Listen Monday – Saturday for KJAN Sports at 7:18 am, 8:15 am, 12:20 pm, 1:20 pm, 2:20 pm and 5:20 pm!
Catch St. Louis Cardinal Baseball on KJAN — Check out the schedule!
Listen to the Kansas City Chiefs on KJAN — See the schedule!
Iowa Hawkeye Football & Basketball is on KJAN — View More Information!
IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa senior linebacker Jay Higgins has been named to the 2024 Allstate Wuerffel Trophy Watch List, the Wuerffel Foundation announced Thursday.
Higgins (6-foot-2, 232-pounds) recorded 171 tackles (79 solo, 92 assists) during the 2023 season, which led the Big Ten and ranked third nationally. The total tied the program record for tackles in a single season.
The Indianapolis native is a preseason All-American and Phil Steele Preseason National Defensive Player of the Year. He was also named to the Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List earlier this week.
Now in its 20th season, the Allstate Wuerfel Trophy is college football’s premier award for community service. The trophy is named after Danny Wuerffel, the 1996 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback from the University of Florida who parlayed his success on the football field into a lifetime of service and humanitarianism.
Higgins volunteered more than 50 combined hours last year with groups such as Safe Haven Animal Shelter in South Amana, Iowa, the Community Crisis Services and Food Bank, Special Olympics, Dream City and University of Iowa Student-Athlete Academic Services.
The 2024 Allstate Wuerffel Trophy finalists and recipient will be selected by a national voting committee along with a fan vote component. The winner will be announced on ESPN’s Home Depot College Football Awards Show on December 12th. The Allstate Wuerffel Trophy Presentation Gala will take place February 1, 2025, at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.
The award recipient will be invited to join Danny Wuerffel in New York City to attend the Heisman Trophy ceremonies, including the press conference, televised announcement show and gala.
The Hawkeyes open the season Aug. 31, hosting Illinois State inside Kinnick Stadium beginning at 11 a.m. (CT).
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Nic Robinson has been named the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator for the University of Iowa women’s golf program, it was announced Thursday by head coach Megan Menzel.
Robinson joins the Hawkeyes following three seasons as an assistant coach at Tennessee. He has also coached collegiately at Charlotte and Asbury University.
“I am so excited to have Nic join our staff and to have the opportunity to work alongside him,” said Menzel. “He has great success and experience that he will be bringing to our program. He will be a hard-working and tough recruiter and I love his excitement about helping us to continue to push our program forward. We are thrilled to welcome Nic and his family to the Hawkeye golf family.”
In his three seasons in Knoxville, Robinson coached the Lady Vols to a pair of team NCAA Regional appearances. During the 2021-22 season, he coached Mikayla Bardwell to the NCAA Regionals as an individual.
The Vols had three top five finishes as a team and 13 top 10 individual showings during the 2023-24 season. The team earned runner-up honors at the Collegiate Invitational in the first tournament of the spring and closed out the year by placing sixth (of 12 teams) at the NCAA Bermuda Run Regional.
“I am thrilled to be at Iowa and under the leadership of such a respected coach,” said Robinson. “It’s a special time at Iowa and I can’t wait to hit the ground running and make a splash this upcoming season. The community support, fan base and national brand that is Iowa athletics is truly incredible and I can’t wait to leave our mark on such a historical place.”
Prior to his arrival on Rocky Top, Robinson spent four seasons at Charlotte, serving as the program’s assistant women’s golf coach. Hired prior to the program’s inaugural season in 2017-18, Robinson helped the 49ers claim three top-five finishes during their debut campaign.
In the following year, Charlotte placed second at the Conference USA Championships. The 49ers logged five top-five finishes in 2018-19, had two players earn All-Conference USA honors and sent Cecilie Finne-Ipsen to the NCAA Championships as an individual.
