(Radio Iowa) — Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy expects the Cyclone program to make more progress. Purdy is getting ready for his junior season as the Cyclones will be in search of a fourth straight winning season and bowl trip.

Players have been away from campus since March and are preparing for a return in June.

New Griswold head boys basketball coach Jake Speer is eager to be given the opportunity to coach early in his career. Speer was not looking to coach at the high school level right away coming out of college, but the opportunity to become an assistant early was too big to pass up. Speer said his confidence built as he got more years of experience.

In game coaching at the junior varsity level has really benefited Speer early in his career. Speer praised his old high school basketball coach, Darrell Burmeister, on how he coached in the past and wants to implement some of his philosophies in the future

Speer envisions some long term goals are to have all coaches throughout each level in the school district on the same page, while trying to maintain a good number of kids out for basketball. Getting more kids out for basketball and playing all year around is a good start said Speer.

Coach Speer will be coming into the head job looking to rejuvenate the program. The last two seasons the Tigers have a combined seven wins and the last time they had a winning season was back in 2014. The full length interview with Coach Speer will be available on this story later today.

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New CAM head football coach Barry Bower is very excited to take over the program that he played for as a youngster. Bower played under the very influential Dean Downer, just as the transition merger was made to become the CAM School District. Bower said it means a lot to him to get this opportunity at a place he loves.

Bower spent four seasons as head coach of the Red Oak football team, and he said once he had that experience he has always had a bit of an itch to get back into it at some point.

Bower had high praise for Coach Downer who he played under and Coach Wollum who he worked with the past few seasons. He said he wants to live up to the standards they have set and brig a passionate attitude to the team.

Coach Bower said he will bring his wrinkles into the program but ultimately he wants the kids to be proud of the effort they put in and build strong relationships that will carry on past the football field.

Coach Bower has strong footing to enter in on with the team coming off an 8-3 season a year ago and an appearance in the Quarterfinals of the 8-Man playoffs. The full length interview with Coach Bower will be available on this story later today.

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(Iowa City, AP) – Iowa athletic director Gary Barta is not ruling out having a full stadium for home football games. Barta told reporters the school is planning for several different scenarios, and one of them is opening 69,250-seat Kinnick Stadium to “as many fans as want to join us.”

Barta said the number of fans allowed into the stadium will be determined by directives of state and local health officials. On Tuesday, Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard wrote in a letter to fans that he anticipated Jack Trice Stadium would host games at 50% capacity, or about 30,000 fans.

Even if there are no attendance limits at Iowa, Barta said there could be modifications, such as limiting the number of stadium entrances and open concession stands.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Kansas City Royals have moved — not actually, but legally. The Royals changed their legal home from Missouri to Delaware last fall during the process of the team’s sale from David Glass to a group headed by John Sherman. The switch was mentioned in court papers in a suit by minor leaguers against Major League Baseball.

Kansas City Royals Baseball Corp., a Missouri corporation, became Kansas City Royals Baseball Club Inc., a Delaware corporation, on Nov 19. That corporation became Kansas City Royals Baseball Club LLC, a Delaware limited liability company.

IRVING, Texas – The Big 12 and Southeastern conferences have announced the matchups for their women’s basketball challenge for the 2020-21 season, with Iowa State set to host South Carolina on December 6, 2020.

“South Carolina coming to Hilton Coliseum will give our fans a chance to see the team that ended last season No.1 in the nation and will be there to start this season,” head coach Bill Fennelly said. “This adds another major test to what will be one of the toughest schedules we have ever faced.”

The Gamecocks ended the 2019-20 season as the nation’s No. 1 team with a 32-1 overall record, with the Cyclones ending the season with a win over No. 2 Baylor on Senior Day.

Every team from the Big 12 will participate, while 10 teams from the SEC will take part. The format features five home games on campus sites for each conference per year.

