Gary Barta held a press conference announcing that Todd Lickliter, the lackluster coach for the Iowa Hawkeyes, will not be returning next year to coach the team. Really?!? Duh. This is a move that needed to happen, was predicted to happen, and has finally happened. Barta was very professional in his press conference and explained things well to Joe Q. Public, but I think I heard a sense of relief in his voice. By the time they lost their last two games by 27 and 37, the decision to “go another direction” (politically correct for get his ass outta here) was already made; this just made it easier for the brass to make their case. He has a great recruiting class coming in, but he will ALWAYS have some sort of a recruiting class come in, and eventually there is going to be a coach that will have to take over. The timing could not have been better. This recruiting class, and current players for that matter, won’t leave over this decision; they know they can only go up from here. The fans want a sold out crowds and victories, plain and simple.
I see three main possibilities for Iowa’s new head coach, and they are all, at one level or another, realistic: Bruce Pearl of Tennessee, Keno Davis of Providence, and Scott Drew of Baylor. The fans are screaming for Pearl. “OPEN UP THE CHECKBOOK!” is the chant coming from Iowa City. True, he will fill Carver Hawkeye. He has the swagger and the sleaze to put the Hawks back on the map. He will fill the papers with headlines and quotes to get people paying attention. More importantly, he will bring big time recruits to the program in the future. He has roots at Iowa under Tom Davis and would be beloved for his tenure here. One problem: He is not Big Ten basketball. Iowa would have to completely change their image, and I doubt they are willing to do that. Plus, I doubt they can afford a coach with that price tag. If anything, Pearl is going to use this to make his pockets fatter at Tennessee.
What about Keno Davis? He had one hell of a successful year at Drake, won the AP Coach of the Year in 2008, and then jumped over to Providence, where he has not been too successful thus far. But, Providence is in the big-time Big East Conference, so he is used to the big stage. He is under .500 in wins, but he has beaten three top 25 teams in his Providence tenure, one of which was then Number 1 Pittsburgh in the 2008-2009 season. He would bring the Davis name back to Iowa and follow in the footsteps of his celebrated father, Dr. Tom Davis, whose infamy will live forever with Iowa Basketball fans. Keno would bring not only a swagger of a “former” Big East coach; he would sell out Carver Hawkeye on his name alone, and at a discounted price compared to Pearl. But has he been coaching on the big stage enough to appease those at Iowa?
And then there is Scott Drew, who has faced an extraordinary amount of scandal through his first years at Baylor with an abnormal amount of adversity. His record reflects that; however, after sanctions were lifted, he brought his team to the Big Dance. He’s back in the tournament this year, and has a chance to make a run as a 3 seed in the South Region. He might not be the biggest name with a lot of strut, but he has the potential to bring a lot of success to a floundering team at Iowa.
Fans have the right to their opinions, but in the end it is Barta and the administration’s decision. I would not want to be Barta right now; this decision is his career. My opinion? Figure out how much money you have in the Athletic Department, add Barta’s salary, cut the field hockey and gymnastics programs, and go after Pearl. Fans don’t care about cost; attendance and victories will go up, and that’s all that matters.
