Sports, Monday, June 8th

By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com 

Doyle Placed on Administrative Leave:

The Iowa Hawkeye football team placed strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle on administrative leave after allegations of misconduct to African-American players surfaced this weekend.

Doyle’s leave is contingent upon an independent investigation.

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz has reportedly reached out to his players and addressed these allegations privately and publicly, releasing a series of videos to Hawkeye social media pages.

Doyle has coached at Iowa since Ferentz took over the program in 1999.

UNI Athletics to Return For Voluntary Workouts:

UNI Athletics will begin the process of bringing student-athletes back to campus for voluntary workouts via a staggered approach beginning on June 8.

UNI Athletic Training Services and Sports Medicine is coordinating the return with team physicians pursuant to guidelines provided by the university, public health officials and the NCAA.

Football upperclassmen may access on-campus workout facilities beginning June 8.

They will complete a series of pre-participation protocols before receiving clearance to utilize on-campus facilities on a voluntary basis and all athletic training staff will conduct daily monitoring of student-athletes, including temperature checks.

Soccer, cross country, volleyball, women’s and men’s basketball student-athletes are scheduled to begin the resocialization process on June 15.

All remaining sports are scheduled to begin resocialization on June 29th.

Iowa’s Baumler Hoping to Hear Name Called in Truncated MLB Draft: 

At least one Iowa high-schooler is hoping to hear his name called in this year’s five-round Major League Baseball draft.

Dowling Catholic’s Carter Baumler, a TCU commit, is believed to be a lock for the five-round draft.

Baumler went 5-1 last season with a 1.77 ERA to lead the Maroons to a 31-12 record.

According to MLB Pipeline, he’s the lone Iowa native projected to go within the first five rounds.

Central DeWitt pitcher T.J. Sikkema was a first-round selection last year, while Pekin’s Keaton Winn was a fifth-round choice two years ago.

The MLB Draft is slated to begin Wednesday, June 10th.

NBA Players to Sit Out Season to Honor Floyd?

And in national sports, one person believes key NBA players might sit out the remainder of the season in honor of George Floyd.

Yahoo Sports NBA Reporter Matt Barnes said several NBA players are considering the possibility of sitting the season.

Last week the NBA Board of Governors approved a return to play plan at a 29-1 vote.

The season is expected to resume at the end of July in Orlando, Florida.

22 of the leagues 30 teams are expected to compete in the return to play plan, with full playoffs following the 8-game regular season.