Iowa fires basketball coach Lickliter after third straight losing season

[madinmaryland]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/15/AR2010031501590.html

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Iowa athletic director Gary Barta saw the Hawkeyes rack up loss after loss in an often half-empty arena and decided he'd seen enough.

Even though coach Todd Lickliter was at Iowa for only three seasons, Barta felt he couldn't afford to bring him back for a fourth.

The Hawkeyes fired Lickliter on Monday, ending a brief and disappointing tenure that included three losing seasons in a row and a parade of players leaving the once-proud program. Barta cited Iowa's slumping record, lagging attendance and dwindling revenue from ticket sales and contributions.

The 54-year-old Lickliter had four years left on a seven-year contract that paid him $1.2 million a year. Barta said the Hawkeyes will pay Lickliter roughly $2.4 million for the remainder of the contract.

Lickliter was not at the news conference and not available for comment.

"If you take a look at our competitive record the past three years, it has not been improving. It still continues to be below where we would expect," Barta said. "Our attendance and season-ticket sales have continued to go down. This not something that started three years ago, but in the past three years it has continued to go down dramatically."

I did not realize things were that bad in Iowa.

[joeybee12]

1. Oh yeah, everything's terrible in Iowa

:evilgrin:

[MadBadger]

2. Yea, they are Awful

[JonLP24]

3. Your late

They fired him a few days ago. :)

[Condem]

4. The downturn started years ago with that prick Alford, mad.

He really turned off a lot of folks out here. After he left, Lickliter has given us no reason to attend. Oh well. I just heard from my old HS buddy, Jay Wright, but he's happy at Villanova. I have no idea who we'll hire.

[madinmaryland]

5. What's the deal with Alford? I remember documentary on ESPN a few years

back, and he was supposedly the "golden boy".

Was Alford the one that Bobby Knight tried to strangle or did he just play for knight.

[JonLP24]

6. I think he just played with him

All team leading scorer at Indiana at the time if not ever. I recall the Reggie Miller(one of my top 3 faves of all time) documentary last week and it was funny looking at the look at his face and his family and friends when the Pacers passed on him for the all-time leader in 3-point FGs made. It was also funny watching the old clips of all the local fans angry about not drafted Alford closing with a person calling the Pacers "stupid". :rofl:

[Condem]

8. Absolutely right, mad. Knight hated him.

Many, many stories about what an asshole he truly was. I know them firsthand. But the media is bashing us because he left and he's got New Mexico in the tournament. The Mountain West isn't the Big Ten Coach Altalk. My wish is he someday get's the Indiana and has to return here.
Believe me. We'll turn out. Lickliter came from a mid-major and just didn't fit.

[JonLP24]

10. Well it wasn't Alford he choked

In fact I can't find anything at all of incidents involving Knight and Alford other then Alford was the all time leading scorer in IU history at the time.

[Condem]

11. Right, Jon. He punched Awlford in the stomach.

It was Neil Reed he choked.

[JonLP24]

12. From what I can find

a former teammate Ricky Calloway made the claim but Alford(the guy that was punched) and Knight denied it so it's a matter of who do you believe? True or not that wouldn't hold up in court with the guy supposedly punched denying it.

[Condem]

13. Okay, Jon.

I fucking punched Alfred in the face. At least, in my dreams.

[abqmufc]

14. We Lobos say thanks for whatever the reason was.

I'll be the first to admit, having grown up in Central Illinois my loyalty in the Big Ten was and is always the Illini. Indiana during the era of Knight and Alford was the team I hated the most.

But Alford showed up in Albuquerque a few year after I did, a sports crazy town, and gave us what we hoped for....EnErGy. Alford is a great person for a community and as he seems to bring the campus and town together. He is seen is local restaurants with family and is approachable. This is big for his image here as ABQ is a very big small town.

You can rip on the conference all you want. But look at the teams in the tourney from the conference (4). Look at the coaches in the conference, many names who have coached at successful/big Div 1 schools (like S. Fischer at SDSU, of fab 5 Michigan fame). The league is growing and has never gotten the respect depsite UNLV, BYU and Utah's success in that past 2 or 3 decades. UNM produced D. Granger a successful NBA player, but nobody recalls that.

Alford is great for UNM b/c he will recruit outside the area. We believe he can recruit from back in the Big Ten pipeline (Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan). He also realizes not every kid in Cali can play for ULCA, USC, UofA, etc and the UNM has a lot to offer.

I think the thing we fear the most is UNM may be too small for Alford. I however, think its a perfect fit. As a coach he will get what he needs from the University. He is young enough that we can feel comfortable that Alford could stay for 10 years or more and build a heck of a dynasty in the Duke City!

I worry about the teams chances in the tourney....but rest assured NM love Steve Alford!

[Condem]

15. Steve Alford is the biggest pompous, fucking asshole in College Basketball.

Have him, abqfmc. I don't care if you win an NC with him. I'm just fucking happy we're rid of that phony.

[Condem]

16. Hey, abqmufc.

How ya' feeling now about that great fucking coach of yours?!?! He ruined Iowa for years to come. The fucking prick.

[terryg11]

7. not all on lickliter

when he came in Alford had left the cupboards more than bare. Then after last year nearly half the team transfers out which aagain set him back. No one knows for sure why they left, possibly didnt like his style of play or coaching. Only problem i have with us giving up on him so soon is that Butler is still using his system and they are a top twwenty team every year now, so why can't we do the same? Same coach, bigger school... I feel we gve up on him but I understand admin, worrying over empty seats at games.

[Condem]

9. It's all about $$, terryg.

And Lick wasn't making us any. A toast on this St. Paddy's Day to better times ahead for Iowa BBall. If Barta doesn't fuck it up.