IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa head basketball coach Fran McCaffery has named former Hawkeye, Matt Gatens, as an assistant coach on his staff, replacing the position previously occupied by Kirk Speraw, who announced his retirement from coaching last month.

Gatens was a four-year starter for the Hawkeyes from 2009-12. His final two seasons were McCaffery’s first two as Iowa’s head coach. As a senior, Gatens and the Hawkeyes won seven more games than the previous year and advanced to postseason play (NIT Second Round) for the first time under McCaffery and the first time as a program in six seasons.

The Iowa City native was a two-time All-Big Ten selection, two-time team captain, two-time academic all-conference honoree, recipient of the 2012 Chris Street Award, and voted to the 2009 Big Ten All-Freshman team. Gatens amassed 1,635 points and 239 3-pointers ranking 10th and third, respectively, in Iowa history. In 128 career games, he averaged 12.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals per contest.

Gatens returns home as an assistant coach after spending the past four seasons (2019-22) on Drake’s coaching staff. He served as director of operations his first two years before being elevated to an assistant coach the last two seasons.

Gatens helped guide Drake to four straight 20-win seasons (95 combined wins), the 2019 Missouri Valley Conference regular season title, an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021, and to two Missouri Valley Tournament championship game appearances.

Prior to joining the Bulldogs, Gatens was on the basketball staff at Auburn, where he assisted in travel, development, scouting, video and camps for the Southeastern Conference Champions. Gatens also aided in the development of the team’s guards, including All-SEC selections Bryce Brown and Jared Harper.

Following his Hawkeye career, Gatens played professionally in France, Spain, Turkey and Ukraine. He returned to the United States to play for the Iowa Energy in the NBA Development League, but he suffered a torn ACL just five quarters into the 2016-17 season, ending his playing career.

Gatens was named Iowa’s ‘Mr. Basketball’ and the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior at Iowa City High School. He led his squad to a 4A state title as a senior in 2008 and holds the City High record for career scoring.

Gatens and his wife, Erin, are the parents of a son, Nash, and daughter, Noa.

IOWA CITY, Iowa –Incoming University of Iowa freshman Aaron Graves was named the 2021-22 MaxPreps Male National Athlete of the Year on Wednesday.

Graves is the first four-sport standout to receive the award as well as the first from Iowa to win the award, which has been presented since 2007-08

As a senior Graves was named an Adidas All-America, Elite All-State team and Gatorade Player of the Year. He earned first-team all-state and all-district honors, along with being named district defensive MVP and Class 2A Hog of the Game in state championship contest.

The Dayton, Iowa, native, was a four-year football letterman as an offensive and defensive lineman. He helped Southeast Valley win its first-ever state title as a senior. Graves holds school record for sacks in a game and career (37), along with career tackles (221). He also holds school marks for longest punt and best punting average (38.0)

Graves recorded 63 tackles as a senior, with 14 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks. He recorded 10 sacks as a junior, 8.5 sacks as a sophomore, and 67 tackles as a freshman, including 15 tackles for loss and 11 sacks.

Graves also competed in basketball, wrestling and track as a prep. He completed his prep basketball career as school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,356 career points, averaging 22 points and nine rebounds per game as a senior. He placed fourth in state wrestling as a junior and senior at heavyweight with a 28-3 record as a senior. Graves holds the school record in shot put (52-2) and placed fifth at state championships as a senior.

Graves graduated from Southeast Valley High School with a 4.0 grade point average and he earned an associate of arts degree from Iowa Central Community College in May.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa’s Keaton Anthony and Brody Brecht have been named Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-Americans, it was announced Wednesday by the collegiate baseball newspaper.

The duo are the 10th and 11th Hawkeyes to earn freshman All-America honors and the first since Peyton Williams in 2020.  It is the third time in program history Iowa has had multiple players earn freshman All-America honors in the same season (1999, 2017).

Anthony earned the distinction after putting together an impressive redshirt freshman season, hitting .361 (73-of-202) with 22 doubles, 14 home runs, 55 RBIs and 46 runs scored. The Hoschton, Georgia, native hit safely in 44 games, reached safely in 50 contests and had a team-best 22 multi-hit games.

The outfielder was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year — the second Hawkeye all-time to earn the distinction — second-team All-Big Ten and Big Ten All-Freshman team honors.  During the regular season, Anthony was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week a program and league-record six times.

Anthony ranked fourth in the Big Ten with 22 doubles – the second-most in a single season in program history – and was third in slugging (.678) and OPS (1.133) and sixth in batting average (.361).  His 14 home runs were the most by a Hawkeye freshman since 1999.

Brecht earned the accolade after posting a 3.18 ERA in 17 appearances on the mound.  The Ankeny, Iowa, native allowed just 13 hits and 16 runs (eight earned) over 22 2/3 innings where he had 44 strikeouts.  Brecht surrendered just one extra base hit in his 17 appearances and limited hitters to a .155 average.

The right-handed pitcher was stout on the mound during the final two months, allowing one earned run over 10 relief appearances.  He allowed just four hits and struck out 28 over 13 1/3 innings from April 6-May 15.

The Hawkeyes finished the 2022 season with a 36-19 overall record with the 36 wins ranking eighth in program history. Iowa finished in a tie for second in the Big Ten regular season standings, advanced to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals and the team became the first team to win two games on the same day at the Big Ten Tournament.

The Stanton school district has hired John Mainquist as their new Activities Director. Mainquist comes over to Stanton from the Clarinda Lutheran school district which serves K-8th grade students in Clarinda.

Mainquist will also be an elementary teacher along with an assistant track coach and junior high girls basketball coach.

