DesMoinesHawki
Well-Known Member
B.J. Armstrong, Kevin Gamble, Bob Knight ... even Bobby Hanson ... Heck, one poster had Jess Settles as an assistant. While entertaining, none of the aforementioned coaches will be pacing the Iowa sideline next season. B.J Armstrong? Bobby Hansen? Really? Bob Knight? Really?
No, Iowa needs a proven winner. It needs a coach who brings an exciting syle of basketball. It needs a coach, most importantly, who can recruit. Barta thought he found it all when he landed Lick. A good guy, a clean program, a national coach of the year. But, in the end you had a coach who did not go out and recruit the type of players you need to compete day in and day out in the Big 10 conference.
Iowa has a nice nucleus to build from but the new coach needs to establish stronger recruiting ties.
Iowa is a not real attractive place right now. However, money talks. And, changes are being made to the facilities. We all know, winning cures a lot of ailments ... Bring the fans back and Iowa basketball will be relevant again.
The difference with Iowa, and say a Nebraska or a Penn State, is Iowa fans are passionate about basketball. They will come back. But, of course, winning is the name of the game. And it will take some time to bring the fans back. This is not a three year ordeal; this has been 10 years in the making. There will be a lot of pressure to win and to win soon. Fan's won't be patient with back-to-back 16 win seasons. They are tired. They are frustrated. They just want a reason to love Iowa basketball again and they are mad because that has been taken away from them.
I have been a die-hard Hawk fan for 30 years. When I was younger, I was even more of a basketball fan than football fan. I love Lute Olson and I still remember the headline in my local paper: "Lute Lute Lute ... Gone, Gone, Gone" I was devastated. Well, as devastated as a 10 year old can be.
As Jon wrote earlier, this is a crucial hire in the history of Iowa basketball. Never before has the fan base been so disguntled and dis-interested. We either right the ship or face the possbility of becoming the Nebraska of the Big 10 (a football-only school that happens to have a basketball program).
I think Barta understands the importance of getting this hire right. And, I think that is why he was willing to pull the plug on Lick after three years. Why? Because Iowa fans made a statement. Mediocrity is not acceptable. We kept Alford around for about four years more then most schools would have allowed. Alford was given every chance to succeed at Iowa. No, we didn't have a practice facility, but that alone did not prevent Alford from winning. Alford failed Iowa. Iowa and its fans did not fail Alford.
A few national pundits have hinted that Iowa is a death trap for a coach. That it runs it coaches off. That could be further from the truth. Lute was not run out of town. Neither was Raveling. Davis was EVENTUALLY let go but he had a lengthy run leading the program. Alford was here for nine seasons. Nine seasons and limited NCAA appearances ... Iowa did not run Alford out of town. In fact, Iowa gave Alford more of a chance to succeed than many other schools. And he failed. That was his doing. It was only after he brought in Craig Neal that the tide turned a little. And honestly, I think Neal is what is saving Alford's career now. But, it was a little too late. In the beginning, fans were excited to welcome in Alford. They waited .. patiently ... they waited some more more ... And then they waited some more ... Failed expectations ... That was on Alford. That was not on the University of Iowa.
As for Lickliter, well, the cards were stacked against him from the beginning. I don't think he or Barta understood the complexities and the frustration that existed with Iowa basektball. I mean this was a digruntled fan base. Otherwise, I think Barta indeed would have hired a more charismatic coach. One who could relate to the fans ... This was an angry fan base. A frustrated fan base. And in comes Lickliter, a soft-spoken, gee-whiz kind of guy, and you toss him into the flames and those flames only continued to grow during the end of the Alford regime.
Iowa has a basketball history. And instead of writing more chapters, Alford basically tore the cover off the book. In comes an athletic director who may not have understood all of the dynamics around the previous eight seasons under Alford, and then he, in turns, brings in coach, who on the surface, may have seemed like a Kirk Ferentz but turned out to be more like Floyd the Barber ...