The inaugural challenge was held in 2014. The 10-team format began in 2016. Last season, the Big 12 Conference won the Challenge 8-2 in the most lopsided in the series history. Iowa State claimed a win over Alabama on the road in 2019.

2020 SEC/Big 12 Women’s Basketball Challenge Matchups
Baylor at Arkansas
South Carolina at Iowa State
Kansas at Ole Miss
Kentucky at K-State
Oklahoma at Georgia
Alabama at Oklahoma State
TCU at Missouri
Texas A&M at Texas
Texas Tech at Vanderbilt
Tennessee at West Virginia

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Atlantic School District Activities/Athletic Director Andrew Mitchell, reviewed the District’s Baseball/Softball Return-to-Play plans during a school board meeting Wednesday night. The Iowa High School Athletic Association and the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, earlier this week, released guidance procedures and provided a frequently asked questions list for the upcoming baseball and softball shortened seasons. Mitchell said Atlantic’s plan is “A fluid plan. This is not set in stone. I think we were one of the first schools to do something like this.”

Mitchell said as part of the plans to adhere to DOE guidelines, the district has ordered metal signs from JJ Graphic Design that should be in-place by the first practice. The signs, which should be arriving still this week, will indicate persons with any COVID-19 symptoms should not attend practice or games. They will be installed at the Little League Diamond. Mitchell says the signs have drawn the attention of other district’s.

Yard signs will also be spread out asking people to practice social distancing. Coaches will need to have a plan for players to keep their equipment outside of the fence and dugout, thereby maintaining the social distance guidelines during practice and using dugouts for games only.

The guidelines state also, players should use their own gloves, helmets and bats as much as possible. Mitchell says softball should be covered, but baseball may need to order more helmets. The District will develop practice plans to address potential situations involving social distancing between players. Coaches will sanitize equipment before and after each practice and game. Mitchell says Atlantic will either use a contact spray or another product, in addition to using paper towels to wipe down equipment and areas, if needed.

Mr. Mitchell said the DOE documents have been shared with coaches and staff. Superintendent Steve Barber said a permission slip has been established, outlining the risk of being involved in baseball and softball. Players and parents of players will need to sign-off on the form. Mitchell said the district appears to be “ahead of the game, with what other district’s are doing.”

NASCAR race rained out…Players pondering MLB offer…Basketball Hall ceremony postponed

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — Wednesday’s NASCAR Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway was rained out and rescheduled for Thursday night. The starting order for the second Cup race at Charlotte this week was set based on the finishing order of the Coca-Cola 600 but with an inversion. Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron and Alex Bowman will start from the pole, while Coca-Cola 600 winner Brad Keselowski will start 20th.

UNDATED (AP) — Baseball players will take at least a few days and possibly until next week to respond to Major League Baseball’s proposed sliding scale of salary slashing. But people familiar with their deliberations tell The Associated Press that players appeared likely to propose increasing the number of regular-season games this year while holding to their demand for full prorated salaries. One of the people said many players were angered by the proposal teams made Tuesday.

UNDATED (AP) — Basketball Hall of Fame chairman Jerry Colangelo told ESPN that the enshrinement ceremony for Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan and five others will be delayed until the spring of 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic. The ceremony was to have taken place in Springfield on Aug. 29. Bryant, Garnett and Duncan all got into the Hall in their first year as finalists, as did WNBA great Tamika Catchings.

DETROIT (AP) — Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is keeping coach Jeff Blashill  despite missing the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. Yzerman told reporters his previously announced plans to keep Blashill behind the bench have not changed. The Red Wings won an NHL-low 17 games this season and are 153-194-52 under Blashill.

UNDATED (AP) — The final deadline to nominate horses to the rescheduled Triple Crown series is June 3. Owners and trainers can make 3-year-old thoroughbreds eligible for the three-race series at a cost of $3,000. That’s half the original price as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, which is forcing the series to be run out of order for the first time since 1931. The late nominations were originally due March 30 but were postponed until the Triple Crown races were rescheduled.