Dawgs Podcast

This episode details; losing sophomores Quel’Ron House/Rolyns Aligbe/Drew Steffe to the portal, specifics for all in their potential reasons with also how they’ll be remembered, returning Jalen Haynes/Jaheem Webber/Luke Walsh/Caden Hawkins/Daniel Pauliukonis, the importance in keeping most of these young guns, tidbits from another Tim Leonard interview discussing the state of the program, ALL the recent MVC news headlined by Ben Jacobson leaving UNI for Utah State amongst other things, also ALL the recent portal interests/offers in almost all being non-D1, Jeremiah Jackson coming up just short in the state championship & our excitement levels for him to get here AND our final thoughts as the offseason rolls on.

This Nick solo episode details; THE OFFICIAL EXTENSION OF HC NICK HILL, if it was the right choice, other reasons as to why letting him coach-out this Make-Or-Break season on his final year was the correct way to go (personally), comments from Tim Leonard on why it made sense to him along with the contrasting expectations of football compared to Bryan Mullins for basketball in the many similarities, him indirectly proving that the football bar is way lower, the official NOW 11-game schedule after Sacramento State (and NDSU) jump to the FBS, how/why they couldn’t find a replacement, adding FOUR new coaches to the staff including officially replacing Mac McLeran, touching on the extra 10 high school adds a month ago, PRO DAY results, quick other FCS news AND a sneak peek to the Spring as workouts begin tomorrow & our excitement to seeing their practices/Game next month.

This episode details: recapping the STL trip as a whole, dissecting the Salukis’ inevitable first round loss in one they had in the bag, mistakes & lack of scoring doing them in, how every other game went to the very end in UNI cutting the down the nets, Jeremiah Jackson playing for his Regional title game, topics of our season in review including talking every player with the team’s biggest downfalls, projecting what the offseason SHOULD in how they should built the proper team to get over A HUMP in this conference AND our final thoughts as a quick offseason with moves will begin before we know it.

This episode details: Noah’s thoughts on the Dawgs’ strong regular season finish, prefacing how different the Valley has been this season, dissection of the official awards announcements with some gripes especially no Salukis being on All-Defense BUT Quel’Ron making All-Second Team & Rolyns getting on the Most-Improved Team, notables from the Coaches Monday media scrum, initial keys to victory inside Enterprise Center, our rubber match game v. the Drake Bulldogs who provide a tough matchup, what ALL needs to happen to move onto Friday to face the top seeded Belmont Bruins, our picks for Dawgs-Of-The-Tournament & who we think will cut down the nets on Sunday AND our final thoughts as the best weekend of the year begins in what’s WIN OR GO HOME.

This Nick solo episode details; sweeping the Purple Aces in a fun & challenging game to end the regular season, finishing 16-15 (10-10) which didn’t seem likely 1.5 months ago, indeed ending with a win streak not seen in 19 years, proving to be a dominant road team with a 7-8 overall record, a above .500 Quad 1 record, final weekend outcomes, initial bracket reaction, Jeremiah Jackson winning his Districts, Ty Laur’s season coming to an end with Nick in attendance, OUR own MVC award predictions AND a sneak peek to our Arch Madness preview in a couple days.

This Nick solo episode details; winning six+ games at the end of a season for the first time since 2010, everything great from Senior Night, starting slow but having a BIG run halfway through to seal the deal in an expected win, final thought on having to vitally play better inside Banterra NEXT SEASON AND BEYOND, ALL recent matchups, the most updated probabilities with a weekend left, reiterating the tie-breaking scenarios, Jeremiah Jackson playing in his District Championship, Ty Laur playing in his hosted regional final Friday that we will be in attendance for, Luke Susko’s interview on local Texas TV AND a quick preview of the rescheduled game IN Evansville v. the Aces in Game 20.

This Nick solo episode details; SWEEPING the Panthers but also our SECOND ever Iowa swing, first win in McLeod since going back-to-back in 2017 & 2018, how they got it done on the back of their elite defense once again, the many stats after-the-fact via Luke Martin, Quel’Ron winning MVC POTW, OTHER MVC recent/upcoming scores down the stretch, what Arch Madness looks like at the moment, Ty Laur winning his first regional matchup, Jeremiah Jackson getting a final push for KY Mr. Basketball here before his districts, Luke Susko being on local TX TV AND a second preview as the Sycamores come to town for OUR SENIOR NIGHT.

This Nick solo episode details; an early mention of Drake’s inevitable downfall, ending a skid v. them, Damien Mayo carrying the way once again from deep in a performance that would’ve had us definitely lose if it didn’t happen, clutch plays down the stretch from others to seal the deal, final thoughts on some nerves potentially facing them again in STL with the way they can shoot, other recent/upcoming MVC matchups, what Arch Madness looks like if it started today, a quick commits update AND the second Panthers preview as they have won five of their last six in being one of the hottest teams lately.

