CEDAR FALLS – Sneakers, practice jerseys and equipment clutter the purple and gold locker room. A locker on the left side of the room shows some semblance of organization among the disarray. It’s housed Northern Iowa senior Jacqui Kalin for six years. Inspiration forms the spine of the locker in the form of quotes from [...]

CEDAR RAPIDS – He still has an office in the Iowa football operations building. He still watches ever game. He still wanders into film sessions on Sunday mornings to see what went right or wrong. But there’s something that can’t be replicated in former Iowa defensive coordinator Norm Parker’s retirement: the postgame smiles. “The thing [...]

Chelsea Poppens and Anna Prins officially closed the book on their Iowa State women’s basketball careers Monday. The Seattle Storm selected Poppens 18th overall in the second round of the WNBA draft and Connecticut picked Prins at No. 23. The duo is the 11th and 12th Cyclones to ever get drafted in the WNBA. The [...]

AMES – Back in October and November whispers of the NBA draft infiltrated the Iowa City and Ames’ campuses. Iowa’s Devyn Marble commanded the attention of scouts. At Iowa State, seniors Korey Lucious and Will Clyburn attracted the eyes of NBA organizations. Come April the professional aspirations continue, but it’s in different locker rooms. The [...]

Chris Jans spent his Easter weekend smiling. The reason why occurred days in the past when Wichita State upended Ohio State in the Elite Eight. But every half hour or so, the Shockers associate head coach couldn’t contain his joy. “I just start chuckling,” Jans said. “I don’t know how to put it into words, [...]

The receivers’ routes are crisper. The quarterback’s passes are more accurate. And the running backs are getting through the line cleaner. The 41-38 overtime loss to Green Bay Mar. 30 still turns the stomachs of the Cedar Rapids Titans. The Blizzard handed the Titans their first loss of the season. The defeat also generated intense concentration [...]

IOWA CITY – One needed a tape measure. The other demanded a stop watch. Both rewrote the record books. Three meet records fell at the Women of Troy and Hollingsworth Relays at Iowa City West, two of which came from Iowa City athletes. First the Trojans’ Daniel Gardarsson achieved the feat first in the boys [...]

CEDAR FALLS – Jake Koch walked into the backcourt in disbelief. With his team down three the Northern Iowa senior missed two free throws with four seconds remaining. Marc Sonnen tried to erase Koch’s memory with a pat on the back, telling the 6-8 forward, “It’s OK.” A Weber State missed free throw opened the [...]

The Cedar Rapids Titans boast the Indoor Football League’s only perfect record at 4-0. The Titans’ overall season contains one flaw – a preseason matchup with Green Bay — a 67-47 loss. The Blizzard sit on the opposite end of the spectrum. At 0-4, the only success Green Bay enjoyed came back on Feb. 2 [...]

CEDAR FALLS  - A buzz spread throughout the UNI-Dome as NFL scouts discarded the cones that provided a running lane for the 40 yard dash. The drill concluded and the whispers began. Northern Iowa held its Pro Day Wednesday, as 10 Panthers showed off their skills to scouts. But the circle on everyone’s schedule had [...]

IOWA CITY – Kayla McBride witnessed it first-hand Sunday. The Notre Dame junior chased Tennessee-Martin’s Heather Butler for most of the first half, as the 5-foot-5 guard poured in 23 points. McBride laughed last. The Erie, Penn., native not only saw her team win Sunday, she led the Irish to 74-57 win on Tuesday against Iowa. [...]

IOWA CITY – Through a door, a right turn through the lounge, a left turn through bathroom stalls and yet another left, cornered in dim lighting sat Skylar Diggins. The Notre Dame women’s basketball team invaded the Iowa women’s volleyball locker room. They called it home through the duration of their stay in Iowa City [...]

IOWA CITY – Fans migrated to baseline to get a closer view of Skylar Diggins. Faithful followers wearing Kelly green, black and gold and Hurricane Orange, took out their cell phones and aimed them at the Notre Dame All-American guard who boasts more than 312,000 Twitter followers. But when they exited Carver-Hawkeye Arena Sunday night, [...]

CEDAR FALLS – During the pregame shoot around, Northern Iowa filled the basket with balls – literally. Chip Rank poured in a 3 from the wing at the same time two other shots fell, which clogged the net. Marc Sonnen sunk another from the same spot as the log jam continued. The issue didn’t’ extend [...]

CEDAR FALLS – A NIT snub became a trip down memory lane. The CollegeInsider.com Tournament created a path of familiar faces for Northern Iowa. In the first round UNI met North Dakota and its head coach, Panther alum, Brian Jones. In the second round, it hosts former Summit League rival Illinois-Chicago (18-15) at the McLeod Center [...]

CEDAR FALLS –In Northern Iowa’s first meeting against North Dakota in November, 10 Panthers saw the court for at least 10 minutes. The second time around on Wednesday UNI head coach Ben Jacobson rotated in 11 players. In reality he only really needed three. Anthony James, Marc Sonnen and Seth Tuttle poured in 62 points [...]

CEDAR RAPIDS – Northern Iowa’s postseason began much like the rockiness of its regular season. Sunday the team thought it held a good chance to qualify for the NIT. When ESPN announced the 32 teams without mentioning UNI, Pandora’s Box opened. First, the Panthers were set to host Air Force Tuesday night in the College [...]

CEDAR FALLS – Stephanie Jenks followed Anna Holdiman off the winners’ podium. The two exchanged a few words, congratulating each other then walked in different directions. “Once that gun goes off it’s kind of everyone for themselves,” Holidman said. “But it’s a friendly environment. I don’t think in other sports or even in other events [...]

CEDAR FALLS – Ben Jacobson stepped the podium armed with the knowledge that the people he faced were ready to fire questions at him. So why waste any time? “How about we just start with questions today? I bet there are probably some good ones,” the Northern Iowa head coach said – a statement meant [...]