Crean took over a program that was decimated and clearly in much worse shape than what Iowa's program was. Crean is in his 2nd year. He recruited a top 10 class last year. His team is ALL freshmen and sophomores and they have beaten Pitt and have been competetive this year and have won more games than they did all of last year (which isn't saying much). The point, however, is that with his YOUNG team he is making definite improvement and one of the ways was by recruiting talented kids that can compete in the Big 10.
Now look at Iowa and what Lickliter has done in year 3 in comparison. The program is now the worst it has ever done. The talent level that Lickkliter is recruiting is questionable at best. He cannot fill key spots that Iowa desperately needs. The team is YOUNG (like Indiana) but not remotely competetive this year (with the same kind of youth that Indiana has--sophomores and freshmen).
So comparing the two programs, can we as fans really say that Iowa is rebuilding? Crean is in his SECOND year, whereas Lickliter is in his THIRD year. Indiana's program is improving, Minnesota's program is a Big 10 contender, Purdue's is a national power already, Wisconsin's turned their program around in a year, and so on...AND IOWA, well Iowa's has sunk to depths never before seen at Iowa with Lickliter. We watch other new coaches go to programs and immediately begin to rebuild their programs and all Iowa fans can do is make excuses for Lickliter for WHY he HASN'T done anything and WHY he MIGHT do something in the future because he was a COY once.
