Some might say it was another ordinary week for the Iowa basketball
program. A new assistant coach was hired, a recruit decommited
and a starting forward decided to transfer.
Welcome to Iowa, Fran McCaffery!
The week
started off on a good note for the new Hawkeye head coach. McCaffery
named Andrew Francis an assistant coach on his staff. Francis was an
assistant at Siena before the hire.
"I
am very happy to have Andrew be part of the Hawkeye basketball family,"
announced McCaffery. "I've
worked closely with Andrew for three years and he is the complete
package. He's a tremendous coach and excellent recruiter."
The
new hire excitement didn't last long, though, as the following day
McCaffery has to announce a pair of defections.
Does the title sounds a little far fetched? Good, then I've accomplished my goal.
The search for Iowa's new men's basketball head coach has been everything short of complete insanity over the last few weeks. Iowa's athletic director Gary Barta has been very tight-lipped about his endeavors in finding a replacement for the recently fired Todd Lickliter, which has the Iowa Blog-o-sphere and Twitterverse going nuts with theories and hypotheticals.
At this point, 92% of all posters on any Hawkeye forum have heard from "a source" that Iowa's next head coach is definitely going to be [INSERT NAME HERE].
BJ Armstrong, Bruce Pearl, Keno Davis, Dr. Tom Davis, Bobby Knight, Steve Lavin, Les Jepsen (no, seriously), every assistant John Calipari ever had...no matter how crazy the coaching candidate might seem, if you name them they've likely already been mentioned in reference to the opening on a forum thread or tweet somewhere.
That's why I've decided to finally throw out my dark-horse candidate for Iowa's next head coach.
Steve Carfino.
That's right, the former 80's Hawkeye legend himself Steve Carfino. The Australian National Basketball League's Mr. Magic, Steve Carfino.
A Jewel Shines [Iowa Official Report] - Running back Hampton making nice progress in rehabilitation effort.
Ferentz has the Hawkeyes soaring into spring [Hawkeye Report] - It's difficult to believe that some felt Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz was under pressure entering the 2008 season. But his footing did appear unsteady at that time.
Football Back on the Menu [Hawkeye Nation] - During the last week and a half, most of the traffic to this site and others related to Hawkeye Athletics has focused on the vacant Iowa basketball head coaching position. That’s a pretty big deal, so it’s understandable.
Obama to visit UI on Thursday [Press Citizen] - Less than 24 hours after the U.S. House gave final approval to the historic health care reform bill, the White House announced President Obama will visit Iowa City on Thursday to discuss health insurance reform's effect on small businesses and American families.
Ferentz wishes Lickliter well after dismissal [Hawk Central] - Iowa women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder and Iowa wrestling coach Tom Brands earned Ferentz’s praise for what their teams accomplished this season.
UI focused on O [Hawk Central] - Line Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz doesn't have a whole lot of rebuilding to do this spring following an 11-2 season and the school's first-ever BCS bowl victory.
Hawkeyes face high expectations after BCS bowl win [Radio Iowa] - Expectations will be high for the Iowa football team next season,. The Hawkeyes have a number of key players back from last years team that finished 11-2 and beat Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl.
As March Madness intensifies, so does Iowa's search for a new head
coach.
Over the weekend, while most of the state was captivated by Ali
Farokhmanesh's three-point invincibility , the University of Iowa
announced that a five member committee will assist Athletic Director
Gary Barta in finding the next men's head basketball coach.
In addition to Barta, the five-member
committee will consist of:
Fred Mims, Associate Athletics
Director
Betsy Altmaier, Faculty
Athletic Representative
Ellie Herman, Chair of the
Presidential
Committee on Athletics
Bobby Hansen, Former Basketball
Student-Athlete
The committee will be tasked with finding a replacement for the
recently-fired Todd Lickliter.
Spring superlatives: Iowa [ESPN] - The Hawkeyes are especially strong at defensive line, safety and the offensive skill spots, but they need to reload at offensive line and linebacker.
Four downs with the secondary [Marc Morehouse] - Spievey’s departure obviously blows a hole in the secondary. He was as lock down as any cornerback in Ferentz’s 11 seasons as Iowa’s coach.
Iowa Takes Down Wichita State [Hawkeye Sports] - The women's tennis team improves to 9-2 on the season following a 6-1 win Thursday.
UI battling declining basketball revenue [IC Press-Citizen] - "Iowa budgeted $2.3 million for men's basketball income this fiscal year. The final number may come in far lower, given that attendance set an all-time low."
Alexander Featured On ESPN.com [Hawkeye Sports] - ESPN.com women's basketball columnist Graham Hays is officially on the Kachine Alexander bandwagon.
Links on potential Iowa candidates; Keno out? [Scott Docterman]
Tennessee coach Pearl dodges Iowa question [QC Times] - Pearl said during the interview that recruiting seems to be at the crux of Iowa's recent struggles in the Big Ten.
NCAA Job Posting: Head Men's Basketball Coach, Iowa
Iowa outlines hoops job in ad - The University of Iowa did not waste any time beginning to advertise its vacant men's basketball coaching position.
Job Posting: Head Men's Basketball Coach
Iowa Shopping for Pearls - "Gary Barta held a press conference announcing that Todd Lickliter, the lackluster coach for the Iowa Hawkeyes, will not be returning next year to coach the team. Really?!?"
Who should be on Iowa’s short list? It’s not hard to figure out - By all accounts, Todd Lickliter is a good guy. He's intelligent, well spoken, mild-mannered and courteous - all great qualities in a person you're hiring to do your taxes. But for a big-time college basketball coach, those traits tend to get you chewed up and spit out on the side of the road.