Lick will land on his feet. And, he can sit back in his recliner and enjoy the $2.4 million he will collect from the University of Iowa ... Meanwhile, Barta has to find a coach that will bring back a fan base that was once united, then divided, and now despondent.
He needs a winner. He has to hit a home run with this hire. We don't need a short term, p.r. success (i.e. Hansen, Armstrong, insert any other former Iowa player name here). No, we need to hire a proven coach. And, we have to be willing to make a statement with our checkbook because it is going to cost us. We can settle on another mid major and offer him $1 million a year, or we dig a little deeper and up the ante to $2 or $3 million. That is the name of the game. I think that is what Barta is prepared to do ... I don't anticipate him bringing in a no-name coach ... He knows that ... He knows that will only draw more skepticism. Bringing in another mid-major coach will only have people sitting back and saying,"see, he hired another Lickliter." ...
No, we need the splash hire. Bruce Pearl is that splash hire. On the surface, fans are quick to call it a pipe dream. And a pipe dream it may be ... However, Bruce has been in Knoxville for eight seasons now and has probably accomplished as much as he will during his time there. This is the chance for a new opportunity. Back to the Big 10. No second fiddle to the women's team ... No competing in a football-only conference. ... While I think the chances of landing Bruce are slim, I do feel they are better than they were three years ago. Why? Iowa has been on the decline. However, Pearl knows the passion of Iowa fans. Maybe he is ready for a new challenge, and of course, an attractive financial package always helps.
A Keno Davis is not the answer. One year at Drake and then two so-so years at Providence is not the answer. No ... we have been there and done that. Some Iowans want to hold onto the belief we should only hire an "Iowa guy, with Iowa ties." On the surface, great. If that works and if the right coach is available. But folks, Keeno has not proven he is going to take Providence to the next level. We don't need to hire another "project coach" (i.e. Alford) ... We don't need someone to come in and learn on the job.
Barta really has a lot riding on thie hire. A lot ... The one thing I know ... good or bad, this is the most excited I have been about Iowa basketball since the last head coach search ... Go Hawks!
No, Iowa needs a proven winner. It needs a coach who brings an exciting syle of basketball. It needs a coach, most importantly, who can recruit. Barta thought he found it all when he landed Lick. A good guy, a clean program, a national coach of the year. But, in the end you had a coach who did not go out and recruit the type of players you need to compete day in and day out in the Big 10 conference.
Iowa has a nice nucleus to build from but the new coach needs to establish stronger recruiting ties.
Iowa is a not real attractive place right now. However, money talks. And, changes are being made to the facilities. We all know, winning cures a lot of ailments ... Bring the fans back and Iowa basketball will be relevant again.
The difference with Iowa, and say a Nebraska or a Penn State, is Iowa fans are passionate about basketball. They will come back. But, of course, winning is the name of the game. And it will take some time to bring the fans back. This is not a three year ordeal; this has been 10 years in the making. There will be a lot of pressure to win and to win soon. Fan's won't be patient with back-to-back 16 win seasons. They are tired. They are frustrated. They just want a reason to love Iowa basketball again and they are mad because that has been taken away from them.
I have been a die-hard Hawk fan for 30 years. When I was younger, I was even more of a basketball fan than football fan. I love Lute Olson and I still remember the headline in my local paper: "Lute Lute Lute ... Gone, Gone, Gone" I was devastated. Well, as devastated as a 10 year old can be.
As Jon wrote earlier, this is a crucial hire in the history of Iowa basketball. Never before has the fan base been so disguntled and dis-interested. We either right the ship or face the possbility of becoming the Nebraska of the Big 10 (a football-only school that happens to have a basketball program).
