The idea for Sports Guys Iowa started in a kitchen in Waukee, Iowa, in late July, 2025.
The idea a group of family members and friends came up with was to cover the smaller colleges in the state of Iowa and high school sports that had lost coverage over the years. We all had full-time jobs and family commitments but we all LOVE Sports especially sports between the Missouri and Mississippi in the great state of Iowa. So, a few of us decided to start a fun little hobby and start SGI.
We did this because the decline of traditional mass media (Newspapers, Local Radio, and TV) has concentrated the Iowa Sports Coverage universe on the big teams – Specifically, the Iowa Hawkeyes and Iowa State Cyclones. We wanted, in our own small way, to bring some sunshine to the hard-working Iowa HS players and those who went to play at the next level at the FCS, D2, D3, and NAIA level in the state.
As the Traditional Media coverage some great new media has grown to fill that gap (Podcasts/Shows) like Hawkeye and Cyclone shows and Iowa Everywhere have expanded. The amount of Iowa Hawkeye and Iowa State Cyclone coverage has increased exponentially… unfortunately, coverage of smaller Iowa Colleges (D2, NAIA, D3) and Iowa High School Sports has declined.
So, we decided to form Sports Guys Iowa. We had a lot of publishing experience, and we knew how to build a great WordPress website, and we thought let’s have some fun and push the ball down the hill.
Sports Guys Iowa Show Lineup
As we experimented and learned how to run a sports website and content engine we started to meet more people and volunteers and one this became clear.
That our Volunteers and their knowledge, experience, and passion would lead us to building a show line-up.
It started with a call with a Doctor. Dr. Chris Bowser has a passion for Basketball from his high school roots as a North Scott Lancer to being a student manager at UNI, College Coach at the NAIA and D2 Level, and running a AAU Basketball in the state of Iowa. His love for all things Iowa basketball and the Missouri Valley Conference is infectious, and he was a longtime friend of our team that started the idea in a Waukee, IA kitchen.
The Iowa Doctor of Basketball started interviewing old friends, colleagues, and former Iowa players at the NAIA, D2, D3, and high school level that evolved into his love for the Missouri Valley Conference. At Arch Madness in St. Louis this year in March the Doctor decided to start a regular show on the MVC with his close friend Brian Dutler (who also sat on the UNI bench with Bowser and knows ball). Dr. Chris Bowser has missed only one MVC Arch Madness event since 1991; rumor has that one miss in 25 years was due to the birth of his daughter.
Dr. Bowser “Deep in the Valley” show was born in the stands at the Enterprise Center and has grown so fast week-by-week with in-depth interviews with top coaches, administrators, broadcasters, and players from across the MVC. Drake and UNI are both in the MVC, so they will get extra coverage on Deep in the Valley.
Chad Harberts Show and High School Huddle shows started this spring in 2026. Chad’s passion for High School Sports is unmatched. His journey from Grundy Center Iowa to becoming a college SID to having a high school sports show in the Kansas City area, and back to Iowa led him down the path of wanting to restart his own shows. He covers High School sports every day as a sportswriter for the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier (which covers NE Iowa) and launched his two great shows to be able to cover High School Sports from the Mississippi to the Missouri in Iowa. His passion has led us to greatly expand our High School coverage and that has been a joy.
Peacock Corner – One of the first fan groups we engaged with was from Iowa’s Favorite D2 Program the Upper Iowa Peacocks in Fayette, Iowa. We met many great Peacocks, including Warren Reyerson and Mike Schrock, as we began covering the men and women in powder blue. Warren has done for years the Upper Iowa football broadcasts as a color analyst, and Mike Schrock works at the university and is deeply involved with the athletic program, including being a former UIU women’s basketball coach.
Their passion for the Peacocks led us to having a regular show 100% devoted to one team. It is a lot of fun to cover alot of great athletes and coaches doing great things up in Fayette, Iowa.
Pigskin Breakdown – This show is led by a couple of SGI founders – Jordan Cole (Marion, IA) and Brandon Leonard (Ladora, IA) and covers all things High School and Small College football (NAIA, D3, D2, and Drake) during the football season. This show is going on the road this year all over Iowa this fall, and we are excited to cover High School and College Football inside the state borders each and every week.
You can follow us at Sports Guys Iowa on Apple, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Spotify, and YouTube.
As always, you can reach out to us at any time in the comments section with a DM on X or an email @ [email protected]