gotten a lot better for the Bulldogs is
junior-to-be Charlie Schwartz. As a sophomore, this heady point
guard played varsity basketball. With another year of experience under his
belt, look for Schwartz to really make a name for himself in the MAC Conference.
For Iowa Conference news, one player that the
Wartburg coaches are high on is incoming point guard Cashes Mason.
This West Des Moines Valley prep is extremely quick and could be a very talented
player for the Knights. Like most prep players, he will need to add
strength early to contribute.
Speaking of Wartburg, the buzz at Snow Valley was
that the camp will not be held in Waverly next summer. Why you ask?
Although it has yet to be fully approved, the Knights will be putting over 30
million dollars into renovation and additions to their sports complex. I
did not see any diagrams but what they are planning on doing sounds amazing.
If other schools in the IIAC had trouble recruiting against Wartburg in the
past, there will be now 30 million more reasons to become a Knight. If
this does get approved, construction should start shortly after the 2005-2006
basketball season.
I hope you enjoyed this latest installment of
The End Zone. Once again, thank you for subscribing to IowaPreps.com. If you have any
questions/comments/thoughts, please either reply to this post or email me at
Luke@Rivals.com.
This post was edited on 8/1 7:30 PM by LukeFeddersenif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}
that football games will be played in the very near future? And after a
weekend of talking to a lot of football prospects, the talk is obviously that
their team is talented and will be hoping to make the UNI-Dome. But like
every year, you really never know what will happen until they put on the pads
and play some very meaningful district and conference games. For the
smaller teams, those first two games don't mean that much if you can run the
table in-district play.
at the Class 4A field, one team who is being extremely hyped up is Cedar Falls.
They return the majority of their players from last year and really could have
what it takes to win a State title on their home field. But before looking
that far ahead, they are going to have to get past the first two games of the
season. Tight end Schuyler Oordt broke his ankle in a 7-on-7
passing camp at Dike-New Hartford and will likely miss at least one game.
At this point it still depends on his progress but he is hoping to get clearance
at the end of August.
missing time for the Tigers is running back Taylor Brookins. I
spoke with this senior-to-be after hearing a lot of rumors floating around and
Brookins will miss the first two games of the year. Because of a school
policy, this standout will be forced to miss those two games because he was
in-attendance at a party that was broken up. And although he was doing
nothing illegal, school policy was to suspend him for twenty percent of the
season just for being there.
The team that knocked the Tigers out of the
postseason last year was Iowa City High, who made it to the semifinals before
losing to the eventual champions Bettendorf. The Little Hawks are once
again loaded with talent and seniors Ben Evans and Dorian Davis will both play
huge roles this year. But it looks like sophomore-to-be James Ferentz
could also see time on both sides of the ball. James, who is the son
of Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz, has a chance to be a very special player for
City High. Remember that name this fall.
to smaller classes, Waukee quarterback Tim Getting was one of the few
returning players at his position who earned All State honors. As a
junior, this talented prep helped his team to a final four finish before losing
to Harlan. The main schools Getting has been receiving interest from have
been Northern Iowa, Iowa State, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Army, and Truman State.
As for Class 2A, the team that I expect to start
the season #1 is Sigourney-Keota. They are loaded to the brim with
talented seniors-to-be returning and have a very tradition-rich program.
One of their returning All Staters, Tyler Sheets, has continued to
receive interest from two in-state programs. It seems Northern Iowa and
Iowa State are showing him the most interest.
the football season is nearly underway, the AAU basketball circuit just finished
up and there is always interesting news. Jason Bohannon, who was
named among the top five at the NIKE Camp, has been sidelined. This
senior-to-be and future Wisconsin Badger has once again torn meniscus in his
knee. Bohannon did the same thing last spring but this time he did it on
the other side of the knee. The cure to help his knee get better is rest,
which is a very difficult thing for a gym rat like Bohannon. Overall the
rest may help this standout because now he can spend more time in the weight
room and it gives him a breather before fall workouts.
Simpson held their huge team camp this past
weekend and although IowaPreps.com was not there, someone in-attendance reported
that three of the big school teams really stood out. They included
Bettendorf, Cedar Rapids Kennedy, and Iowa City West. For West and
Kennedy, it really is not much of a surprise because of the talent they have
returning. As for the defending State champions from Bettendorf, it is a
surprise considering they lost a number of contributors from last year.
One player who really looks like he has gotten a lot better for the Bulldogs is
junior-to-be Charlie Schwartz. As a sophomore, this heady point
guard played varsity basketball. With another year of experience under his
belt, look for Schwartz to really make a name for himself in the MAC Conference.
For Iowa Conference news, one player that the
Wartburg coaches are high on is incoming point guard Cashes Mason.
This West Des Moines Valley prep is extremely quick and could be a very talented
player for the Knights. Like most prep players, he will need to add
strength early to contribute.
Speaking of Wartburg, the buzz at Snow Valley was
that the camp will not be held in Waverly next summer. Why you ask?
Although it has yet to be fully approved, the Knights will be putting over 30
million dollars into renovation and additions to their sports complex. I
did not see any diagrams but what they are planning on doing sounds amazing.
If other schools in the IIAC had trouble recruiting against Wartburg in the
past, there will be now 30 million more reasons to become a Knight. If
this does get approved, construction should start shortly after the 2005-2006
basketball season.
I hope you enjoyed this latest installment of
The End Zone. Once again, thank you for subscribing to IowaPreps.com. If you have any
questions/comments/thoughts, please either reply to this post or email me at
Luke@Rivals.com.
This post was edited on 8/1 7:30 PM by LukeFeddersenif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}
