AMES, Iowa – Iowa State will face VCU on Thursday, Nov. 23 in the opening round of the ESPN Events Invitational, ESPN Events announced Tuesday.

Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m. central, with the game airing on ESPN2 at the State Farm Field House in the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Fla. Boise State and Virginia Tech are the other two teams on Iowa State’s half of the bracket. The semifinal game is slated for Friday, Nov. 24 at 4:30 p.m. central on ESPN2, while the consolation game is set for 7 p.m. central on ESPNU.

The Cyclones are 1-1 all-time against VCU, dropping a 91-84 game Dec. 29, 1993 in El Paso and winning 66-59 Nov. 26, 1994 in Hawaii.

The 2023 ESPN Events Invitational, a bracket-format tournament, will feature 12 games over the three days. Each team will compete in one game per day, advancing through a bracket-tournament format. The two teams that remain undefeated throughout will face off in a championship match Sunday, Nov. 26.

This is the 17^th year Walt Disney World has hosted the tournament at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. All the games will once again be played at State Farm Field House a venue that has been the site of world-class basketball competitions including NBA games and elite youth tournaments.

Tickets are on sale now through Ticketmaster.

• All-Tournament tickets are available at a $15 discount through Friday, August 11 using the promo code “MAGIC”
• Single-Session tickets are available now for the Lower Center Court tier
• Single-session tickets for all other tiers will go on sale October 2

VIP Hospitality will go on sale at a later date. To sign up for updates, visit https://espnevents.com/espn-events-invitational/vip-hospitality.

Travel packages, which include a discounted rate at the Gaylord Palms Resort as well as transportation to/from the arena, will soon be available via Anthony Travel. To learn more and sign up for notifications visit https://book.anthonytravel.com/d/espn-events-invitational.

ESPN EVENTS INVITATIONAL

November 23, 24 and 26

State Farm Field House (ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, near Orlando, Fla.)

Spring car racing’s biggest event begins Wednesday night with a first night of qualifying at the Knoxville Nationals. Among those making a qualifying run Wednesday is 11-time champ Donny Schatz. If he takes the checkered flag Saturday night Schatz will become a 12-time winner, equaling the record set by Steve Kinzer. It is a race nearly every driver hopes to win once.

That’s Race Director John McCoy. Drivers earn points via time trials, a heat race and a feature. The top 16 in points after the first two nights advance to Saturday night’s championship race.

More than 100 cars are registered. The purse for the four-day event tops 1.1 million dollars.

Iowa punter Tory Taylor is getting ready for a senior season that he did not think would happen. The native of Australia averaged better than 45 yards per punt and had 38 downed inside the 20 last year in earning All-America honors. Taylor considered moving on the NFL after a Music City Bowl win over Kentucky.

Taylor says there are still things to work on and he enjoys college football.

Taylor says he lost some weight in the offseason in the hopes of improving his leg speed.

The Hawkeyes open at home against Utah State on September second.

Iowa State defensive back T.J. Tampa has taken on a bigger leadership role as he gets ready for his senior season. The St. Petersburg, Florida, native started all 12 games and was a second team All-Big 12 selection for a Cyclone team that finished 4-8.

Despite a subpar season in 2022 the Cyclones still led the Big 12 in defense and Tampa says a key to that unit has been depth.

Tampa says a lot of young players are stepping up to fill roles in the secondary.

The Cyclones open at home on September second against UNI.

PARIS, France – The University of Iowa men’s basketball team flew past the Paris All-Stars, 123-77, to open its foreign tour.

All 11 Hawkeyes scored en route to the victory, led by fifth-year Ben Krikke and junior Payton Sandfort, who each scored 22 points. Krikke earned a double-double with 10 rebounds, while freshman Owen Freeman came off the bench with 10 points and 15 rebounds. Senior Tony Perkins stuffed the stat sheet with 19 points, five assists, four steals and three rebounds.

Freshmen Pryce Sandfort and Brock Harding also got into double figure scoring with 13 and 10 points, respectively.

