He also is considered by some the Big Ten’s top NFL quarterback prospect largely because of his passing ability.

However, when it comes to picking the Big Ten’s top quarterbacks for the 2012 season one publication, Phil Steele, doesn’t have Vandenberg ranked among the top four quarterbacks in the conference, and another, Athlon Sports, doesn’t have him ranked in the top three.

Both publications have Michigan senior Denard Robinson as the first-team quarterback. Phil Steele has Ohio State sophomore Braxton Miller on the second team followed by Nebraska junior Taylor Martinez and Illinois junior Nathan Scheelhaase.

Athlon Sports also has Miller on its second team followed by Martinez. Athlon Sports managing editor Mitch Light said Thursday afternoon that Martinez was picked for the third team over Vandenberg in a very close call.

“He was clearly number four if we had four teams,” Light said of Vandenberg. “And we’re talking about doing that next year, going four deep. He was heavily in the discussions.”

Miller is the least experienced of all the Big Ten quarterbacks receiving preseason honors with just nine starts to his credit. He started last season as a backup before earning his first start in the fourth game.

Miller showed flashes of the talent that made him a five-star recruit coming out of high school while passing for 997 yards and rushing for an additional 695 yards last season. Miller also became the seventh Ohio State player to be named Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

Light said they took into account Miller’s potential and the fact that Urban Meyer is now coaching the Buckeyes.

“We think Braxton Miller is going to be really, really good under Urban Meyer so we’re projecting there, obviously,” Light said. “And then it came down to Martinez and Vandenberg and you have different types of quarterbacks.

“Martinez is improving as a passer, but he is clearly not the passer that Vandenberg is. But he is clearly a much bigger weapon in the run game. And we just thought Vandenberg had some issues on offense.”

Light said those issues include no proven running backs, the loss of all-Big Ten receiver Marvin McNutt, along with three starters on the offensive line and Vandenberg’s history of struggling on the road.

Iowa lost four of its five road games last season and finished 7-6 overall.

“We looked at everything and it’s not just raw numbers,” Light said. “It’s overall ability plus projecting like with Braxton Miller. “It’s not about hype or recruiting, but Miller was a top-five quarterback recruit and he happened to land in a system right now that’s perfectly suited for his ability.

“I think the debate you could really have is between Vandenberg and Martinez.”

Senior receiver Keenan Davis is the only player for Iowa to make first-team preseason all-Big Ten by Athlon Sports. Senior center James Ferentz and senior cornerback Micah Hyde both were voted to the second team and junior linebacker James Morris made the third team.

Iowa is picked to finish in a tie for fourth place in the Legends Division by Athlon Sports.

The topic was something that Murray hears being discussed more often these days, which is the growing number of former Iowa players now coaching, or as Murrray puts it, the Tom Davis coaching tree.

Murray is one of several former Hawkeyes who played for Davis that is now coaching basketball. The list also includes Ryan Bowen, Dean Oliver, Jess Settles, James Moses, Rodell Davis, Kevin Gamble, Mon’ter Glasper, Duez Henderson, Acie Earl and Ryan Luehrsmann, among others.

The jobs range from being an NBA assistant coach, which is Bowen’s role with the Denver Nuggets, to coaching at the collegiate level, in high school and AAU, and as individual instructors.

“I had an interesting talk with a referee and we talked about how many former players are coaching right now,” said Murray, who played small forward for Davis at Iowa from 1992-96. “It’s something that comes up a lot in conversation.”

Luehrsmann is the latest former Hawkeye to join Davis’ coaching tree. Luehrsmann was hired last month as the new varsity boys coach at Cedar Rapids Xavier.

Luehrsmann will face another player from the Davis coaching tree when Xavier plays against Cedar Rapids Prairie, whose head coach is James Moses.

“That will be very cool,” said Luehrsmann, who graduated from Cedar Rapids Washington and then played point guard at Iowa from 1996-2000. “James has already reached out to me and he made a joke that I need to step up my wardrobe in terms of the suit collection that I have.”

