No DJK in CFL, but an ex-Hawkeye had a nice win in Michigan

I'm back from a few days' hiatus, and the world didn't spin off its axis in my absence.

The Powerball jackpot was won from a ticket bought by Cedar Rapids people at a Cedar Rapids supermarket that I occasionally patronize. I spent the weekend trying to remember if I'd purchased a Powerball ticket there in the last week. Then it occurred to me I've never bought a Powerball ticket, anywhere.

So that was disappointing.

That said, I may be giving you a few nuggets you'd already heard, but forgive me. I'm easing back into this before attending Night 1 of Prime Time League 2012 Tuesday in North Liberty.

1. Derrell Johnson-Koulianos was released Saturday by the Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes.

This was a few months after Johnson-Koulianos was cut before the start of the Arena Football League's season by the Iowa Barnstormers.

DJK was a lightning rod in these parts, and his senior-season legal misadventures and subsequent suspension for the Insight Bowl forever marred his reputation as a University of Iowa wide receiver.

But let's put that aside and simply say you have to concede the difference between college football and pro football (even the CFL) is great. While Iowa has placed a lot of players in the NFL, many others don't pan out. Capable defensive lineman Broderick Binns didn't get drafted and was an early-cut of the Arizona Cardinals after getting a contract as an undrafted free agent. Rookie tight end Brad Herman signed as an UFA with the New England Patriots and lasted only long enough to see what a minicamp was all about.

Johnson-Koulianos briefly held all-time receiving records at Iowa. It takes more than that to make it in pro football.

2. Iowa State got itself another well-regarded men's basketball recruit last Thursday.

Mike Thomas of Onalaska, Wis., skipped past Wisconsin and Marquette to hook on with ISU. Thomas will join the Cyclones next year.

Meanwhile, incoming freshman Georges Niang wasted no time making an impression in central Iowa's version of the Prime Time League. Niang scored 48 points in his YMCA Capital City Basketball League debut.

3. Barrett Kelpin ended his golf career at Iowa a couple weeks ago at the NCAA Championships, where the Hawkeyes finished 22nd.

Kelpin made his professional debut over the weekend, and won the Michigan Open.

Kelpin shot 23-under-par over 72 holes, tying the 95-year-old event's record for lowest score.

He got $8,000 for the triumph.