Theory of why Lickliter failed or We hired the wrong Butler coach

[SirJamaLot]

I don't know about others but I'm sick and tired of the all the complaining that Alford and Lick receive on this board. I got excited when they were both hired and happy when they left. Neither were very good recruiters, period. This spring it is critical that the Hawkeyes sign 2 impact players similar to Baasbe and Cartwright. Fran has a plan and I hope he can make it work. Go Hawks!

 

[in8hawk]

Yes, Hawkstrat, I was talking about Brackins, Wesley Johnson, and the Colvin kid that left. SirJamaLot, I wasn't complaining about Lickliter as much as I was pointing out why I thought he didn't work out. I believe that Fran did a far better job putting together a staff with some experience and connections. I can't wait to see them get a little more traction and see where it goes.

 

[ColumbusHawk]

Butler did not exactly shed a tear when the guy left and has been better without him. I remember being stoaked about Lickliter UNTIL he hired Walthall as his top assistant. Next he brings in Jordan and Cornette who had little, if any, experience with recruiting as his 3 & 4 guys. What ensued was nothing short of a ponzi scheme with Lickliter blowing smoke about turning corners, player development etc., while losses mounted and players left. Hiring Lickliter was a bad decision, but not providing oversight on his hires was the atomic bomb. No way should the AD or the selection committee allowed him to bring in a staff of amatuers.

There is a reason the guy is sitting around in Indiana not coaching and slumming for jobs like Florida Gulf Coast. Had the guy been intelligent enough to hire a couple of seasoned assistants / recruiters, things might have turned out differently. I said when he left that he would never coach higher than D2 again and so far that prediction is holding true.

Spot on. The hiring of Chad Walthall as the number two assistant and lead recruiter has to be one of the worst decisions ever by a Big Ten basketball coach. Prior to coming to Iowa, Walthall had two years of recruiting experience at Eastern Michigan. He spent eleven of the previous thirteen years before Iowa at Division III schools. Basically, Walthall had never recruited a Big Ten caliber athlete.

The hiring of Joel Cornette may have been worse than hiring Walthall. Cornette was coordinator of basketball operations for one year at Butler before coming to Iowa. The coordinator of basketball operations is a non-coaching and non-recruiting position. Cornette was really a secretary for Lickliter at Butler. He didn't recuit or coach prior to coming to Iowa.

Walthall & Cornette are now pretty much doing what they did before they came to Iowa. Walthall is a Division II head coach & Cornette is editing film for the BTN.

I had no problems with Lavelle Jordan. The only quality hire Lickliter made. However, he should have been the third assistant. His resume & Francis' are almost identical on coming to Iowa. If Andrew had decided to stay at Siena, I wouldn't have complained if McCaffery had decided to keep Jordan.

In contrast to Lickliter, McCaffery has put together a very solid staff. Speraw's & Dillard's resumes are more impressive than Lickliter's & his staffs combined. Look at how Iowa got Bryce Cartwright

Bryce Cartwright adjusts to role as starting Big Ten guard | Hawk Central

Lickliter & his staff didn't have contacts like Speraw & Dillard.

Next year it will be 33 years since Iowa has won a Big Ten title. In the previous 27 years, Iowa had five Big Ten titles & had three final four appearances

 

[hawkIhoops]

iowa has several guys who picked iowa over butler, so its pretty tough to say that their strategy would work in the big ten.

I can't recall any current / former player that Butler actually offered that we got. I think there has been some interest shown by Butler, but interest can be a letter. Remember, nobody asks the parents or the kids to "prove they got an offer" and schools can't talk about it. So a kid tells some reporter that "a lot of schools are showing interest" and maybe he got a letter from Butler or whoever and he throws a name or two out there. Before you know it fans are running around claiming "we have to get this kid because XYZ school offered him, so he must be good.

Case in point: Cougill saying Texas has shown interest. I am not saying he made it up, just saying nobody can confirm / deny it, so it had some running to message boards screaming that we have to get Cougill back.

