Iowa Hawkeyes Basketball

The basketball puzzle is starting to take shape for new Iowa Head Coach Fran McCaffery.

It was announced that McCaffery has named former Hawkeye Kirk Speraw as an assistant coach, a hire that became effective immediately.

Speraw is a two-time Hawkeye letterman who played for Head Coach Lute Olson in the late 1970s as part of a team that won a Big Ten title. He has over three decades of basketball coaching experience, both as an assistant and as head coach, and has coached dozens of players like former Hawkeyes Ronnie Lester and Bobby Hansen. 

Recently, Speraw was fired after 17 seasons at Central Florida, where he was the most prolific coach in school history. The circumstances behind his firing are unclear, but they didn't seem to bother McCaffery:

“I’m excited and honored for the opportunity to return to the University of Iowa and reconnect with friends and fans of the Hawkeye basketball program,” said Speraw.

Both he and his wife are Iowa natives, and one of his daughters currently attends the University of Iowa.

McCaffery followed through on his word to hire a former Hawkeye to his staff.

"I'm ecstatic to have Kirk Speraw join our staff," said McCaffery. "I have known Kirk a long time and have tremendous respect for his knowledge, character and reputation. When I was at the Final Four, Lute Olson recommended him very highly, as has everyone else I have spoken to about him. Kirk is very well known and liked in the state of Iowa and it is great to have a Hawkeye on the staff."

Despite the defections of forward Aaron Fuller (and incoming recruits Cody Larson and Ben Burst) and having been on the job for less than a month, McCaffery continues to stride forward with the program.

In addition to Speraw, he has also named his former Siena assistant Andrew Francis as a new assistant coach last week. Francis is said to be an excellent recruiter who connects well with players.

Additionally, Melsahn Basabe— a 6'7" power forward from Southborough, Mass.— has been released from his letter of intent with Siena and has visited the Iowa campus.

Basabe was signed by McCaffery at Siena and is generally regarded as a top-125 player nationally. He would be a great addition to McCaffery's uptempo style and would mesh well with other incoming recruits Roy Marble, Jr. and Zach McCabe.

It seems McCaffery is already starting to feel at home in Iowa City .

Fran McCaffery hasn't been the men's head basketball coach at Iowa long, but that hasn't stopped the drama and stress from heading his way.

In his first few weeks on the job, he hired a new assistant coach, released statements about two recruits de-committing, and announced that the starting forward was opting to transfer. Some might label these things ordinary for the Iowa basketball program.  

Welcome to Iowa, Fran McCaffery!

Things started on a good note for the Hawkeye hoops coach, as he named his former Siena assistant Andrew Francis as the new assistant coach at Iowa. 

"I am very happy to have Andrew be part of the Hawkeye basketball family," announced McCaffery. "I've worked closely with Andrew for three years and he is the complete package. He's a tremendous coach and excellent recruiter."

The new hire excitement didn't last long, as the following day a pair of player defections was announced.

First came an announcement about incoming recruit Cody Larson, a 6'9" forward from Sioux Falls, SD. Larson, a highly-touted athlete, and arguably the top incoming recruit for Iowa, asked to be released from his National Letter of Intent.  

"Cody Larson has asked for a release from his National Letter of Intent but still has great interest in the University of Iowa," McCaffery explained in his statement. "Cody would like additional time to familiarize himself with myself and the new coaching staff."

Not long after that, McCaffery announced that Iowa sophomore Aaron Fuller had decided to transfer to another school closer to his family in Arizona. The transfer had been rumored on Hawkeye message boards for months, and finally came to fruition.

"Aaron Fuller has asked and been granted a release from his scholarship. Aaron expressed his desire to move closer to home and his family," McCaffrey said. "We support Aaron on his decision and wish him nothing but success in his future endeavors."

As if Fuller and Larson heading elsewhere wasn't enough, another recruit opted to ask for a release from his letter of intent. Incoming guard Ben Brust de-committed from Iowa to open up his recruitment. 

Some Hawkeye basketball fans are freaking out, wondering if there is a curse on the program. Others are more optimistic and point out that it might be a good thing to have players leave at the beginning of the head coaching change, rather than year after year of defections.  

As Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi would say, "If you don't love it, leave it."  

Wait, is McCaffery taking recruiting advice from Stanzi?

Since the 2010 Orange Bowl, Stanzi has become a viral video sensation. It was his response to a question after that game that caused the Stanzi fanbase to increase exponentially over the last few months.

"There's nothing better than being American. I mean, this is the greatest feeling. If you don't love it, leave it. USA, No. 1!," he said.

