You guys remember Steve Alford?

[1977Hawkeye]

Just to add a little more fuel to pmc's rant here. If the Iowa program was as good as people want to believe when Alford left, the Lickliter era shouldn't have been so bad.

The Alford era finished with 7 straight seasons with a winning record. Two NCAA appearances the final 3 years (one as a 3 seed), and a 9-7 record in conference the final year.

It wasn't until LICKLITER arrived on campus that seasons of record-setting loss total started.

It wasn't Alford that was running off players in droves under Lickliter's watch, and it wasn't Alford who was handing out scholarships to players that were told by they previous coaches to start looking at other programs (Bawinkel & Brommer) or players who weren't even starters on their JUCO teams (Archie).

I should not be mistaken for an Alford fan, but the blind Alford hatred on this board is astounding.

We'll just have to agree to disagree that it was Alford that sank this program to the depths where it is now.

 

[1977Hawkeye]

Lickliter isn't the reason the program has been in shambles.

Yes, he is. A large part of it anyway. Lick has the worst winning percentage of any coach in Iowa sports, and you are giving him a pass and dumping all of this in Alford's lap? WOW. Unreal.

Alford however is the SOLE reason the fan base is divided. If the fan base is intact it fills Carver Hawkeye Arena, and makes winning at CHA a bigger challenge for opponents.

BALONEY. If the team was winning, Carver would be full. Remember 2005-06? The year the team won 25 games? Carver was packed the 2nd half of that season because the team was winning. And that was with Alford still as our coach. By your logic, Carver should still have been empty because the fan base was divided over SA.

But I know what you're thinking - it was Alford who destroyed the program and caused the current mess, and that's why the fans aren't showing up. So it's still Alford's fault.

Again, agree to disagree. Alford was very average here, but Lick was a disaster. I've put in my 2 cents. I'm done.

 

[trail888]

OK so Stevie Wonder came in landed some great classes. Problems is he couldn't coach them. He did very little with the talent he had and could not close the deal on these recruits in his last two years and got none of them. He left the cupboard bare, there was no talent left when he split. He crapped his pants everytime in big games and the NCAA tournament. God I don't miss that arrogant a hole. Fran flips the talent the next two years we'll be glad helmet hair is long gone. So what if he just landed a big class he can't coach.

 

[Section136]

OK so Stevie Wonder came in landed some great classes. Problems is he couldn't coach them. He did very little with the talent he had and could not close the deal on these recruits in his last two years and got none of them. He left the cupboard bare, there was no talent left when he split. He crapped his pants everytime in big games and the NCAA tournament. God I don't miss that arrogant a hole. Fran flips the talent the next two years we'll be glad helmet hair is long gone. So what if he just landed a big class he can't coach.

Your post is off in many spots. Alford did not leave the cupboard bare. Lickliter inherited a roster with Tyler Smith and Tony Freeman as potential players to build around. Also had solid players in Cyrus Tate and Justin Johnson and had a class of Jeff Peterson, Jarryd Cole and Jake Kelly coming to Iowa. He then followed that class with Gatens, Tucker and Fuller.

Smith left, Freeman left, Peterson left, Kelly left, Tucker left, Fuller left. The only one that I give Lick a pass on is Tyler Smith as he was probably out the door regardless of who we hired to replace Alford. The attrition and "bare cupboard" is on Lickliter and only Lickliter.

Alford catches a lot of heat for the NW State loss and deservedly so. He won quite a few big games over the years though too. Against #1 UCONN in MSG in his 1st game as the Hawks coach, @Mizzou with Evans & Recker, 4 games in 4 days in Indy in 2001, Louisville & Texas in Maui in 2004, MSU in the Big 10 Tourney to get us off the bubble in 2005, winning Big Ten Tourney in 2006 are a handful I can think of just off the top of my head.

Alford may have been a *****, but he is not the reason that Iowa Basketball is in the spot it is today.

 

[sioux34]

I still believe that Smith told Alf he was leaving, and that was what made Alf decide to skedaddle. Without Smith, he had no chance of meeting the challenge Barta had laid down.

There is no arguing that Lick drove out a lot of players and made the overall program worse, but you are crazy if you think Alf left the program in better shape than he found it.

 

[Section136]

I still believe that Smith told Alf he was leaving, and that was what made Alf decide to skedaddle. Without Smith, he had no chance of meeting the challenge Barta had laid down.

There is no arguing that Lick drove out a lot of players and made the overall program worse, but you are crazy if you think Alf left the program in better shape than he found it.

I dont know if this was directed at me but that is not what I was saying. My point is Lick deserves much more blame for the current state of the program than Alford.

Actually if I could blame one person and one person only for the basketball program being in shambles, I would pick Bob Bowlsby.

 

[Hawkz66]

Is Alford still coaching? Haven't heard are seen anything about him in a few years.

 

[BlackHawk]

I dont know if this was directed at me but that is not what I was saying. My point is Lick deserves much more blame for the current state of the program than Alford.

Actually if I could blame one person and one person only for the basketball program being in shambles, I would pick Bob Bowlsby.

I think this is legit. He allowed the basketball facilities to fall to third-world ranks. With recruiting as competitive as it is, you need every advantage you can get, and BB did very little to keep Iowa competitive on that front.

