Less than a week after releasing a statement regarding the ongoing situation with Iowa defensive end Adrian Clayborn, head coach Kirk Ferentz waited until the latter portion of his press conference Wednesday to address the matter further.
Clayborn pleaded not guilty March 20 to assaulting an Iowa City cab driver in January. The junior-to-be from St. Louis is listed as a first-string defensive end on the Hawkeyes’ spring depth chart along with fellow junior-to-be Christian Ballard.
“Based on what I know right now, I can tell you pretty clear I’m not sure what happened, and I can tell you that as far as Adrian goes, Adrian’s been an exemplary student and citizen since he has been here,” Ferentz said. “He has been a great team member.
“I’ve heard two sides of it, and right now, for me to make any judgment of it, I think it would be really irresponsible, so I’m not going to do it.”
Ferentz also iterated his stance on cornerback Shaun Prater, who was charged with driving under the influence on Feb. 28. He said the sophomore-to-be has been allowed to participate in team activities again but will remain suspended for Iowa’s first two games against Northern Iowa and Iowa State at the very least.
“He has already done a lot of things, and he’s got more to come,” Ferentz said. “When that’s over, it’s over, and hopefully, that’s it for him.”
Pro Day
On Monday, Iowa held its annual Pro Day workout and had scouts from 29 different NFL teams on hand.
Eight former Hawkeyes stood out, but perhaps none bigger than running back Shonn Greene, who decided to forgo his senior season and enter the NFL draft immediately following Iowa’s win in the Outback Bowl on New Year’s Day.
At the Hawkeyes’ Pro Day, Greene was able to trim down his 40 time from the NFL Scouting Combine to the 4.5 range, running times of 4.55 and 4.59. The Doak Walker Award winner also had a 39-inch vertical jump, and 23 bench-press repetitions, according to NFL.com. At the Combine, Greene ran a 4.65 40-yard dash, had 37-inch vertical jump, and 19 bench press reps.
“He has helped his cause,” Ferentz said. “The most important thing is that he’s got a good résumé and game film against good competition, consistency, and on top of it, he’s a great human being.
“Wherever he ends up getting drafted, I think his future is very bright, and that’s the important thing, what he does when he gets to the team that drafts him.”
Not looking too far ahead
When pressed to look ahead to the Hawkeyes’ upcoming 2009 schedule, Ferentz didn’t say much. Iowa will open the season on Sept. 5 against Northern Iowa at Kinnick Stadium and will also host nonconference games against Arizona and Arkansas State. The lone road trip on the nonconference slate is Sept. 12 at Iowa State.
The Hawkeyes’ first Big Ten game will come on Sept. 26, when they will visit Penn State. Iowa upset the Nittany Lions last season, 24-23.
Ferentz is also trying to ignore all the preseason hype surrounding this year’s team.
“I’d advise everyone to slow the train down,” he said. “It’s a long road, a long process. We’re hardly there in March. Even if we have a good spring, we’ll have a lot of work to do on a lot of things.
“Usually, it’s pretty paper-thin for us to get there. I really don’t care if our fans appreciate that, but our players have to.”