Davis coached for 13 seasons at Iowa from 1986-99 before resigning after not having his contract renewed. He is Iowa’s all-time winningest men’s basketball coach with a 269-140 record and he also led the Hawkeyes to nine NCAA Tournament appearances.

And now he’s adding to his legacy by having so many of his former players get into coaching.

“I remember initially when I was playing in high school I had no thoughts of being a coach,” said Bowen, who played forward under Davis from 1994-98 before playing almost 10 seasons in the NBA. “But I think just playing for coach Davis made me think this could be really fun to do what he does.

“And I think that’s one of the greatest things as a coach that you can do is get people to want to get into coaching and to leave that legacy.”

Luehrsmann credits Davis for helping to lead him into coaching by setting a positive example during their time together at Iowa. Luehrsmann played under Davis as a freshman, sophomore and junior at Iowa.

“I think there is definitely a trend around here lately,” Luehrsmann said. “I stay in touch with those guys and I think those are guys that really developed just a love for the game of basketball and really like just being a part of a team.

“And having the experiences that we’ve had in the past and knowing what goes into being on a successful team, it’s pretty neat to pass along the lessons that you learned as a player. A lot of those guys looked at the game differently. They were the ones that we’re always trying to learn more about the strategy of it.”

Luehrsmann and Davis got together shortly after Luehrsmann was hired at Xavier and the fact that so many former Iowa players are now coaching came up during their conversation.

“We talked basketball and coaching and we talked about that,” Davis said in a recent telephone interview. “You see a certain number of guys from right around this area. I don’t know why or what led to it all. I’m not sure about that.

“But I’m happy for them. They all seem excited about giving it a shot.”

Randy Larson, who coaches the boys’ basketball team at Regina, believes that Davis is largely the reason why so many former Hawkeyes are now coaching.

“I think it accounts from the fact that you were exposed to a role model there that is a gentleman and dignified and a great competitor and somebody that wins the right way and somebody that cares about his people,” Larson said of Davis, who still lives in Iowa City after retiring as the head coach at Drake University in 2007. “It can’t help but make you want to kind of be that way yourself.

“I used to go watch practice when he was here and I could feel that. The admiration that you feel for somebody that conducts himself that way is part of what makes you want to be that way yourself.”

Larson has followed the Iowa basketball program closely over the past three decades. He also runs the Prime Time League, which he and Davis started in 1987 in order for Iowa players to participate in more structured pick-up games over the summer.

Larson said he couldn’t remember a time when so many former Iowa players, especially from in state, were coaching.

The circumstances today, according to Larson, are nothing like when former Hawkeye and retired NBA veteran Bobby Hansen was hired as part of the radio broadcast team for Iowa men’s basketball games in the early 1990s.

“There is no doubt about it because in years past, before Bobby Hansen, they were trying to figure out who could be a former Hawkeye to be a radio broadcaster and there just wasn’t really anybody,” Larson said. “Nobody had gone into basketball really.

“You had some guys that played, but there weren’t any coaches that I can think of back in that era.”

Luehrsmann said being a former Hawkeyes appeals to those looking to hire head coaches, especially at the high school level.

“When they see the backgrounds that all of us have and that we’re in it for the right reasons, it makes it pretty attractive,” Luehrsmann said.

Davis said he never tried to encourage his players to get into coaching, nor his son Keno Davis, who also is a coach. But Tom Davis appreciates that so many have followed in his footsteps, including his son.

Keno Davis is preparing for his first season as the head coach at Central Michigan. He also was the head coach at Providence for three seasons from 2008-11 before being fired and for one season at Drake in 2007-08.

Keno led Drake to one of the most successful seasons in school history after replacing his father as head coach. The Bulldogs won both the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season and conference tournament titles with Keno as head coach.

“It makes you feel good,” said Tom Davis, who, after resigning at Iowa, was the head coach at Drake from 2003-07. “They’re a good bunch of guys. I think a lot of it has to do with did they enjoy their experience?

