May 23, 2012

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U.N.I. lands Tennessee transfer

April 18, 2012 By

The U.N.I. basketball team is not a program that mines the transfer ranks very often, but the Panthers landed a big addition last week when former Tennessee guard Wes Washpun signed to play for Coach Ben Jacobson starting in the fall of 2013.

Jacobson says that Washpun will become eligible when the Panthers will be looking for new faces at the guard positions. Washpun signed with U.N.I. just days after being released from his scholarship at Tennessee, and Jacobson says that having recruited Washpun when he was in high school put U.N.I. in a good position.

“We were able to get with Wes on the phone right away when he got his release and had some great conversations with him,” Jacobson says. He says they had recruited him heavily while he was in high school, so he is familiar with the program.

Jacobson says that having previous knowledge of a transfer player is not always possible, but it does help the process. “It’s important, but it’s not necessarily the be all end all,” he says.

There are several other high-profile transfers that will be headed to new schools. Drake guard Rayvonte Rice has left the Bulldogs and is currently looking at other programs. Late last week, former Iowa Mr. Basketball Jarrod Uthoff was granted a limited release from his scholarship at Wisconsin.

While Jacobson can’t comment on any of those players by name, he says that recruiting is “an everyday thing” and coaches have to be ready in case the process moves as quickly as it did with Washpun.

By Jesse Gavin, KCNZ, Cedar Falls

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UNI coach, athletic director say Big Four Tourney not best option for them

April 16, 2012 By

U.N.I. athletic director Troy Dannen says he would have preferred to see the Big Four basketball series continue on a home and home basis. Beginning next season the teams will instead meet every other year in the “Big Four Classic,” which will be played each December at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

That means U.N.I. and Drake will no longer have a guaranteed home game with Iowa or Iowa State each season. “What we wanted was what we had…at the same time I recognize those are extraordinarily rare events, we’ve been very fortunate for a long period of time. If we didn’t have it, people would think this event is a great thing,” Dannen says.

Dannen says there’s no reason to believe the “Big Four Classic” won’t be a terrific event for all involved, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a “step backward” for U.N.I. He says everything about the event can be good, “But the price that we had to pay to get to it is exceedingly high from U.N.I’s and I’m sure from Drake’s standpoint.”

Dannen says that he can understand why Iowa and Iowa State would want to make a change and he does not believe that they were motivated by competitive issues. “Looking at it with my head and not my U.N.I. heart I understand,” Dannen says. He says though that both the Cyclones and Hawkeyes are getting better, so he doesn’t believe competitive issues are at the forefront of the issue.

Panther coach Ben Jacobson echoed Dannen’s thoughts about the Big Four event not being U.N.I.’s first choice. Jacobson says this is the next best option to playing the home-and-home series, but he says it was not going to continue that way and they had to advance to something that wasn’t their first choice.

Jacobson says there would have been a lot of tradition behind keeping the series the way they were. Many Iowa and Iowa State fans make the claim that few other BCS-level schools play home-and-home series with one, much less two, mid-major programs. But Jacobson says that with just four Division One teams in Iowa, it makes sense for them all to play each other every year.

The inaugural Big Four Classic has been scheduled for December 15. Iowa will play U.N.I. in one game, while Iowa State will face Drake in the other.

By Jesse Gavin, KCNZ, Cedar Falls

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Linebacker, quarterback top priorities for Panthers in spring ball

April 6, 2012 By

The U.N.I. football team will have eleven starters back when they open the season this fall. But naturally, there are some holes to be filled. Panther coach Mark Farley says that there are three main position groups where he wants to get things figured out this spring.

He says linebacker, quarterback and defensive line are the top three priorities and then the tight end position. Farley says there are two main candidates to take over the quarterback duties, and they knew that going in and he says he won’t decide on the starter until fall.

Farley says that they’ll have their choice of several players to line up next to whoever wins the quarterback spot as he says they have three tailbacks that look good.

In addition to returning their full compliment of running backs from last year, the Panthers also return four starters on the offensive line and four of their top six receivers.