Despite only participating in six tournaments during the 2019-20 season to COVID-19, Robinson’s Charlotte squad earned two team titles at the Yale Invitational and the Idle Hour Collegiate — the first two tournament wins in the young program’s history — while adding three additional top-five finishes for a shortened-season total of five.
By Charlotte’s third varsity season, Robinson had helped guide Charlotte to a No. 27 national ranking by Golfweek and assisted in developing five eventual All-Conference USA performers.
Preceding his time in Charlotte, Robinson had a three-year tenure as the head coach of Asbury University. By 2017, the Eagles achieved a national ranking of No. 49. He also served as the Connemara Golf Course Head Golf Pro from 2015-17.
Robinson’s coaching career began at Lexington Christian Academy in Kentucky as the school’s head golf coach from 2012-14. He earned his degree in biomedical science from Southeast Missouri State in 2010.
The Iowa Girls Coaches Association All-State softball teams have been announced. Here is a look at the area players who made the list.
Class 1-A First Team
Class 2-A First Team
Class 3-A First Team
Class 1-A Second Team
Class 2-A Second Team
Class 3-A Second Team
Class 4-A Second Team
Class 1-A Third Team
Class 2-A Third Team
Class 3-A Third Team
Class 4-A Third Team
Class 5-A Third Team
Class 1-A Honorable Mention
Jacob Gill hopes to add experience and play-making to the Iowa wide receivers. Gill transferred to Iowa after spending the past three years at Northwestern and looks to add depth to a position group that expects to be improved.
Gill has made the transition to Iowa while taking part in summer drills.
Gill transferred to Iowa along with his former quarterback at Northwestern, Brendan Sullivan.
The Hawkeyes open the season on August 31st against Illinois State.
Iowa guard Lucy Olsen felt Iowa was the right fit for her. Olsen finished third in the country in scoring last season by averaging more than 23 points per game at Villanova. She joins an Iowa program that lost several key players from a team that played in back-to-back national championship games.
Olsen does not view herself as a replacement for two-time national player of the year Caitlin Clark.
Olsen says she has adapted quickly to Iowa City.
AMES, Iowa – Iowa State defensive back Jeremiah Cooper is one of 42 defensive backs named to the prestigious Paycom Jim Thorpe Award Preseason Watch List.
Cooper is one of five Big 12 players to earn a spot on the list. He has now been named to three preseason watch lists, also earning a spot on the Nagurski Trophy and Lott Impact Trophy Watch Lists.
Cooper, a junior from El Paso, Texas, is a preseason All-Big 12 selection after earning first-team honors in 2023. He played and started 11 games last season and finished second in the Big 12 Conference and sixth nationally with five interceptions. Cooper tallied 45 tackles and ranked fourth nationally in passes defended per game (1.4).
Tickets for the 2024 football season are on sale now with a slate that features Kansas State and a Homecoming showdown with Texas Tech as well as others. Fans can purchase season tickets for as low as $299, while mini-packs, single-game tickets and parking are also on sale.
The Cyclones open the season August 31 against 2023 FCS Playoff qualifier North Dakota.
AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State softball program has finalized its 2024 fall schedule, head coach Jamie Pinkerton announced. The Cyclones’ fall slate includes eight contests, three of which are at the Cyclone Sports Complex, as the season spans over four weeks.
ISU will again open its fall ball slate with DMACC, facing the Bears on Wednesday, Sept. 18, at the Cyclone Sports Complex. Later that week, the Cyclones will welcome NIACC to the CSC for a Sunday afternoon showdown on Sept. 22.
September is rounded out with the Big Four Classic. This year, Drake is the host, as the Cyclones will take to Des Moines for three-straight days of games against in-state foes. Big Four play begins with host school Drake on 9/27 and is followed by a Saturday Cy-Hawk showdown (9/28) and a Sunday matchup with UNI (9/29).
The 2024 fall ball slate concludes with a trip up north as Iowa State heads to Minneapolis to face both North Dakota State and Minnesota on Oct. 12.