“Did they enjoy their teammates? Did they enjoy the competition? And if those were a positive then I could see where it’s attractive to go into coaching. And I just thought in my own career I had so much fun playing at the high school and then in college level. It was fun and it made you want to be a coach just because you enjoyed that part of your life so much.”

Luehrsmann is among three former Iowa point guards to get into coaching within the past two years, the others being Oliver and Jeff Horner, who played for Steve Alford at Iowa.

Oliver is an assistant coach at North Dakota, whose head coach is former Iowa assistant Brian Jones. Horner is the head coach at West Des Moines Valley.

Davis said it’s probably not a coincidence that all three former point guards are now coaching.

“I think it gives you something because you tend to think more like a coach when you have responsibility of running an offense or helping the coach make decisions, which a lot guards end up doing,” said Davis, who also played guard in high school and college. “I don’t know why that is, if it’s just a tradition that started. I don’t think that necessarily you have to be a point guard to make decisions on court.

“But they do sort of go hand-in-hand. I do think they think that way traditionally in the game because (as a point guard) you’ve got the ball in your hands more, you’re controlling the ball, therefore you’re controlling the game.”

The list isn’t limited to just point guards, though, with former forwards Bowen and Settles also coaching. Settles is the head coach at Iowa Wesleyan and Bowen just finished his first season with the Nuggets.

Bowen joined the Denver staff in early December after serving as Iowa’s video coordinator and administrative assistant under head coach Fran McCaffery for slightly more than one season.

“It’s been kind of neat to see, especially when you see some of your teammates get into it, and other guys as well,” Bowen said. “It’s nice seeing a coaching tree get started for coach Davis.”

Luehrsmann’s situation is different than most of the former Iowa players now coaching in that he’s only doing it on a part-time basis. He also isn’t concerned about moving up the coaching ladder because he works full time in the insurance business.

“Coaching is definitely my second job,” Luehrsmann said. “But it also means a great deal to me and I’ll work very hard at it.”

Luehrsmann is taking advantage of a new rule that allows high school schools to hire coaches that aren’t teachers. Being a teacher used to be one of the requirements to coach at the high school level.

“I think that gives guys like Ryan a lot of opportunities to get into coaching that aren’t teachers, but they still want to be involved,” Bowen said.

Murray, meanwhile, works in the dental supply business, but for the last year he also has directed his own basketball academy for kids. Before that, he was an assistant coach at Indian Hills Community College.

“Keno, obviously, was right off the tree,” Murray said. “(Coach Davis) really touched a lot of people. I just think it’s pretty cool.”

The former Iowa guard, who committed to the Hawkeyes as a ninth-grader at City High, is currently training in Los Angeles in his quest to play professional basketball.

The 6-foot-5 Gatens would be thrilled to be one of 60 players selected in the NBA draft, which features just two rounds and will be held on June 28 in Newark, N.J., but he’s hardly counting on it.

Free agency is another path that Gatens could take to the NBA. And he also would be willing to explore his options in professional basketball outside of the United States.

“It’s kind of different,” Gatens said Wednesday night in a telephone interview. “It’s kind of the life of being a professional now. But right now, you don’t have a team. It’s all about you and it’s all about how hard you want to work at making people train you. It’s kind of all on us, which I kind of like. I’ll take the responsibility of that.

“But yeah, it’s different being out here. And being away from Iowa City for a while is a little different. But it’s nice out here and I’m training with some good guys.”

Gatens’ father Mike Gatens, who also played basketball at Iowa, is adjusting to not having his son nearby. Matt Gatens has been training in Los Angeles for 10 days.

“It is (weird), but we know that he’s where he needs to be and he’s with a good group, those guys are pros at what they do and Matt has a lot of faith in them,” Mike Gatens said of the Wasserman Media Group, which represents Matt. “And Matt works hard and he’s just out there doing what he’s supposed to do and getting better and getting prepared to give this thing the best shot he can give it.”

Matt Gatens said he’s been told that he could be selected late in the second round of the NBA draft.

However, he was not among the 60 players invited to the NBA pre-draft camp, which will be held next month in Chicago.

