There are some intriguing connections between Iowa and Stanford.
By Danny Payne
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LOS ANGELES — Tuesday has been a long one, man. Both Stanford and Iowa media day happened Tuesday morning, which was exciting, and we’ve been writing ever since. Charlie got into town after an unplanned excursion in Albuquerque on Monday, so that’s fun.
Anyways, below are a few notes on what went down this afternoon, a look ahead to Wednesday, and a wrap-up of our coverage so far this week.
Two birds, two hitters
Although Iowa City and Palo Alto, California, are just shy of 2,000 miles away from each other, Hawkeye Jordan Walsh and Cardinal Johnny Caspers are quite familiar with each other. Walsh and Caspers, graduates of Glenbard West in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, played together for two years in high school before Walsh graduated a year before his counterpart.
Walsh took Caspers under his wing when the latter moved up to the varsity squad as a sophomore, showing him the ropes of head coach Chad Hetlet’s system.
“That was really cool, very nice of him to do when I was a young sophomore,” Caspers said. “It’s been fun keeping up with him in this whole experience the last couple years.”
Because of the time difference, both players said they’re able to catch bits and pieces of each other’s contests when they’re playing on Saturdays.
Caspers comes from a family of Hawkeyes, and said he has friends who are Iowa fans as well. However, don’t expect either family to root for their son’s high-school teammate when Jan. 1 rolls around.
“They’re definitely going to root for Stanford,” Walsh said. “I have no doubt about that.”
Ott’s status
Just like Desmond King’s potential NFL decision, the news on Drew Ott’s potential clearance for a fifth-year is no news. He’s still waiting on his appeal’s status for a potential medical-hardship waiver.
Ott’s injury-riddled season ended with an ACL tear in Iowa’s sixth game of the season, against Illinois. Ott said he hasn’t been told a date when he expects to have a decision from the conference. Should the Big Ten deny his request, he could appeal to the NCAA.
“I think it would just give me more experience, and I think it would help me out in the long run and just be nice to get a senior year here,” Ott said.
David Shaw, hello
Here’s a Daily Iowan TV segment on David Shaw from earlier today. Check ‘er out:
King’s helmet
This is the most minor thing ever, but if you ever find yourself at an Iowa football practice and King is there, you’ll see him wearing a helmet with logos and stripes on it, while his teammates have only the numbers on the back.
This is not an NFL conspiracy. King switched game helmets earlier this season, so now he wears his old game helmet in practice.
It’s a worthless piece of information you may never need. I’m full of them. If you ever want any, let me know.
What’s Wednesday?
Both head coaches are scheduled to speak Wednesday, with David Shaw kicking things off at 8 a.m. followed by Kirk Ferentz a half hour later. The Rose Bowl Hall of Fame induction ceremony is at noon local time. We’ll have highlights from everything.
I have one bigger story I’m working on that will run soon. It’s about the Ferentz family and their experience with the patriarch coaching as a career. I had the chance to speak with Brian and Steve Ferentz today, so look for that.
There’s also a post coming that I’m equally as excited about as the Ferentz one. I’ll leave it at that.
Follow us on Twitter @dipregame, @dannyapayne, and @CharlsGreen. Instagram @dailyiowansports. Woohoo!
Links
In case you missed any of our content today, it’s all linked below for you to see. Scroll back through our Twitter timeline to check things out, too.
Miles Taylor’s time under the radar could soon come to an end
Everything bagel of Monday at the Rose Bowl
Photos from Monday at the Rose Bowl
Desmond King is still undecided on his NFL future
Big Ten offense, “Big Ten” defense set to collide
Duzey out for Rose Bowl, Beef Bowl fun