All home matchups at the Cyclone Sports Complex are available to attend free of charge.
Fall Schedule
9/18 Iowa State vs. DMACC 4 p.m. Ames, Iowa
9/22 Iowa State vs. NIACC 3 p.m. Ames, Iowa
9/27 Iowa State vs. Drake 5 p.m. Des Moines, Iowa
9/28 Iowa State vs. Iowa 5 p.m. Des Moines, Iowa
9/29 Iowa State vs. UNI 11 a.m. Des Moines, Iowa
10/2 Iowa State vs. Kirkwood 3:30 p.m. Ames, Iowa
10/12 Iowa State vs Minnesota 12 p.m. Minneapolis, Minn.
Iowa State vs NDSU 2 p.m. Minneapolis, Minn.
IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa senior Sebastian Castro has been named to the 2024 Jim Thorpe Award Preseason Watch List, the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame (OSHOF) announced Wednesday.
The preseason watch list is selected by a screening committee whose members compile a list of players based on previous performance in NCAA Division I college football and preseason All-America lists. Castro (5-foot-11, 205-pounds) was one of 42 defensive backs named to the watch list.
Castro has also been named a 2024 Athlon preseason fourth-team All-American and second-team All-Big Ten selection. The Oak Lawn, Illinois, native was included on the Bronko Nagurski Watch List on Tuesday.
As a junior, Castro was a Pro Football Focus first-team All-American and an Associated Press third-team All-American. He also was named Phil Steele honorable mention All-America and second-team All-Big Ten. Castro was voted second-team All-Big Ten by league media and honorable mention All-Big Ten by league coaches.
Castro led the team with eight pass break-ups and three interceptions in 2023. Those totals ranked fourth and ninth in the Big Ten, respectively. He finished the year with 67 tackles (47 solo, 20 assists), including eight tackles for a loss.
Committee members will vote on a list of semifinalists to be announced on Oct. 29, with a group of three finalists to be announced on Nov. 26. A panel of over 250 sports writers, sportscasters, former players and coaches will vote to determine the winner of the 2024 Paycom Jim Thorpe Award. The award winner will be announced on the ESPN live presentation of The Home Depot College Football Awards on Dec. 12.
Former Hawkeye cornerbacks Cooper Dejean and Riley Moss were Thorpe Award semifinalists in 2023 and 2021, respectively. Desmond King won the Thorpe Award in 2015 and was a semifinalist the following season, while Josh Jackson was a finalist for the award in 2017.
Iowa opens the 2024 season Aug. 31, hosting Illinois State inside Kinnick Stadium beginning at 11 a.m. (CT).
IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa track and field has hired Steve Paternostro as Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Operations. The announcement was made on Wednesday by Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Joey Woody.
Paternostro will serve as the program’s travel coordinator, facilitate day-to-day operations of the team and act as a liaison to external staff.
Paternostro joins the staff after spending nearly three years as the director of recruiting for track and cross country at Ottawa University in Kansas. In addition to his recruiting responsibilities, he assisted with logistics and operations for the program.
Before heading to Ottawa University, Paternostro was the director of admission for engineering and technology at Trine University.
Paternostro has extensive track and field coaching experience. Prior to his time at Trine, he was the assistant women’s track coach at the University of Toledo, head coach at Alfred State and assistant coach at Daemen College.
An alum of Edinboro University, Paternostro was a Division II national qualifier in the decathlon. He was also an NJCAA national champion at Erie Community College before transferring to Edinboro. Paternostro earned his bachelor’s degree in individualized studies and human performance from Edinboro.
Iowa center Riley Mulvey is motivated to be more of a factor next season. The 6-11 center from New York played a total of 29 games his first two seasons before redshirting last season. He is part of an Iowa team that is looking to bounce back after missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018.
Mulvey says his ticket to more playing time resides on defense.
Mulvey could provide a boost for an Iowa team that needs help in the post.
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
RSS