“You get seen either way, but it would’ve been an honor to go to that camp,” Gatens said. “It’s a pretty prestigious thing.”

Former Iowa and NBA guard B.J. Armstrong is part of the Wasserman Media Group that is representing Gatens. Armstrong was hired earlier this month after Gatens had interviewed four different agencies.

Gatens is training with and playing against some elite competition in Los Angeles that includes former Wisconsin guard Jordan Taylor, former Kentucky forward Terrance Jones and former Syracuse center Fab Melo.

He plans to return to Iowa City around June 7 and then he hopes to participate in an NBA summer league that plays games in both Las Vegas and Orlando, Fla. Gatens already competed in the Portsmouth Invitational in April in Portsmouth, Va.

Gatens ended his Hawkeye career in March as Iowa’s sixth all-time leading scorer with 1,635 points. He averaged in double figures as a scorer throughout college and was also one of the Big Ten’s top perimeter shooters.

“It would be an incredible feeling and it’s something you’ve worked all your life to hear your name called on draft day,” Gatens said. “But if not, I’ve been told there are some (NBA) teams would like me to come in and work out.

“I just want a chance to show what I can do.”

Shooting guard Adam Haluska is the only former Iowa player to be selected in the NBA draft since 2000. Haluska was drafted by the New Orleans Hornets in the second round in 2007.

IOWA CITY, IOWA – - Eight members of the University of Iowa football team have been named to Phil Steele’s Preseason All-Big Ten team. The all-conference team is released as part of Phil Steele’s College Football Preview magazine, which will be on newsstands June 5.

Senior WR Keenan Davis and senior DB Micah Hyde were named first team, while junior LB James Morris was named to the second team. Senior center James Ferentz and junior TE C.J. Fiedorowicz are third team selections, while sophomore OL Brandon Scherff, junior LB Christian Kirksey and junior DB Tanner Miller were named to the fourth unit.

Davis (6-3, 215) is a native of Cedar Rapids. He started all 12 games in which he played in 2011, collecting 50 receptions for 713 yards and four touchdowns to rank second on the team in all three categories. He was named to the Biletnikoff Award Watch List during the season.

Hyde (6-1, 190) is a two-year starter at cornerback from Fostoria, Ohio. He was named second team all-Big Ten by league coaches as a junior after collecting 72 tackles while starting all 13 games. He shared the team lead in interceptions (three) and pass break-ups (eight). He has started 26 consecutive games and has 162 career tackles and seven career interceptions.

Morris (6-2, 230) is a native of Solon. He started all 12 games in which he played a year ago and has 18 career starts in two seasons. He shared the team lead with 110 tackles in 2011 while earning honorable mention all-conference honors from both league coaches and media.

Ferentz (6-2, 284) has started all 26 games over the last two seasons at center. The Iowa City native was on the Rimington Trophy preseason watch list in 2011 and was honorable mention all-Big Ten by league coaches and media.

Fiedorowitz (6-7, 265) showed improvement throughout his sophomore season, starting Iowa’s final five games. The Johnsburg, Ill. native totaled 16 receptions for 167 yards and three touchdowns.

Kirksey (6-2, 220) is a native of St. Louis, Mo. He started the first seven games last year at the weak side linebacker position before starting the final six games on the outside. He shared the team lead with 110 tackles.

Miller (6-2, 201) started the final 11 games at free safety last season. The Kalona native recorded 76 tackles and shared the team lead with three interceptions. His theft and 98-yard return for a touchdown was a key play in Iowa’s home win over Northwestern.

Scherff (6-5, 310) saw his first action a year ago after a redshirt season in 2010. The Denison native played in 11 games, starting three at left guard. He was named to the Big Ten Conference All-Freshman team by BTN.com.

Iowa opens the 2012 season Sept. 1, facing Northern Illinois at Soldier Field in Chicago. The Hawkeyes then host consecutive home games against Iowa State, Northern Iowa, Central Michigan and Minnesota.

