Peterson: Power 5 Conference Player of Year awards show just how good Iowans can be
ARLINGTON, Texas − You’ve heard it before, and proudly I say it again.
Iowans rock!
We’re not really supposed to use ball bats (aka exclamation mark) in this biz, but this one deserves it:
Big 12 Female Athlete of the Year: Iowa State’s Ashley Joens, via Iowa City High School.
Big 12 Male Athlete of the Year: TCU’s Max Duggan, via Council Bluffs Lewis High School.
Big Ten Female Athlete of the Year: Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, via West Des Moines Dowling Catholic High School.
That's quite a Who’s Who of megastars, all of whom were reared in Iowa, attended Iowa high schools and are wonderful citizens and representatives for their communities and schools.
But wait, there’s more:
The person for whom the Big 12 award is named, former league commissioner Bob Bowlsby, is a graduate of Waterloo West, where he wrestled for legendary coach Bob Siddens.
The former Northern Iowa and Iowa athletic director's notable achievements include keeping the Big 12 relevant amid two major realignments. He brokered substantial television rights deals. He successfully steered the Big 12 ship after Oklahoma and Texas decided to start swimming with SEC sharks.
More: Max Duggan named inaugural Bob Bowlsby award winner as Big 12 male athlete of the year
More: Former Iowa State women's basketball star Ashley Joens named Big 12 female athlete of the year
More: Iowa's Caitlin Clark named Big Ten Conference female athlete of the year
Let's keep going with the homegrown Iowans theme:
Joens’ college coach, Bill Fennelly, attended Davenport West High School
Clark’s coach, Lisa Bluder, went to Linn Mar High School in Marion.
Duggan’s high school coach was his father, Jim.
And oh my, here’s another:
Kansas State football coach Chris Klieman, whose team beat College Football Playoffs finalist TCU in the Big 12 championship game last season, is from Waterloo.
Oh yeah, Iowans rock!
Some of you maybe know that I started my writing journey at The Des Moines Register by covering the Iowa high school scene. I had Kurt Warner (deservedly) on our Sunday Register elite all-state team. I covered Fred Hoiberg as he unknowingly was working toward becoming an icon in our state.
I covered AAU games back in the day when Bobby Hansen played – long before he was a teammate with Michael, Scottie, John Paxson, B.J. Armstrong and others on the 1991-92 NBA champion Chicago Bulls.
And oh yeah, Hansen played high school ball at Dowling.
More: Peterson: Max Duggan can be the third former Iowa high school player to win the Heisman Trophy
Yeah, Iowans rock, and Klieman was a perfect ambassador for our state at Big 12 Media Days on Thursday – and from the podium, no less, in front of 400 of so reporters who converged for the first Power Five football media days of the summer.
“I'm very close to the state of Iowa,” Klieman told the large gathering. “My folks still live in Waterloo. My brother lives in Cedar Falls.
“I look at my parents' upbringing: hard work, perseverance, never making excuses. I see that.”
The most recent examples share more than individual and team success. They worked hard to be where they are today. Nothing was taken for granted; nothing was given to them. They’re leaders.
“I remember telling (Max Duggan) once that he can have quite a career,” Johnston football coach Brian Woodley told me during the last football season. “He’s a special kid. Everybody loves to coach a kid like that. He’s a winner. He’s a team player. He’s a good dude.
“He’s an Iowan.”
Former Cedar Falls High School star and current Detroit Lions lineman Ross Pierschbacher put it at the grass-roots level when I asked him a while back what sets Iowans apart.
“Iowa-bred and corn-fed,” he told me.
While Klieman has things rolling at Kansas State, he still finds time to check in on what’s going on in his home state.
“I followed Iowa women's basketball,” Klieman said. “Caitlin Clark was a blast to watch. Some of my best friends are at Dowling. We've tried to do a good (recruiting) job in the state of Iowa.”
He’s got two Iowans on his current team – Brenton Mott from Iowa City West High School and Ben Sinnott from Klieman’s alma mater, Waterloo Columbus.
“We have to continue to recruit all the Midwest, for sure,” Kliemian said. “There’s just something about those hard-working kids that have great (family) support and great backgrounds of being multi-sport athletes, that we're always looking for.”
I don’t know if BYU coach Kalani Sitake has been in Iowa much, if at all, but that’s all right
He seems like a very welcoming person who said opposing team fans traveling to Big 12 games at the Cougars’ stadium for the first time will have a hospitable experience.
That’d be Nov. 11 for Iowa State supporters traveling to see the Cyclones play at BYU for the first time.
“BYU fans. They're amazing,” Sitake said at Big 12 Media Days. “The excitement that they bring to the games − I think it's a good experience for visiting teams, as well. They give you ice cream before the fourth quarter.”
The alumni call it “ice cream diplomacy,” in which visiting fans are given a cup of ice cream freshly made by the BYU creamery.
“I think everybody should do that ... but not just to the fans, but also to the coaches on the sideline,” Sitake said. “That would be really cool. That could be innovative − where I'm eating ice cream going into the fourth quarter.”
Iowa State columnist Randy Peterson is in his 51st year writing sports for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at rpeterson@dmreg.com, and on Twitter @RandyPete
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Peterson: Power 5 Player of Year awards show how good Iowans can be
