Deontae Craig’s mornings in the summertime have been about getting in his work, after which listening to others converse. Oh, and he’ll provide his personal opinions.
The Iowa senior defensive finish will undergo the summer time exercises with the remainder of the Hawkeyes, then he’ll head residence to observe the varied sports activities opinion exhibits that he misses being on the soccer facility.
“I watch a whole lot of ‘First Take,’ sports activities discuss exhibits,” Craig stated. “It kills a few hours. It’s enjoyable.”
Craig is aware of that such scorching takes normally are simply a whole lot of wind, however then once more, he says, “It’s usually good data.”
Craig was a two-sport athlete in highschool at Culver Academies in Fort Wayne, Indiana — nearly as good at basketball, he stated, in addition to the game wherein he is without doubt one of the Large Ten’s finest at his place.
So a whole lot of instances you’ll discover him on social media, providing his opinions on basketball to anybody who desires to agree or disagree.
“I’ve been enjoying basketball since I began enjoying soccer,” Craig stated. “Perhaps 3, 4 years previous, actually. And basketball is my past love. You ask lots of people, they’ll inform you a similar factor. It’s nonetheless proper up there with my favourite sports activities.
“I similar to to speak about it. I’ll share my opinion, whether or not it’s proper or flawed. It’s enjoyable, it will get me interacting with the video games. It permits individuals to see my character.”
Craig was a four-year letterwinner in basketball in highschool, and gained a state championship.
“We turned it right into a basketball powerhouse,” he stated. “That faculty was recognized extra for lacrosse, however I used to be lucky to be with some good teammates. We had been there an important 4 years, had a whole lot of nice success. Numerous us on the crew would say we underachieved. We’d say we might have gained a few extra state titles in there. I believe junior yr and freshman yr, we let it slip away.”
Soccer, although, is the place Craig has had his success on the school stage. He’s coming off a 54-tackle season that features 5 tackles for loss, three quarterback sacks, and 7 quarterback pressures. Craig was an honorable point out All-Large Ten choice, and he begins this season as a preseason all-conference third-team choose by Phil Steele.
One other huge season looms for an athlete who was good at two totally different sports activities.
“I’ve performed each (soccer and basketball), and I’m lucky sufficient to play each at a excessive stage,” Craig stated. “My dad by no means let me sit round after I was a child. So at any time when basketball was over with, I went straight into soccer. When soccer was over, I went straight into basketball. I used to be lucky sufficient to play them at a excessive stage, two issues I get pleasure from that I can put my power stage into. Basketball didn’t work out, soccer did. It’s simply pure.”
Craig desires to be a louder voice as a veteran ready group that has seen some turnover with the losses of gamers like Logan Lee and Joe Evans. The management, he stated, comes from all corners of an skilled line group.
“As a unit collectively, all of our guys do a superb job,” he stated. “Once we see one thing, we converse up. It’s a collective effort. Total, we have to maintain engaged on that. It’s a kind of issues you could by no means fairly grasp.”
Craig isn’t afraid to supply an opinion, and he’s proven that.
Might it’s, somebody requested, a future occupation for him, like these on the exhibits he watches?
“I imply, it’s attention-grabbing, for positive,” he stated. “I’ve a superb background in basketball. I’m positive you guys have seen my Twitter, I like to speak about it rather a lot. We’ll see. We’ll see what occurs when my ball days are over.”
