the OP only makes sense if people were hoping to push lick out the door because they thought it would make room for bruce pearl or someone else of that caliber was dying to take the iowa job. from the gigantic "phbbbt" sound made on this board when every realistic candidate is discussed, it seems like there were a lot of people who thought that way. that was just plain wishful thinking. the iowa job has to be one of the worst big-6 conference jobs out there right now: poor facilities, poor attendance, high fan expectations, and three coaches in 11 years (i know we all hate hearing that, but that's how the program is perceived). iowa is not going to land a big fish unless he is damaged goods-- tim floyd is probably a good example of this type.
the reason to fire todd lickliter is not because bruce pearl was begging to replace him. it was because he presided over the worst 3-year stretch of iowa basketball history, and the worst part of those three years was probably the last 10 games or so-- not exactly promising for the future.
any fans who think we are going to bring someone in who will turn this thing around right away should prepare to be disappointed. if we can get someone who shows some personality, gives his players a little more freedom to create, and shows he can recruit, that's all we can hope for. but i'm not going to expect sellouts at carver or a 20-win season. not next year. probably not the year after, either. the only thing that matters is that once the coach gets us headed in the right direction, we keep moving down that road. it is NOT going to be a fast process, and this was a trade-off for firing lick. but i'd rather be on a slower train to somewhere good than one headed straight for irrelevance.