Mainquist fills the position that Jake Lord vacated when he recently was hired to become the new Activities Director at Clarinda.

Atlantic native Gratt Reed became a two-time Honorable Mention All-American at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon on Wednesday night.

Reed was part of the University of Iowa’s 4x100M Relay team that finished 18th in the semifinal round with a time of 39.31. That time ties for No. 5 all-time for the Hawkeyes. The team of freshman Kalil Johnson, sophomore Austin Kresley, junior Gratt Reed and sophomore Khullen Jefferson didn’t quite made the finals but earn that Honorable Mention All-American status and improved 5 spots on their seed coming in.

Reed also competed in the 110M Hurdle semifinals on Wedenesday and ran a time of 14.02, which landed him in 22nd place. He earns Honorable Mention All-American status in that event as well. Reed’s teammate Josh Braverman ran a time of 13.72 and finished 16th to be dubbed a Second Team All-American.

SOFTBALL

Hawkeye Ten Conference

Denison-Schleswig 6, Shenandoah 4
Denison-Schleswig 10, Shenandoah 0
Harlan 8, Underwood 2
Missouri Valley 2, St. Albert 0

Rolling Valley Conference 

CAM 12, West Harrison 8
Exira-EHK 8, Boyer Valley 3
Glidden-Ralston 10, Coon Rapids-Bayard 8

Western Iowa Conference

AHSTW 4, ACGC 3 (Abbie Willett walk off single)
Riverside 13, Lenox 4

Pride of Iowa Conference

Grand View Christian 8, Central Decatur 3
Martensdale-St. Marys 17, Panorama 0
Nodaway Valley 1, Earlham 0
Southeast Warren 13, Murray 0
Southwest Valley 9, Tri-Center 7

BASEBALL

Hawkeye Ten Conference

Creston 10, Clarke 6
Denison-Schleswig 1, Shenandoah 0 (9 inn)
Denison-Schleswig 5, Shenandoah 2
Glenwood 12, Carroll 2

Western Iowa Conference

Tri-Center 17, Southwest Valley 5

Rolling Valley Conference

Ar-We-Va 14, Whiting 0
CAM 6, West Harrison 2
Coon Rapids-Bayard 16, Glidden-Ralston 1
Exira-EHK 5, Boyer Valley 4

Pride of Iowa Conference

Central Decatur 16, Pleasantville 6
Lenox 14, Riverside 6
Martensdale-St. Marys 4, Panorama 1
Nodaway Valley 5, Earlham 2
Southeast Warren 26, Murray 5

Other Scores

Melcher-Dallas 10, Wayne 6
Moravia 11, Lamoni 4

Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers says former Iowa State star Allen Lazard is ready for a larger role. Lazard is in a contract dispute and is not taking part in minicamp this week. The Packers lost top receiver Devante Adams in a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders.

The Packers have several new faces at receiver heading into next season.

Lazard had 40 catches, including eight for touchdowns last season, his fourth in Green Bay.

(Radio Iowa) – Just in time for the summer fishing season, the state Department of Natural Resources is adding more than two-thousand fish structure locations to the maps of lakes on its website. John Lorenzen, a fisheries research technician at the D-N-R, says it’s valuable information for anyone who’s on the hunt for fish. “These structures are habitat fishing structures that congregate fish and allow anglers to have a better success rate,” Lorenzen says. “The structures include things like brush piles, rock reefs, spawning beds, things of that nature.” D-N-R Fisheries staff and partners, like county conservation groups and fishing clubs, strategically place fish structures in Iowa lakes to attract fish for anglers.

In addition to the various underwater structures, another 215 lake contour maps have also been added to the website. “That information is also uploaded to our Online Fishing Atlas, which is an interactive satellite map,” Lorenzen says. “You can turn your location on on your phone and it shows where you are in relation to the lake and its features. So, those individual habitat fishing structures will be located on the map as well as our lake contours.” The information can be downloaded to the “fish finder” gadget on your boat, or just access it directly from your phone.

Lorenzen says, “So, if you don’t have a fish finder but you want to fish from shore or fish even in a boat using your smartphone, that information is also available to anybody who wants it.” The new maps can be found by Googling “Iowa fishing maps” or through the website: www.iowadnr.gov/Fishing/Fishing-Maps

Former Iowa State running back David Montgomery is getting used to a new coach and new system with the Chicago Bears. Matt Eberflus (E-burr-floos) takes over a Bears team that finished 6-11 last season.

Montgomery is working with his third different position coach in as many years.

Montgomery is coming off a season in which he rushed for nearly 850 yards and seven touchdowns. He is entering the final year of his contract.

Montgomery says he is not about proving anybody wrong but about proving himself right.

The State Co-Ed Tennis meets were held on Tuesday. Class 1A competition took place at the Waveland Tennis Courts in Des Moines. Class 2A played at Prairie Ridge Sports Complex in Ankeny.

CLASS 1A

Clarinda’s duo of Mayson Hartley and Nathan Brown made it all the way to the third-place match and fell 8-6 to a duo from Marion, ultimately taking home a 4th place medal. The duo advanced to the semifinals in the winner’s bracket by winning their first four matches of the day.

St. Albert’s duo of Landry Miller and Carter White were knocked out in the quarterfinal round. Le Yuan Sun and Josh Schuster of Shenandoah were knocked out in the second round.

Erica Rust/Andrew Andersen of Harlan, Paige Gleason/Eli Schuster of Shenandoah, and Keziah Janssen and Sam Janssen of Kuemper Catholic were all knocked out in the preliminary round.

Full results HERE

CLASS 2A

CB Abraham Lincoln’s duo of Savannah Maisel and Chris Wailes were eliminated in the preliminary round.