Accelerated PKG

Lead: The University of Iowa baseball program inked 10 new recruits for its 2010 season last week. 7 of those 10  recruits are from the state of Iowa. Daily Iowan TV's Chelsea Burn takes a look at just how important in-state recruiting is to this Hawkeye program.

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"Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa."

Field of Dreams quickly became a classic in the movie industry when it first arrived on big screens in 1989. The tradition of baseball in Iowa was here long before his movie hit--and continues today.

But with weather conditions like these almost 5 months out of the year, being a baseball player in Iowa can be frustrating.

It doesn't stop them from coming though. One of the newest recruits to the Iowa program grew up in sunny San Diego, California--yet still chose the UI to continue his baseball career.

SOT: Coach Jack Dahm
"If you go out to California, they don't have that true college experience of, you know, the overall campus that we have here, you know, the football, the basketball, everything that you have at a Big Ten institution. Also, the quality education that we have here, so when you give an opportunity to someone from California or somebody from Texas, they really fall in love with the overall college experience that we have."

It's not easy though. Division 1 baseball is only given 11.8 scholarships to divide amongst the entire team. Staying in-state means less tuition costs for those ballplayers--however only about half of the Iowa roster is made up of Iowans--compare that to 33 of the 37 Illinois bred players on the Fighting Illini roster and it doesn't really add up. But, the size of the two states don't really add up either.

SOT:Coach Jack Dahm
"There's just not as many players, it's not as heavily populated as the state of Illinois, so it's a little different recruiting here at the University of Iowa than say being at the University of Illinois."

Perfect Game, the nation's top scouting service for baseball, also makes Dahm's job a little tougher. Based out of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Perfect Game gives Iowa players much more attention on a national stage.

SOT:Coach Jack Dahm
"If you're from the state of Iowa right now, you're going to be very heavily recruited nationwide because of all the opportunities that Perfect Game gives you. So, that's a positive for the kids in the state of Iowa, it's made our job a little more difficult, we have a great working relationship with Perfect Game, but recruiting has changed over the last 10 years coming and establishing themselves as one of the top recruiting service, actually the top recruiting service in the country."

But the UI is now the only Division 1 program in the state--after the University of Northern Iowa dropped their program in 2009.

That does give the Hawkeyes a slight advantage--although the two programs never really recruited against one another. But being from Iowa, playing for the Hawks is something that a lot of in-state guys someday hope for--and don't take for granted when that dream comes true.

SOT: Matt Dermody
"I grew up a Hawkeye fan, so I've always been a Hawkeye."

As they say in Field of Dreams, "build it and they will come." The Hawkeye program is building its reputation in Big Ten baseball. And Iowa ballplayers are coming. Chelsea Burn, Daily Iowan TV.


Tag: Perfect Game just named the new 2011 recruiting class to the Iowa program the top class in the Big Ten Conference. The recruiting service also ranked the class 48th in the nation.