This Nick solo episode details; our EIGHTH STRAIGHT loss to rival Bradley, making a run to get it tied at halftime then screwing the pooch at home in the 2H once again, NOT MAKING A SINGLE THREE, other key Valley outcomes, standings & upcoming matchups with very few remaining, Luke Susko breaking his HS’s all-time rebounding record previously held by Marcus Smart AND the second preview of the Drake Bulldogs up in Des Moines in what remains very important for Arch Madness seeding.

This Nick solo episode details; the INSANE run to start this game that led us to believe the route would continue all the way, the heat-check shooting and success galore, UE indeed storming back uncomfortably, holding Leif Moeller to a career worst game, finding ways to finish the job, other MVC games/standings/tourney-look, Ty having his Senior Night AND a preview of the hot Bradley Braves who come to town Sunday afternoon & once again find themselves at the top of the league.

This episode details; our second straight road kill, dissection of a relatively dominant 2H win in pulling away, spread scoring along the way with also being led by Rolyns’ monster rebounding game in reaching a number not seen since Thik Bol a decade ago, around the MVC scores & updated standings, Xavier Johnson having a good recent outing overseas, a Ty/Jeremiah/Susko check-in as their strong seasons slowly dwindle down AND the first Evansville preview as they come to town fresh off a big recent win themselves.

This Nick solo episode details; losing FOUR STRAIGHT to the rival Racers, Damien Mayo returning but barely playing with re-aggravating his toe off the bench, the initial carry over on defense that had us starting strong, the offensive explosion in the final 26 minutes from Murray, tipping the cap to an impressive showing by the opponent, other MVC games & standings check, Jeremiah & Ty’s recent outings and a preview of the first matchup with the Indiana State Sycamores in the bottom of the league.

This Nick solo episode details; THE ROCK FIGHT ROADKILL UP IN NORMAL, the elite defense this team all of a sudden has had since the start of 2026, Damien Mayo NOT PLAYING after a sudden toe injury, overall dissection of the main parts of this low scoring victory, moving UP in NET, acknowledging how up & down this continues to be, updated defensive stats in conference for us, MVC games/standings/probabilities, Luke & Jeremiah update AND the second preview of the high-scoring Racers as they come to town in a huge Friday evening in Banterra.

This episode details; Tim Leonard’s recent comments with Luke Martin, the unfortunate departure of LB coach Mac McLeran, Michael Lindauer officially becoming QBs coach, Aiden Quinn declaring for the NFL Draft, ALSO KEEPING Chris Presto/Vinny Pierre/Gavin Shepard/Andrew Behm/Jake Parrella/Lem Wash, the awesome accepted waivers for Derek Harden Jr. & Coleon Smith, THREE new 2026 HS commits, ALL new transfer portal commits with which ones stick out, former players finding new homes including Kayleb Wagner landing at previously played D2 Thomas More, a recap of the incredible National Championship where Illinois State lost in heartbreaking fashion, quick talk on their future after such a great run that will set them up for more success, WP POTY Beau Brungard returning to YSU, a mention of how great of a Special Teams season PJ Jules had AND final thoughts on what’s already been an impressive offseason FOR AN ALL-IN 2026.

This Nick & Noah episode details; BLOWING AN 18-POINT LEAD, always taking one step forward & two steps back, now blowing late leads in three out of the past four home games, what went RIGHT in the 1H then to just go wrong in the 2H, acknowledging these were the giveaways that lost Bryan Mullins his job, one of our best game dissections, Valley games/standings, Jeremiah dropping 28 again recently and a short preview of our second matchup with the preseason favorite Redbirds as the team heads to Normal on Tuesday.

This Nick solo episode details; SCOTT NAGY FINALLY GETTING HIS 600TH CAREER VICTORY, being the 13th active & 70th ever coach to do so, achieving it in surprising blowout fashion of the UNI Panthers, the vital return of Quel’Ron House, Rolyns Aligbe with a career performance, what this win could mean moving forward, around the Valley scores/standings/probabilities, commits update and a second preview of the very hot & dangerous UIC Flames in their trip to Carbondale.

This Nick solo episode details; the city of Evansville scrapping the game THREE HOURS BEFORE, the teams/staff/officials staying at a hotel ATTACHED to the Ford Center, shockingly even not playing the next day, WHEN and HOW they could reschedule down the road in luckily only being 100 miles apart, other MVC matchups, Ty Laur getting to 1K career points, a mention of what-could-have-been with Keaton Wagler who visited this past summer & is tearing it up at Illinois AND a preview of part one with Northern Iowa as they come to Carbondale.