This! I am now convinced this guy was Lickliter himself. Turns out the guy was making every ounce of what he threw on this board up. We should have seen through his act earlier.
Doubt he posts around her much anymore.
Actually I do. And I make no apologies. What I was wrong about was also misunderstood by many of the people involved, including Barta.
As to the parameters of this mea culpa:
1. I said that the conjecture here that Barta's omission of any mention of Lickliter's status after the Minnesota game was unfounded, that it wasn't even clear that Barta wrote its text (the common practice is for the AD to tell the SID--Sports Informaton Director-to prepare a statement saying such & such.
Barta himself confirmed my point in his press conference announcing Lickliter's firing: "I didn't say anything about his status then because we hadn't made any decision at that point. We didn't make the decision until yesterday" (Sunday--after he met with the players)
2. I said that Lickliter wouldn't/couldn't fire Lickliter until he got approval of the move from President Mason. Which he didn't get until lale Saturday or early Sunday. I've asked the people in the administration who told me tat such authorization would not be forthcoming why the change from just a few days before. I haven't gotten a fully plausible, informed answer...and it seems hardly anyone really knows what happened. Their original skepticism made sense to me: the reluctance to buy out Lickliter and allocate the many millions that will be necessary to pay a five year or longer contract to a new coach would force delay in coming up with the balance needed to pay for the ongoing CHA renovations and upgrading--and that in turn would mean postponing the construction of a new indoor practice facility for football--possibly making Ferentz, the guy with the cash cow for Iowa athletics, unhappy and llikely to have adverse effects on football recruiting.
3. What I have learned--and it reflects badly on Barta as well as Lickliter--is that the great throngs on the internet boards pushing rumors about guys leaving the program actually have it *** backwards...the problem is not the guys who might leave, it was the lack of chemistry and potential for serious antagonism among the guys who stay.
What is definite is that in mid-week Eric May's father called Barta and brought up serious matters that Barta was either unaware of or didn't grasp the extent of the potential problems that weren't being addressed. Obviously no one knows exactly what was said by either party other than the two themselves, but two consequences are known that indicate some of the content. Barta afterward talked to Mike & Matt Gatens with regard to dissatisfaction about how Tucker was treated, and the apparent indication by May senior that his son felt he would be criticized if he took a shot "too early" while his mentor Matt was so frustrated that he felt compelled to kick-start the offense by taking poor shots that earlier in the year he passed on hoping/expecting PG Payne to set up a better, higher-probability shot (the clear implication is that Gatens--justifiably--felt/feels that the PG that Lickliter put on the floor was hurting Gat4ens'game; the other potential implication is that Payne either knows or will realize--and understandably resent--that Gatens & May (Tucker/others) think he is the problem.
One of those I talked to, a faculty member long involved in the athletic program, said he had long been concerned that Barta was not keeping himself close enough & informed enough about the basketball program, and that Lickliter was not forthcoming but allowed to treat t he program like it was "his program" and he did not welcome involvment from the AD or other staff. Specifically, he blamed Barta for a serious blunder when he first took over from Bowlsby and for subsequently failing to correct it. Barta allowed Alford to force out Rick Walker as as assistant coach (and, informally, the AD's eyes within the program; then he magnified the blunder by allowing Lickliter to choose ALL the basketball staff (all young guys who were "his guys"), rather than insisting that one of the staff be someone like a former Iowa player, someone who would communicate problems to Barta before they became major concerns.
Barta should not have been blind-sided learning that there was serious potential for disastrous dissension in Lickliter's program. There was a major failure by Lickliter--but there is also a huge blot on Barta's record that he created the basis of his own ignorance. Once the chain of events, the series of discussions began set in motion by May's phone call, there was no alternative to buying out Lickliter, and Mason agreed to it.
4. I have no reluctance admitting that events went contrary to my expectations. Its a nolo contendre defense--except to point out that what I was saying on & before March 12 (my last posts on the matter) was consistent with the positions of Barta himself, President Mason, the expectations of insiders in the administration. The situation changed...my problems in seeing what could happen are my own doing: since the Alford-Pierce fiasco I turned by time to other interests, and the kids in the program that I knew well like Worley, Lillis, Janee Graham have graduated, and I suffer from the bias inherent in associating with other retired old fools mostly, along with a few HS & college coaches in the area, some school administrators, some old associates & aquaintnces at the NCAA and former associates in the Office of Post-Secondary Education of the US Dept of Education.
5. I would like the record straight on one thing: objectively, I believed that Lickliter would be the coach next year, and that he is a strong teacher and has recruited good enough & deep enough talent that his team likely would have a winning record next year, get to post-season, and the improvement would enable him to hang on for a number of years longer. I'm not unhappy that he is gone: he was never my choice (I wanted Altman, or Lon Kruger if Altman couldn't be convinced to leave Creighton) and from the beginning I felt that his lack of charisma & charm, his poor communication skills, his inability to connect with players, students, fans would keep him from ever climbing up to that illusive "next level". But I also fear that we now are in a situation where we have to have luck as well as keen perception by the search committee to get the coach who can turn things around soon. I want desperately to be greatly surprised by the guy Barta introduces as the next Hawkeye coach. I'd be more than satisfied under the circumstances if he comes from Lone Tree by way of Knoxville, Tn or from North Dakota by way of Cedar Falls--not the guys I would like but the best of those I'm guessing are among the possible choices.