I think Barta understands the importance of getting this hire right. And, I think that is why he was willing to pull the plug on Lick after three years. Why? Because Iowa fans made a statement. Mediocrity is not acceptable. We kept Alford around for about four years more then most schools would have allowed. Alford was given every chance to succeed at Iowa. No, we didn't have a practice facility, but that alone did not prevent Alford from winning. Alford failed Iowa. Iowa and its fans did not fail Alford.
A few national pundits have hinted that Iowa is a death trap for a coach. That it runs it coaches off. That could be further from the truth. Lute was not run out of town. Neither was Raveling. Davis was EVENTUALLY let go but he had a lengthy run leading the program. Alford was here for nine seasons. Nine seasons and limited NCAA appearances ... Iowa did not run Alford out of town. In fact, Iowa gave Alford more of a chance to succeed than many other schools. And he failed. That was his doing. It was only after he brought in Craig Neal that the tide turned a little. And honestly, I think Neal is what is saving Alford's career now. But, it was a little too late. In the beginning, fans were excited to welcome in Alford. They waited .. patiently ... they waited some more more ... And then they waited some more ... Failed expectations ... That was on Alford. That was not on the University of Iowa.
As for Lickliter, well, the cards were stacked against him from the beginning. I don't think he or Barta understood the complexities and the frustration that existed with Iowa basektball. I mean this was a digruntled fan base. Otherwise, I think Barta indeed would have hired a more charismatic coach. One who could relate to the fans ... This was an angry fan base. A frustrated fan base. And in comes Lickliter, a soft-spoken, gee-whiz kind of guy, and you toss him into the flames and those flames only continued to grow during the end of the Alford regime.
Iowa has a basketball history. And instead of writing more chapters, Alford basically tore the cover off the book. In comes an athletic director who may not have understood all of the dynamics around the previous eight seasons under Alford, and then he, in turns, brings in coach, who on the surface, may have seemed like a Kirk Ferentz but turned out to be more like Floyd the Barber ...
Lick will land on his feet. And, he can sit back in his recliner and enjoy the $2.4 million he will collect from the University of Iowa ... Meanwhile, Barta has to find a coach that will bring back a fan base that was once united, then divided, and now despondent.
He needs a winner. He has to hit a home run with this hire. We don't need a short term, p.r. success (i.e. Hansen, Armstrong, insert any other former Iowa player name here). No, we need to hire a proven coach. And, we have to be willing to make a statement with our checkbook because it is going to cost us. We can settle on another mid major and offer him $1 million a year, or we dig a little deeper and up the ante to $2 or $3 million. That is the name of the game. I think that is what Barta is prepared to do ... I don't anticipate him bringing in a no-name coach ... He knows that ... He knows that will only draw more skepticism. Bringing in another mid-major coach will only have people sitting back and saying,"see, he hired another Lickliter." ...
No, we need the splash hire. Bruce Pearl is that splash hire. On the surface, fans are quick to call it a pipe dream. And a pipe dream it may be ... However, Bruce has been in Knoxville for eight seasons now and has probably accomplished as much as he will during his time there. This is the chance for a new opportunity. Back to the Big 10. No second fiddle to the women's team ... No competing in a football-only conference. ... While I think the chances of landing Bruce are slim, I do feel they are better than they were three years ago. Why? Iowa has been on the decline. However, Pearl knows the passion of Iowa fans. Maybe he is ready for a new challenge, and of course, an attractive financial package always helps.
A Keno Davis is not the answer. One year at Drake and then two so-so years at Providence is not the answer. No ... we have been there and done that. Some Iowans want to hold onto the belief we should only hire an "Iowa guy, with Iowa ties." On the surface, great. If that works and if the right coach is available. But folks, Keeno has not proven he is going to take Providence to the next level. We don't need to hire another "project coach" (i.e. Alford) ... We don't need someone to come in and learn on the job.
Barta really has a lot riding on thie hire. A lot ... The one thing I know ... good or bad, this is the most excited I have been about Iowa basketball since the last head coach search ... Go Hawks!
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