As a team, the Hawkeyes shot 50.6% from the field and buried 16 three-pointers. The Sandfort brothers accounted for seven of the 16 made three-pointers, with Harding, Perkins, and sophomores Josh Dix and Dasonte Bowen knocked down two apiece. Redshirt sophomore Carter Kingsbury added to the tally with one three-pointer. Iowa dished 27 assists on 41 made shots. Defensively, the Hawkeyes had 15 steals.

Games are not scheduled to be streamed, but fans can stay updated via hawkeyesports.com and @IowaHoops social media channels for updates.

Upcoming Games
Aug. 11 – Valencia All-Stars – Noon (CT)
Aug. 14 – Barcelona All-Stars – Noon (CT)

SWIFT held the final stop for the Junior and High School Duke Rentals Kayak Series Championships presented by AA Treen and Lawn Service / Big Bite Baits at Prairie Rose Lake. 18 student anglers enjoyed beautiful calm morning as they paddled their kayaks around the lake in search of the 5 biggest Bass. The championship tournament would not decide the Junior and High School kayak championship, but the closely contested 2023 Denny Bramer Angler of the Year was up for grabs. Coming into the tournament two points separated the top 3 anglers.  Brentyn Hoover from Anita and Jake Wailes from Wiota, IA were deadlocked a top of the point standings with Owen Hoover only two points behind. After entire season of tight lines, good hook sets, big fish and full bags Jake Wailes was crowned the 2023 Denny Bramer Angler of the Year. Margin of victory was one point and half of an inch. Congratulations to all the anglers.

For the tournament in the Fairlife Junior division Jake Wailes hauled in five bass totaling 75” to take the top spot.  Brentyn Hoover was second with 70.75”, third went to Brendan Wilke 68.25”, Letty McSorley was fourth 55.25”, and round out the top five was Gavin Dougherty with 12.75”. Wailes was crowned the 2023 Duke Rentals Junior Kayak champion.

In the Powerade High School division Owen Hoover caught full limit of fish totaling 69.75” to win the tournament and the series championship. Second was Joaquin Wailes 54.5”, Lucas Bose  was third 44” and Colin Rudy 43.5” was fourth, Hunter Quist 15” rounded out the top five.

Shout out to Bryce Berg and Logan Bose for catching some big bass from the banks!

AM Cohron Big Fish award when to Colin Rudy with the first 17.5” lunker catch.

If you are interested in joining the team reach out to swifishingteam@gmail.com . It is always a good time to join the team. The 2024 season will start in September.

2023 SWIFT Awards Banquet Sunday Aug 20^th in Wiota, IA.

2023/24 Agrivison Elite Boat Series-

September 9th-10^th – Prairie Rose Lake High School on Saturday and Juniors on Sunday.

Oct 7^th & 8^th– Viking Lake- Juniors on Saturday and Powerade High School Division on Sunday.

Oct 21st- 12 Mile Lake, Afton, IA

2024

April 13^th & 14^th Lake Anita- Anita, IA

May 3rd & 4th Iowa TBF/SAF State Championship- Lake Okoboji

Start forming your 2024 boat team now!

(Radio Iowa) – A southwest Iowa high school football coach has been placed on administrative leave after his arrest on public intoxication and marijuana charges and the Clarinda school board will meet in closed session tomorrow (Wednesday) to consider his future in the district. Twenty-nine-year-old Collin Jeffrey Bevins of Clarinda was arrested at a music festival in Guthrie Center in late July. According to the Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office, security guards were trying to eject Bevins from the event and sheriff’s deputies helped get him out of the concert area. Witnesses told deputies Bevins had been trying to fight with other men at the concert.

Officers say when they searched Bevins, they found he had a vape cartridge that contained T-H-C. He’s been charged was possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia and public intoxication. Bevins was an All-American at Northwest Missouri State University and was a defensive end for the Iowa Barnstormers when he was hired as Clarinda’s head football coach in 2019.

A preliminary hearing for Bevins is scheduled for August 18th, with an arraignment set for September 8th where Bevins will enter his plea to the charges.

