Basketball Hires A New Coach

March 29, 2010
It’s not news to most people, but the basketball team has had a far less than perfect season. With winning only 11 out of the total of 33 games they played this season, the team knew they had to make some changes. The coach, Todd Lickliter, was fired from his position due to not being able to hold up to certain expectations. Lickliter made it clear that he was fired and it was not from his recently found illness. Gary Barta, the University of Iowa Athletic Director, said the decision was because of the recent competitive record. There has not been any improvement in the past three years with the men’s basketball program. Gary made sure to inform everyone that Lickliter has high values and is a great person… He also says the Lickliter is a great basketball coach. However, in the past three years the attendance and ticket sales for men’s basketball has gone down tremendously. There has not been a positive outcome upon hiring Todd Lickliter. Thus, he has recently been replaced with the new coach Fran McCaffery. Fran McCaffery used to coach at Siena and has quite the record behind him. McCaffery won the last three championships in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and has guided Siena to the NCAA tournament.
Many believe that he is a great choice for the University of Iowa men’s basketball program. His teams have been known to be well prepared and developed. McCaffery has recruited top athletes for his previous teams and it known to be a great recruiter. He also has coached for over 14 years and was the youngest Division I coach in 1985 when he coached for Lehigh. He has also coached in Carver Hawkeye Arena, which gives him preexisting knowledge of what to expect with his new coaching job.
Though this new coach, Fran McCaffery, seems like a perfect fit for the job, it makes me wonder what the team is thinking… Did they get to meet their new coach before he was hired? Did they get any say in the decision making? Do they have previous knowledge on this coach from friends or past teammates? I just wonder how the team is reacting to all this. I hope they like their new coach and he actually makes the changes he promises to make. The future looks promising for men’s Hawkeye Basketball, I only hope this coach turns out better than the last one did.