FILE - Radio announcers Ed Podolak, left, and Gary Dolphin record some pregame thoughts for their broadcast before Iowa's game against Arizona on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. (Dan Williamson/Press-Citizen)

Take it to the house … Gary Dolphin is cancer free.

“Tell everyone I’m ready to go for a great year of Hawkeye football,” Iowa’s longtime football broadcaster said, minus one of the touchdown phrases he uses during games.

“Clean bill of health.”

When the Cascade native and Dubuque resident wakes up Thursday monring, it will be exactly a year since doctors diagnosed him with prostate cancer.

Forty-two radiation treatments later, Dolphin is excited about beginning his 16th consecutive Iowa broadcasting season when the Hawkeyes face Northern Illinois on Sept. 1 at Soldier Field in Chicago.

“When the urologist dropped the bomb on me, he said it would be one year from the time I was diagnosed that I would start feeling back to normal,” said Dolphin, 60.

“He was right. I feel back to normal.”

No more Friday morning radiation treatments followed by afternoon charter flights to wherever the Hawkeye football or men’s basketball team played. No more treatment-related tiredness.

No more sneaking up the back stairs en route to treatment.

“Actually, I only did that a few times at the beginning of the treatment process,” Dolphin said. “I wasn’t going to be in the mood to talk Iowa football and basketball, sitting in the waiting room waiting for treatment, but that didn’t last long.

“I didn’t want preferential treatment. I wasn’t Jimmy Buffett. I was in the waiting room with everyone else, and it was eye-opening.

“It’s incredible how many people were in the same situation. We became each other’s support network.”

Dolphin didn’t miss a game. He drove 136 miles round trip between his home in Dubuque and Iowa City weekly for Kirk Ferentz and Fran McCaffery radio shows.

He worked their weekly television shows, and hosted summer I-Club booster events.

“The amazing thing about it, if you didn’t know he was going through treatment, you’d never have known,” Ferentz said. “He never broke stride.”

Nor did Dolphin consider missing the Michigan State-Iowa football game at Kinnick Stadium on Nov. 12 — despite waking up in an Iowa City hotel at 4:30 a.m. on game day, his face noticeably swollen after an adverse reaction to medication.

“It happened a few times, but it never included my tongue swelling up, too,” Dolphin said. “That’s when I started panicking.

“I could do the game with swollen cheeks, but with a swollen tongue — that’d be difficult.”

Dolphin knew sports information director Steve Roe’s wife, Janet, worked in the radiology department at University of Iowa Hospitals, so he texted Steve.

Through Janet, Dolphin contacted a doctor. By late morning, the swelling subsided.

“That was the only real scare throughout it all,” Dolphin said. “It was the only time I wondered if I was going to miss a game.”

Dolphin praised doctors and nurses, mentioning their willingness to work last Thanksgiving weekend when Iowa and Nebraska played a rare Friday game.

“The doctor and the girls came in on a Sunday to take care of me,” Dolphin said.

McCaffery and Ferentz said they would juggle their radio and television shows, if Dolphin needed to rest.

“I told him that if he ever wanted to stay at our house sometime instead of driving back to Dubuque, he was more than welcome to do it,” Ferentz said. “He never took me up on it. That’s how he is.

“I saw him three or four times a week. He didn’t cut back on his schedule one bit. He was amazing.”

“Many people don’t often think of the youth programs,” said Lia Pontarelli, director of development and communications for the Johnson County Salvation Army. “It’s important to educate the community on what we’re doing with the youths.”

That’s exactly what the organization has planned for tonight with its inaugural Youth Extravaganza at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts, 1301 Fifth St.

All three played special guests played football for the Hawkeyes as well as for NFL teams. Tickets to the event can be upgraded to VIP status, which allows the ticketholder to meet and greet the three guests and to chat, eat and take photos with them.

The event aims to raise funds through ticket sales and a silent auction to support the Johnson County Salvation Army Character Building programs — which will showcase talent from the program’s dance teams, youth choir and brass band during the event — and add to funds that eventually will go toward a new building for the local corps. The silent auction starts at 5 p.m. and the performances start at 7 p.m.

