“To me the key thing is getting the right people and the calendar is important to some degree, but what’s more important I think is that we get the right people in place for this program, for this team,” Ferentz says. He says they don’t have to play until September, so they have time to pick the right people.

Ferentz says the timetable moving ahead isn’t firm, and he says it will be a tough job to fill, just like the defensive coordinator spot was. Ferentz was asked if his son, Brian, might be one of the candidates. Brian Ferentz is the tight ends coach for the New England Patriots.

“You know, we’re open to anything right now, anybody that’s out there that has a chance to really help our football team, he’s got a pretty good job right not,” Ferentz says.

Earlier this week Ferentz promoted Phil Parker to defensive coordinator. Parker had been the defensive backs coach for the past 13 years.

Drake coach Mark Phelps on his post game show on KRNT in Des Moines says a combination of things on the offensive and deffensive ends led to their loss. It was the second straight game junior forward Ben Simons missed due to mono. He will likely be out on Sunday when the Bulldogs host Evansville.

Phelps says they have three days to prepare and get better to face an Evansville team that just beat Creighton.

Drake is 6-8 in the Valley and 13-12 overall.

The Hawkeyes will be at home for two games this week beginning with Thursday’s matchup against Minnesota. She says the Gopher’s record is deceiving as one of the wins is against Ohio State.

Iowa will also host Michigan State on Sunday and with a 6-5 Big Ten record and 14-10 overall mark this week gives the Hawks a chance to boost their post-season hopes.

U.N.I. coach Ben Jacobson has been impressed by the way his team reacted to those early struggles.

“Our guys have done a terrific job of staying together, a terrific job of preparing themselves in light of losing a couple of close games in league play, and they deserve a lot of credit for that,” Jacobson says. He says it would have been easy to split up and not stay on the same page with those type of loses.

Wichita State is tied with Creighton at the top of the Valley standings. The Shockers boast one of the top post players in the league in seven-footer Garrett Stutz, who Jacobson says is a rare talent in the Valley. Jacobson says Stutz is playing at a very high level right now and they will try a lot of different things to try and slow him down.

Beside Stutz at 7 feet, Jacobson says that Wichita brings a lot of size at all positions. The Shockers won the earlier meeting against the Panthers by a 71-68 tally.

By Jesse Gavin, KCNZ, Cedar Falls

Chris Allen led the Cyclones with 22 points while Royce White finished with 15 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists. “They just battled all night and they did exactly what you’re supposed to do in this league at home,” White said.

White says the Cowboys made the key shots down the stretch. “The shots they hit down the stretch, some of the guys that hit those shots, we couldn’t have played any better, the people who took shots were exactly the people we scouted who we wanted to take shots and they just hit them,”White said.

The Cyclones fall to 7-4 in the Big 12 and 17-7 overall.

Drake coach Mark Phelps says they are concerned about the size of Simon’s spleen and he is being checked regularly. Phelps says it’s a problem that has different affects on different guys. He expects the Bulldogs to play better without Simons now that they have had a few days to adjust.

He says they did not play well on either end of the court against Missouri State and he says they’ve had some time to adjust to Simons not being there. His absence is a tough blow to the Bulldogs who stand 6-7 in the Valley and 13-11 overall.

“I think people notice mostly his scoring, but he has a really high basketball I-Q, he plays really well with his teammates, he’s an underrated defender,” Phelps says.

Drake beat Illinois State in the first matchup in Des Moines. The Redbirds are 7-6 in the league race.