Decision by Iowa AD makes sense [SC Journal] - "I'm not inclined to jump up and down gleefully any time anyone loses their job, even if it's someone who really should be set for life financially and have the option, most likely, of never working again."
Possible Lickliter successors [QC Times] - Iowa athletic director Gary Barta said the next coach likely will have head-coaching experience. Steve Batterson offers a list of names worth thinking about.
Walthall: 'It's a tough business' [The Herald] - University of Iowa men's basketball coach Todd Lickliter and assistant coach Chad Walthall had heard the whispers of Lickliter's job status circulating around the Hawkeye program ever since Iowa's 59-52 loss to Michigan in the first round of the Big Ten Conference tournament last Thursday.
Rutgers Women's Basketball Faces No. 8 Seed Iowa in 21st NCAA Championship Appearance - Rutgers women’s basketball, seeded ninth, will face No. 8 seed Iowa in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship Saturday, March 20, at the Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif. Game time is set for 8:16 p.m. ET and will be nationally televised on ESPN2.
Hawkeyes set for Iowa reunion out West [The Hawk Eye] - It didn't take long for the Iowa women's basketball team to find out where it would be in the NCAA tournament.
Iowa women an 8 seed, ISU earns a 4 [WCF Courier] - Iowa is no stranger to its opening-round opponent in the NCAA women's basketball tournament.
Google Fiber Network Coming to Iowa City Area? [KCRG] - Four Johnson County communities have united to form the Iowa City Area Broadband Coalition (ICABC) in hopes that Google picks this area to be part of its first high-speed broadband network.
U.S. Sen. Grassley: $244,659 to the University of Iowa [Iowa Politics] - Chuck Grassley today said that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has awarded a $244,659 competitive grant to the University of Iowa.
Ravens re-sign Paschal, targeting Moeaki - The Ravens announced that exclusive-rights free agent defensive back Marcus Paschal has signed his tender.
Credibility Gap [Hawkeye Report] - Gary Barta has a problem and it isn't that he's looking for the second men's basketball coach of his relatively short tenure in Iowa City.
Like Julius Caesar long ago, March 15 turned out to be a horrible day
Iowa coach Todd
Lickliter .
It's fitting that on the historic Ides of March, a scenario within
the University of Iowa men's basketball program would play out very much
like a day back in 44 B.C., when Caesar was stabbed to death on the
floor of the Roman Senate by Marcus Junius Brutus and several other
co-conspirators.
Iowa's version of the drama began as a small
murmur on a message board and quickly turned into a screaming public mob
of angry fans calling for change.
On Monday, Iowa's athletic director Gary Barta stepped up to play the
part of Brutus in this drama, driving the final dagger into Lickliter's
tenure as a Hawkeye.
It was reported by the Gazette Online 's Scott Dochterman
that Barta met with Lickliter this morning in a meeting that started at
9:00 a.m. and lasted less than 10 minutes. Shortly there after, the university
announced a press conference had been set at Carver-Hawkeye Arena
"to discuss the future of the Iowa basketball program."
Barta announced at the press conference that the future of Iowa
men's basketball program no longer involved Lickliter as head
coach.
If exodus at Iowa continues, Lickliter's got to go [Keeler] - Word on the street is that Barta met with several Hawkeyes before they left for the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis, and that several - how many, we don't know - told him they would not return if Lickliter was still the coach.
For hope to follow, Hawkeye basketball needs a change [Mike Hlas] - I wrestled with this column for two full days. I’ve never called for anyone to be fired to my memory, though I said Iowa State had no real choice after the Larry Eustachy situation arose several years ago.
Iowa men's basketball season review: Hawkeyes wrap it up under a cloud [DM Register] - Iowa men's basketball coach Todd Lickliter was asked earlier this week if he was feeling the heat.
Barta faces plenty of obstacles - It wasn't exactly the most popular head coaching job around the last time it was open.
The Lickliter Watch: Saturday's Word Part II [Hawkeye Insider] - In case you’ve been in a hole or out of the country, as a Hawkeye Insider you learned that something is going on in the Iowa basketball program. The rumor mill started churning on Thursday that Coach Todd Lickliter would not be retained.
Lickliter could be out after 10-22 mark [ESPN] - Iowa coach Todd Lickliter left Conseco Fieldhouse on Thursday with his future in doubt.
Dead Man Walking? [DM Register] - Todd Lickliter may be back next season as Iowa’s head men’s basketball coach, but he sounded like dead man walking Thursday afternoon.
Hawkeyes flop with Lickliter under fire [DM Register] - Iowa’s basketball season ended Thursday, amid speculation about coach Todd Lickliter’s future.
Is Coach Lickliter Leaving Iowa? - KCCI News report out of Des Moines.
Lickliter era could be over at Iowa [Sun Times] - As he sat at the podium fielding questions about his future, Todd Lickliter looked like a coach who had just wrapped up a 10-22 season, the most losses in 108 years of Iowa basketball. Which is what he is.
OK, so now what? [John Bohnenkamp Blog] - Unless something happens in the next few days that we don’t know about, it appears as if Todd Lickliter has coached his last game at Iowa.
Season Over; What of Lickliter Era? [Hawkeye Nation] - Chances are you have been aware of the madness that took place in the Iowa basketball community on Thursday, March 11th. It will be a day I never forget, because a) it was my youngest daughter’s 1st birthday, and b) it was the day when perhaps the most amazing wildfire in Hawkeye message board history caught fire.