 

[hawkIhoops]

Alford has 1 NCAA win at UNM against Montana. Odds are they won't make it to the dance this year with SDSU and UNLV playing well and a possible spoiler in Boise State joining the conference. Even after his "big" season a couple years ago, he wasn't mentioned for "better" jobs. Ask Hoosier nation if they would ever want him back and the answer is a resounding NO. Grade A jerk, thus the fan apathy while he was here.

 

[pmchawk]

Yes, he is. A large part of it anyway. Lick has the worst winning percentage of any coach in Iowa sports, and you are giving him a pass and dumping all of this in Alford's lap? WOW. Unreal.

That is your blind spot, the basketball program is more then just Wins and Losses. If you only look at that Lick was by far the worse of the 2. I have no difficulty saying that, but if you look at the basketball PROGRAM, he didn't hurt the fanbase off the court which is where the most damage can come from. I never gave Lick a pass.

BALONEY. If the team was winning, Carver would be full. Remember 2005-06? The year the team won 25 games? Carver was packed the 2nd half of that season because the team was winning. And that was with Alford still as our coach. By your logic, Carver should still have been empty because the fan base was divided over SA.

Why did it take so long? They were PRESEASON TOP 20! Before the fanbase split, Carver would have been packed the entire year... not JUST at the back half. Winning with a quality team will make a fanbase forget for a while when they are angry at someone (and made with key pieces from Iowa).

But I know what you're thinking - it was Alford who destroyed the program and caused the current mess, and that's why the fans aren't showing up. So it's still Alford's fault.

Again, agree to disagree. Alford was very average here, but Lick was a disaster. I've put in my 2 cents. I'm done.

People used to schedule around Iowa basketball so they could watch it. They stopped doing this and started finding other things to do with their time because of Alford. Lick didn't give us any reason to change, not even winning with that style of ball would have brought people back. Fran is trying to get people to come back, it is hard to break habits that have gone on so long. I'm still guilty of not finding the time, but I've at least listened to more basketball this year then the previous 5 combined. It will take time, more time to get back to that way of life then anyone would like to admit.

Yes, we will agree to disagree.

 

[9YRPLAN]

Mr. Davis landed top 50 players in walker, davis, range, oliver, millard, settles, kingsbury among others down the stretch run of his career.

he was let go partly because of whom he decided to recruit, but not because they were not talented.

 

[pmchawk]

Your post is off in many spots. Alford did not leave the cupboard bare. Lickliter inherited a roster with Tyler Smith and Tony Freeman as potential players to build around. Also had solid players in Cyrus Tate and Justin Johnson

Smith left, Freeman left, The only one that I give Lick a pass on is Tyler Smith as he was probably out the door regardless of who we hired to replace Alford. The attrition and "bare cupboard" is on Lickliter and only Lickliter.

You can't say he didn't leave the cupboard bare and start naming guys not on Alford's last team. He tried to get multiple players to follow him.

Huluska, and Henderson graduated. Smith was leaving regardless.

Freeman
*Tate
Johnson
Looby
Gorney
Wessels
Bohall
Adams
*Angle
Crawford

I wouldn't call that cupboard bare, but far from full. I see a lot of misses and only 2 (*) from the returners would be on Licks roster the 2nd year.

 

[Skeets77]

Steve is pretty happy now down in Alfordquerque. Let it go..

 

[okeefe4prez]

In retrospect I think most would agree that running him out of town wasn't a good move.

Yeah, six years later and I wonder if the chuckleheads on here are still happy about where the hoops team is.

 

[Locker67]

That guy had a monster class coming in and you ran him out of town. He left the cupboard full with pretty decent talent and that has now all left town. As one of the few people who genuinely wanted Coach Alford to stay, let me say that I am kind of happy with how bad the basketball program is right now and that you guys deserve this taste of medicine you've been given. We're totally back now, but let this little run of mediocrity remind you to treat our coaches with respect.

Didn't give a darn about his coaching ability at the time was more concerned about how we defended Pierre Pierce. He should have treated the situation as if it was his daughter making the accusations.

 

[lightning1]

Yeah, six years later and I wonder if the chuckleheads on here are still happy about where the hoops team is.

Wrong. It was a good move at the time and it's STILL a good move. POS is still a POS. The only problem is that we weren't smart enough to put Gutless Gary on the same train outta town!

 

[BVHawk95]

Wrong. It was a good move at the time and it's STILL a good move. POS is still a POS. The only problem is that we weren't smart enough to put Gutless Gary on the same train outta town!

Agreed. Rather have a mediocre team than to sell my soul for success. Alford was, and always will be, a complete and total douchebag.

 

[thedukeofearl]

 

[okeefe4prez]

Didn't give a darn about his coaching ability at the time was more concerned about how we defended Pierre Pierce. He should have treated the situation as if it was his daughter making the accusations.

You're one of those guys who doesn't want to let the legal system play out. It's because of guys like you that three innocent lacrosse players from Duke got railroaded by the media and legal system. Alford believes in due process and second chances.

 

[okeefe4prez]

Agreed. Rather have a mediocre team than to sell my soul for success. Alford was, and always will be, a complete and total douchebag.

Mediocre team? We've won two BTT games in ten years. I don't even want to look at our conference record right now, but last I checked, we were a helluva long way from mediocre.