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – The Iowa State soccer program earned a 2-1 exhibition victory over in-state school UNI on Monday evening, thanks to goals from Sophia Thomas and Hannah Shaw.

21 different Cyclones saw the field on the night, including seven newcomers. Both Avery Gillahan and Kasey Cannistraro saw action in the net for ISU.

Thomas scored the equalizer in the 34^th minute of the first half to knot the game up at one apiece heading into the half off an assist from Salomé Prat.

In the second half, Hannah Shaw put the Cyclones ahead on a left-footed score off another Prat assist.

Goals 

ISU: Sophia Thomas (34’), Hannah Shaw (57’)

UNI: Olivia Knoepfle (9’)

Assists 

ISU: Salomé Prat (2)

UNI: N/A

Up Next

The Cyclones will travel to Minneapolis on Thursday, August 10, to play their final exhibition match of the preseason against Minnesota. Thursday’s matchup is set to begin at 6 p.m.

NASSAU, Bahamas – It was another strong defensive performance for the Iowa State men’s basketball team Monday, as the Cyclones beat BC Zalgiris Kaunas 78-52 at the Imperial Ballroom.

Iowa State jumped out to a 9-1 lead in less than three minutes and never trailed in the contest. Iowa State led 22-9 after the first quarter and extended the lead to 46-29 at the half. Iowa State came out firing in the third quarter, outscoring Zalgiris 24-9 to take a 70-38 lead. It was the third game of the week for Zalgiris, as they dropped games against South Carolina (86-60) and Creighton (76-62).

“Really proud of the way our guys started the game,” Iowa State Head Coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “We knew this team would be physical based on their first two games here this week. It’s always our goal to be the more aggressive team.”

Tre King led the Cyclones with 14 points, while Keshon Gilbert and Tamin Lipsey each had 12. Milan Momcilovic joined them in double figures with 10 points. Demarion Watson had five rebounds, while Omaha Biliew, Gilbert and Momcilovic each had four. Jackson Paveletzke had a game-high five assists, while Gilbert and Lipsey each had four. Gilbert had five steals, while King and Lipsey each had two. Ward blocked a pair of shots.

“I was happy with our balanced scoring attack, but even more impressed with three different guys having four or more assists each,” Otzelberger said.

The Cyclones were 29-of-61 (47%) from the field and 5-of-22 (22%) from 3-point range. Zalgiris was 18-of-39 (46%) from the floor and 9-of-17 (52%) from downtown. Iowa State forced 35 turnovers, scoring 36 points off turnovers. Iowa State held a 44-14 advantage in the paint.

Iowa State will play its final game on Wednesday against members of the Puerto Rico National Team. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. (CT). A link for live stats is available on Iowa State Men’s Basketball social media sites.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Head coach Nathan Mundt released the University of Iowa women’s swimming and diving team’s 2023-24 schedule Monday. The Hawkeyes will host two meets at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center, including the Hawkeye Invitational Nov. 30-Dec.2.

– Iowa opens the season with a nonconference dual at home versus Northern Iowa on Oct. 6 at 5 p.m.

– The Hawkeyes will have one split-squad weekend with the divers heading to Columbus, Ohio, to take on Ohio State and Virginia Tech, while the swimmers head to Nashville, Tennessee, to compete at Vanderbilt.

– The Hawkeyes will compete in three Big Ten meets on the road – at Nebraska (Oct. 10), at Illinois (Jan. 13), and a tri-meet in West Lafayette, Indiana, against Purdue, Northwestern and Minnesota on Feb. 2-3.

– The Hawkeyes head to Ames, Iowa, for the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series meet against Iowa State on Dec. 8. Iowa has won 10 of the last 12 meetings in the series.

– The postseason begins with the Big Ten Championships in West Lafayette, Indiana, from Feb. 21-24. The NCAA Zone D Diving Championships will be in Houston, Texas, from March 4-6, the National Invitational Championships are in Ocala, Florida, from March 14-16, and the NCAA Championships will be held in Athens, Georgia, from March 20-23.