With that homage to the movie Talladega Nights, the legend of Ricky "Americanzi" was born.  

Maybe Americanzi's philosophy has inspired McCaffery in dealing with former head coach Todd Lickliter's incoming recruits.

If you don't love him, leave him; Franzi, No. 1!

Rumors began circulating Sunday morning that the University of Iowa had finally made their choice for the new head coach of the men's basketball program.

Today, Iowa's athletic director Gary Barta confirmed that his search had yielded a candidate. Barta is set to announce Siena head coach Fran McCaffery as the next head coach at Iowa.

McCaffrey will be formally introduced at a press conference tentatively set for 11 a.m. on Monday in Iowa City, IA.

The story gained momentum on Saturday afternoon when a Fox Sports reporter Jeff Goodman tweeted, "I've been told by sources not to discount Fran McCaffery from the equation at Iowa."

Saturday night, the story gained even more momentum when the Albany Times-Union McCaffery was “in the mix” for the open position.

The fire behind the story started burning brighter Sunday morning when rumors hit Twitter.  That's when Cedar Rapids Gazette 's Scott Dochertman picked up the Time-Union story.

The story exploded into a raging inferno from there. The Boston Globe , ESPN, and several other publications started releasing their own stories. 

Once the Iowa press caught wind, more information began to confirm the rumors.

Reports surfaced that McCaffery met with Siena players and informed them he was leaving for Iowa. Then, reports of a flight from Cedar Rapids to Albany popped up (Flight Aware confirmed the flight).

Not long after word of the flight broke out, Iowa released its official statement.

McCaffery has a 14-year coaching record of 251-178, and was an assistant coach at Notre Dame for ten years prior to his head coaching experience. The press release states that McCaffery was a former assistant coach for Digger Phelps at Notre Dame and "has made five trips to the NCAA tournament with three different programs."

Siena finished with a 27-7 record this year. Their season ended with a loss to Purdue in the NCAA Tournament.

McCaffery is described as smart guy with a friendly personality who is great with boosters and favors an up-tempo offense.  In many pictures, he is seen hugging his players. 

He is also known as a top-notch recruiter, something Sports Illustrated confirmed by ranking Siena No. 20 in their 2009 scouting report.

His current contract at Siena pays him roughly $500,000 a year. The terms of his contract were not officially released by the school, but his buyout is rumored to be around $2 million.

Reaction in the Hawkeye community could be best described as cautiously optimistic. Most fans (along with local reporters) didn't seem this name coming, and are just starting their due diligence in forming their opinions. 

McCaffery's wife, Marg, seems to be a fan favorite, though.

For more updates on the Iowa Hawkeyes' new head coach, follow @iowahawkeyes on Twitter .

It's official, Fran McCaffrey is a Hawkeye. 

The former Notre Dame assistant and the five-year coach of the Siena Saints is heading to Iowa to take over a struggling basketball program that won ten games last season.

Now at first glance, this may not have been the sexy hire Hawkeye fans had hoped for.  After all, Todd Lickliter was also an emerging mid-major coach who seemed to be a sure-fire candidate to turn things around.  Instead, Iowa fell farther and farther back in the Big Ten pack.

However, Fran McCaffery has some impressive credentials, enough to prove that he can be the guy to restore Iowa basketball.

McCaffery knows a thing or two about creating a turnaround.  He orchestrated the fifth best turnaround in college basketball history by taking a team that had won six games the season before he arrived to four straight 20-win seasons and three straight NCAA tournament appearances.

Lickliter, by comparison, inherited a Butler program that had gone to the NCAA tournament four out of the past five years.  He certainly helped maintain the program with some Sweet Sixteen experiences, but his inexperience building up a crestfallen fanbase and team proved to be his downfall.

Of course, McCaffery is not just content with playing the big boys, he knows how to win. 

His first marquee victory at Siena came over the Stanford Cardinal.  When the Saints knocked out the Lopez brothers, it marked the first win for Siena over a ranked opponent since 1989.

Last season, Siena busted brackets throughout the land when they took out the Ohio State Buckeyes in double overtime.  Considering that the game was in Ohio makes the accomplishment all the more impressive.

The fact that almost everyone had Siena beating Purdue in the first round this March, injuries or not, shows the respect people have for the program that McCaffery built.

He knows how to develop mentally tough players and if he can win against Big Ten foes at Siena, he can do the same thing at Iowa.

Most importantly, McCaffery finds success the right way.  He has recruited the student athletes that most schools talk about but few actually find among the blue chippers and early exit superstars.