“The plan is to start working to build a new building in the next few years,” Pontarelli said, noting that the new structure aims to have additional facilities for youth in the form of a gym, classrooms and dance studio.

Of about 100 kids involved in the Character Building program, 55 will be presenting several performances during the event.

Bryan Jones has been teaching dance at the local corps since 2009 and said that Wednesday’s mime dancers were ready to perform.

“It’s been going great. The kids are excited about it,” Jones said. “It’s been going fantastic in rehearsals.”

Pontarelli noted that although this is the first event like this, it should not be the last.

“I’m hoping that we will continue to do this for many, many years,” she said.

The event is the city of Grinnell’s effort to promote fitness, but because the event occurs shortly before NFL training camp, the New York Giants safety will instead participate in a scavenger hunt known as “The Amazing Chase.”

The Grinnell Games are selling raffle tickets for three spots on Sash’s four-person Amazing Chase team. Two children and one adult will win spots on the team. Raffle tickets are $25, and can be purchased until June 1, when Sash’s teammates will be announced at the June 1 Friday Fest in downtown Grinnell.

To purchase a raffle ticket, contact the Grinnell Chamber of Commerce at chamber@getintogrinnell.com, 641-236-6555 or visit the Chamber office at 833 Fourth Ave. in Grinnell.

So if any of you Hawkeye lovebirds would like to be featured in an article, please contact reporter Emily Schettler at eschettler@press-citizen.com.

IOWA CITY – The University of Iowa women’s basketball team will travel to Tallahassee, Fla. to face the Florida State Seminoles as part of the sixth annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The game is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 28. Start time and television information will be released at a later date. This will be the first meeting between the two schools.

Florida State returns 11 of its 12 players from last year’s squad that finished 14-17 overall and 6-10 in ACC play. The Seminoles will be led by third team All-ACC pick Natasha Howard, who led the ACC in double-doubles with 12. She averaged 12.2 points and 9.1 rebounds per game, starting all 31 contests. Alexa Deluzio, the team’s second-leading scorer, also returns after starting 30 games and averaging 13.2 points per contest.

The Seminoles are coached by Sue Semrau, who just finished her 15th season at Florida State. She is the winningest coach in school history and led FSU to seven straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 2005-11. Semrau is a three-time ACC Coach of the Year and led the Seminoles to its second-consecutive ACC regular season title and a berth in the Elite 8 in the 2010 season.

Florida State’s coaching staff also has an Iowa tie, as director of operations Melissa Bruner graduated from Coe College in 1994 and was a four-sport athlete in softball, basketball, tennis and volleyball. She also served as an assistant athletic director and head women’s basketball coach at Coe College before taking the job at Florida State.

Iowa is 1-4 in the Challenge after picking up its first win last year with a 58-47 victory over Virginia Tech in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes were defeated at home by Georgia Tech (2007) and Boston College (2009) along with road losses at Duke (2008) and North Carolina (2010).

Florida State is 3-2 in the Challenge and the Hawkeyes are 11-6 all-time vs. the ACC.

The ACC/Big Ten Women’s Basketball Challenge matches 12 teams from each conference in head-to-head competition. Last season, the Big Ten and ACC battled to a 6-6 draw, the first tie in the Challenge’s history. The ACC had won the previous five Challenges.

The Big Ten and ACC have long been among the most dominant conferences on the women’s basketball scene. For the first time in league history, the Big Ten had seven teams selected to the NCAA Tournament in 2012. The ACC sent four schools to the NCAA Tournament.

Game times and television information will be released at a later date.

Wednesday, Nov. 28

Ohio State at North Carolina

Iowa at Florida State

Wisconsin at Virginia Tech

Duke at Michigan

Maryland at Nebraska

Georgia Tech at Purdue

Clemson at Indiana

Northwestern at Boston College

Thursday, Nov. 29

Penn State at Miami

Michigan State at North Carolina State

Virginia at Minnesota

Wake Forest at Illinois