Iowa Hawkeyes: Black and Gold Morning Brew

The Black and Gold Morning Brew comes out on select mornings to keep Hawkeye fans up to date on what’s happening with the Hawkeyes. Let’s take a look at the latest news.

I just love scrolling through our available images and finding pictures of Fran yelling at officials, players, or coaches, whatever your flavor. Mostly because the faces are almost always priceless. Hawkeye nation has come to absolutely love Fran McCaffery and that won’t be changing anytime soon.

The sixth year head coach coached in his 100th Big Ten game on Wednesday night against the Penn State Nittany Lions, a game in which the Hawkeyes dominated from start to finish and won by a score of 73-49. The university was also giving away throwback Fran McCaffery bobble heads and if you were lucky enough to get one, I’m jealous.

Iowa was led by the usual suspect, Jarrod Uthoff. He scored 14 points on 5-12 shooting and was back at it blocking shots, Uthoff had 5 in the game. I was really impressed with the way Anthony Clemmons carried himself. The senior guard from East Lansing, MI scored 12 points, gathered 6 rebounds, and dished out 4 assists in just 24 minutes. It was really a complete game from Sapp. Dom Uhl, Nicholas Baer, and Ahmad Wagner each chipped in 8 points off the bench as the Hawkeyes thumped the Nittany Lions.

Iowa will now travel to Champaign, IL to take on the Fighting Illini this coming Sunday. That game tips off at noon CT and will be televised on BTN.

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As good as the Iowa basketball team was on Wednesday, they were not the primary focus. Yesterday was National Signing Day for college football recruits around the nation and the Hawkeyes had 24/25 commits sign their letters of intent.

The only missing LOI is Frank Darby’s. Darby is going to have to retake the SAT before he can sign the LOI to play for the Hawkeyes.

WR Frank Darby does not sign with Iowa, waiting on SAT score per Lincoln coach:
JERSEY CITY- On Wednes... https://t.co/XawSzSeGfB
— The Jersey Journal (@jerseyjournal) February 3, 2016

It’s not a huge deal, because the Hawkeyes do seem to have a back up plan if Darby doesn’t work out, but you’d like to see Darby be able to continue his education and be able to play football for a great school.

The biggest news of the day was without a doubt the commitment from Alaric Jackson. Jackson is a monster from Detroit, MI at 6’7″ and 285 pounds. He was scheduled to make his announcement on Monday after school, but something came up and he pushed his commitment back to Wednesday morning. Jackson ultimately chose the Hawkeyes over a couple other schools and Iowa fans went crazy.

Jackson has only been playing football for two years, so he’s still very raw. This is a good thing. Let the Iowa coaches get their hands on him and he’ll be an NFL type offensive lineman before he leaves Iowa City.

Next: NSD '16: Top 5 Gets For Hawkeyes

Outside of Jackson, there were no other surprises. Some thought that Noah Fant may do something crazy and sign with another school, but it appeared after he canceled his visit to Minnesota last weekend, he was going to be a Hawkeye. It didn’t stop Iowa fans from sweating it yesterday morning though.

This class is a very typical Iowa class. A lot of high two star and low three star recruits that have a strong work ethic and want to get better. It’s been the Iowa way for a very long time and it won’t change anytime soon. It is likely that none of these players will impact the upcoming season, but be on the lookout for them in the future.

That’s all for today Hawk fans, have a great day and remember to stay locked into Dear Old Gold for constant coverage of the Iowa Hawkeyes.