By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com
UNI Football Ranked #3 in Preseason Poll:
The UNI Football team enters next year as the #3 team in the Football Championship Subdivision, at least according to one poll.
HERO Sports announced their preseason rankings and Mark Farley’s group received high praise.
The Panthers return 15 starters from last year’s 10-5 squad that took Iowa State to overtime and advanced to the FCS National Quarterfinals.
UNI boast’s one of FCS’ deeper defenses with All-American players at all three levels.
Last year the Panther defense allowed just 17.7 points per game.
North Dakota State and South Dakota State — both conference opponents are ranked #1 and #2 respectively.
McCaffery, Meyer Take Home Iowa’s Sportsmanship Awards:
Redshirt sophomore Connor McCaffery (men’s basketball) and senior Makenzie Meyer (women’s basketball) have been selected as Iowa’s 2020 Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Award winners.
The duo was chosen from Iowa’s list of 2019-20 Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winners, which had a representative from each varsity sport.
The Big Ten first awarded the Outstanding Sportsmanship honor in 2003. The student-athletes chosen were individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior, were in good academic standing, and demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.
Last year’s award winners was Iowa wrestling’s Alex Marinelli and women’s basketball standout Hannah Stewart — a two-time winner.
Drake Adds Former UWGB Star:
The Drake men’s basketball team got a big lift on the wing yesterday when former Wisconsin-Green Bay standout ShanQuan Hemphill announced his transfer to the program.
Hemphill, a native of Gary, Indiana, averaged 11.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in 38 games as a junior with the Phoenix.
Hemphill missed all but one game last year due to a lower-body injury.
He has petitioned the NCAA for a medical waiver that would grant him a sixth season of eligibility — barring any snags, that petition is to be honored allowing the swingman to contribute immediately for Drake.
Recruiting Dead Period Extended:
The Division I Council Coordination Committee extended the recruiting dead period in all sports through July 31.
The committee will regularly evaluate the dead period, continuing to be guided by medical experts.
Additionally, the committee decided to allow strength and conditioning coaches to virtually observe voluntary physical workouts for health and safety purposes but only if requested by the student-athlete.
The measure goes into effect June 1.
The strength and conditioning coach will be allowed to observe the workouts and discuss items related to voluntary workouts but not direct or conduct the workout.
The committee will continue to explore the opportunity for strength and conditioning coaches to conduct voluntary workouts virtually, as they do during in-person, on-campus voluntary workouts.