By Jesse Gavin, KCNZ, Cedar Falls

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UNI still looking to fill out football staff

April 3, 2012 By

The U.N.I. Panthers are a week into their spring practices and are looking at a few new faces. Not only do the Panthers have the typical player turnover to deal with, but they are also working on replacing a pair of defensive assistant coaches.

Defensive backs coach Blue Adams left U.N.I. to join the staff of the Miami Dolphins, while defensive coordinator Jovan Dewitt is now at Florida Atlantic. U.N.I. coach Mark Farley says that he is still finalizing the replacements for Adams and Dewitt.

“We are still in the process of solidifying that hire so we can announce it,” Farley says. He says he may not decide on one of the decisions until after spring ball is over.

Farley says that while he may hire someone with the title of defensive coordinator or promote defensive line coach to that position, he will still be heavily involved in running the Panther defense. He says that’s the way he has done it for 11 seasons.

Farley says that until those new assistant coaches come aboard, he’s working with two other defensive coaches to manage things in the spring. The Panther spring game will be held on April 27.

By Jesse Gavin at KCNZ Cedar Falls

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UNI softball looking for 12th straight win

April 2, 2012 By

The U.N.I. softball team takes an 11 game winning streak on the road to Western Illinois on Tuesday for non conference action. The Panthers are 9-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference race after sweeping a three game series from Wichita State over the weekend.

U.N.I. coach Ryan Jacobs who says the Panthers are playing well in all phases and have talked about focusing on doing the things they practice every day. “The phases of the game are picking each other up, there’s one day when our pitchers aren’t sharp and our hitters are picking them up, and vice-versa,” Jacob says. And he says they’ve been able to shut off mistakes when they happen and get out of innings without giving up a lot of runs.

Jacobs says the seniors on the team set the tone and that leadership works its way down to the rest of the team.

U.N.I. is 25-9 overall.

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Successful NCAA women’s tournament in Des Moines has people talking

March 28, 2012 By

The women’s basketball community in Iowa is still buzzing about having Des Moines as one of the regional sites of this year’s NCAA Tournament. Even without a local team playing, more fans came to Wells Fargo Arena than any of this year’s other regionals.

U.N.I. women’s basketball coach Tanya Warren says that just proves how much fans in Iowa appreciate the sport. Warren says it continues to increase the profile of women’s basketball in the state, and she says people understand that there is great basketball in our state.

Warren says that when you put programs like Baylor and Tennessee in a region, it’s no surprise that basketball fans will show up in droves. U.N.I. served as the host school for the Regional, and Warren says that the school’s administration deserves a lot of credit for getting the word out about this weekend’s games.

“There’s no question that our administration has done a great job, everybody’s done a great job,” Warren says. She says it helped to have Brittany Griner, one of the top players in the country and a woman who can dunk the ball.

The NCAA will bring championship events back to Iowa again next winter when the state plays host the national wrestling championships in both Division One and Division Three.

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Panthers and Cyclones to meet in softball

March 27, 2012 By

The U.N.I. softball team is off to a 6-0 start to Missouri Valley Conference play, but the Panthers will step out of conference action this afternoon when they visit Iowa State. U.N.I. coach Ryan Jacobs says the Cyclones are a very potent offensive club.

“I think they are struggling a little bit with their pitchers, trying to figure out who is going to be the one that they go to. But offensively they are a scary team, they can put up runs real quick,” Jacobs. He says they have used a short game in the past to generate runs, but now they can put up big numbers with this offense.

U.N.I. has won three out of their last seven meetings against Iowa State, including a 4-2 home victory a year ago. Jacobs says that he always expects mid-week and in-state games to be close contests.

Jacobson says both schools want to win, so they give their best effort every time and this time there is just one game to play. Today’s game gets started with the first pitch at 4:00. The Panthers will dive right back into conference play this weekend when they travel to Wichita State.

By Jesse Gavin, KCNZ, Cedar Falls

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