 

[SirJamaLot]

Yes, Hawkstrat, I was talking about Brackins, Wesley Johnson, and the Colvin kid that left. SirJamaLot, I wasn't complaining about Lickliter as much as I was pointing out why I thought he didn't work out. I believe that Fran did a far better job putting together a staff with some experience and connections. I can't wait to see them get a little more traction and see where it goes.

sorry about the negative rant, and I agree with you that Alford and Lick did not have good staffs, I'm just tired of beating a dead horse, I'm ready for some good news on the spring signing, the Hawks deserve to catch a break!!

 

[Herkyalert]

I thought I read somewhere that Lick had no idea just how far the program had fallen until he got to work at Iowa. The shape the program was in was just bad. Couple that with the fact that Lick didn't like to hit the recruiting trails and it's a bad setup.

One has to wonder just how involved Brad Stevens was with the success of Lick at Butler. No doubt the program was in good shape after Matta left, but Stevens has been credited with assisting in recruiting before becoming the head coach.

Then of course you have the conference thing. Dan Monson failed at Minnesota after having success at Gonzaga, a school that has went through a few coaches and maintained success.

Butler could be another Gonzaga. Steady tradition in a lower conference.

 

[JonDMiller]

It's always been a challenge at Iowa and probably always will be. Raveling was the rare exception great recruiter, and he wasn't exactly air tight as it relates to dotting all the i's of the rule book.

Davis had a system where he could get above average talent to perform at a level better than their individual parts. Lickliter's philosophy might work in the Horizon, but not night in and night out in the Big Ten where something along those lines is already being done to a great level (Wisconsin).

McCaffery's 'style' is more uptempo, but it's not necc. unique and therefore will depend more on talent than Davis' system did.

 

[hawkdrummer1]

Re: Thoery of why Lickliter failed or We hired the wrong Butler coach

Butler has some built-in advantages that Iowa does not have. It is a private liberal arts school, in a metropolitan center with good basketball talent that hosts several key sporting events each year. The school also puts the vast share of its athletic resources into that sport.
.

ah...so as Steve would say.."It's a basketball school"

 

[HawkForce]

IF I was not an Iowa fan....I would rather coach at Butler....it's easier to get to the dance....and that's the biggest thing in the sport....See VCU....once you get there then you can go to work.

 

[Hawkstrat]

IF I was not an Iowa fan....I would rather coach at Butler....it's easier to get to the dance....and that's the biggest thing in the sport....See VCU....once you get there then you can go to work.

Not a big fan of money?

 

[HawkForce]

Not a big fan of money?

Economically I would have to look at it....making 1 million every year until I retire (basically Stevens at Butler) or making 2 million for 4 years or whatever Lick was....I am not greedy....I'll take job security and a ridiculous check...If Stevens takes Butler to the tourney annually (which he's doing) and every once in a while wins some....he'll be there until he leaves....I value that.

 

[BigD]

Wow Butler must have raised their standards. If memory serves me well Lickliter was making under $300,000 a year when he left Butler. So in the contract with Iowa Lickliter made more in his three years and his by out than he would have made at Butler in 15 years. Yep, I bet Todd cries everytime he goes to the bank. It appears he is not as stupid as some might think. I only wish I was $o $tupid. On another matter I think this years Iowa team finishes in second place in the horizon conference and makes Butler sweat to earn first place. Big Ten conference is > the horizon conference. Butler would be challenged to finish at the top of the second tier of the Big Ten.

 

[HawkeyesWin]

i prefer to look forward. FM is the man.

 

[Row55]

...Hiring Lickliter was a bad decision, but not providing oversight on his hires was the atomic bomb. No way should the AD or the selection committee allowed him to bring in a staff of amatuers....

Which goes back to Barta, and his small-school, football background. At that time he was the wrong guy to be hiring a basketball coach.

 

[tweeterhawk]

... On another matter I think this years Iowa team finishes in second place in the horizon conference and makes Butler sweat to earn first place. Big Ten conference is > the horizon conference. Butler would be challenged to finish at the top of the second tier of the Big Ten.

That's why I think it will be interesting to see how the Wisconsin-Butler game goes Thursday night -- the Horizon League champion versus the Big Ten's No. 3. Somewhat similar styles -- Wisconsin physically ugly, Butler deliberate swing offense -- but Wisconsin with arguably taller and perhaps stronger players. We took Wisky to overtime at home and had a great chance to win but didn't.