At Siena, McCaffery had a 100% graduation rate, something that an alumnus can be proud of and his results did not suffer.

At just 49-years-old, McCaffery has the drive, the experience, and the attitude to turn things around for Iowa.  Sure, he may not be Bruce Pearl, but Hawkeye fans have to believe he will not be Todd Lickliter either. 

McCaffery is a long-term solution, someone who can fit into the culture at Iowa and produce a team everyone can be proud of.  His teams overachieve, they play to the whistle and they win with strong defense and smart plays.

In the end, Iowa fans do not care if McCaffery was the exciting pick or the trendy pick. They can rest easy at night knowing that it was the right pick.

As March Madness intensifies, so does Iowa's search for a new head coach.

Over the weekend, while most of the state was captivated by Ali Farokhmanesh's three-point invincibility , the University of Iowa announced that a five member committee will assist Athletic Director Gary Barta in finding the next men's head basketball coach.

In addition to Barta, the five-member committee will consist of:

Fred Mims, Associate Athletics Director
Betsy Altmaier, Faculty Athletic Representative
Ellie Herman, Chair of the Presidential Committee on Athletics
Bobby Hansen, Former Basketball Student-Athlete

The committee will be tasked with finding a replacement for the recently-fired Todd Lickliter.

After compiling a 38-58 record in three years as head coach, Lickliter was relieved of his duties at Iowa. Iowa's 22 losses during the year was a single-season record.

The recently-announced committee is similar to the one constructed for Iowa's 2007 search, but one name sticks out more than the others.

Bobby Hansen was a standout high school basketball player in the state of Iowa that was recruited by coach Lute Olson and played a key role on the last Iowa team to reach the Final Four (1980). He went on to a respectable NBA career and earned a championship ring before he retired from the NBA in 1992.

On top of being a passionate, diehard Hawkeye, Hansen currently works as a radio analyst for men's basketball games. He knows Iowa basketball in and out, from recruiting to the rich tradition behind the program, and will no doubt prove to be an invaluable resource for the committee.

The committee is a week behind fans and analysts in the pursuit of finding the right candidate.  Hawkeye basketball fans have been hard at work for the past week, putting together hypothetical lists of the possibilities to replace Lickliter.

While no official names have been released yet, many of the potential candidates have already declared that they aren't interested in the position.

Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl is a favorite for most Hawkeye fans, but doesn't appear to be interested in the lateral coaching move. Pearl was a former assistant at Iowa, and has navigated his Volunteers team into the Sweet 16 this year.

He has politely hinted that, while flattered, it would be highly unlikely to play out.

Providence head coach Keno Davis, the son of former head coach Dr. Tom Davis, is also another fan favorite. But, like Pearl, he recently told a reporter he wasn't interested.

"It would be tough for me to leave because of all that we've done to start turning the corner here at Providence," Davis explained to a local paper , "I'm not interested in that job and I’ve let everybody know it."

Northern Iowa head coach Ben Jacobson is also a hypothetical candidate that likely won't come to fruition. Like Pearl, Jacobson has his Panther team in this year's Sweet 16, a feat that has the whole state of Iowa glowing with joy.

Jacobson is one of the more polarizing names on the list. No one can doubt his coaching ability, especially after guiding Northern Iowa to one of the biggest upsets in NCAA tournament history, but many are wary to go the mid-major coach route again.

If the committee takes the advice of ESPN 's Dick Vitale, the mid-major coaching option wouldn't be a problem.

During a segment on ESPN about open coaching positions, Vitale suggested that Iowa look in former head coach Steve Lavin's direction.

Lavin is currently an ESPN game analyst, but has recently hinted that he would like to get back into coaching.

Like Jacobson, Lavin's name also seems to be a polarizing one on the message boards. Hawkeye Nation features a long discussion thread about Vitale's mention of Lavin, and a recent fan poll linked on the Des Moines Register 's website already has Lavin as the third-most voted candidate .

Fans love him for his past success at UCLA, his recruiting ability, and his enthusiasm for the game. Others see shades of Steve Alford, which makes them a little wary. His absence from coaching for the last seven years also has some thinking a better solution might be available.

Regardless of who the fans want, the committee will do their due diligence to select the best candidate for the job.

Hopefully that process is a quick and painless one.

Like Julius Caesar long ago, March 15 turned out to be a horrible day Iowa coach Todd Lickliter .

It's fitting that on the historic Ides of March, a scenario within the University of Iowa men's basketball program would play out very much like a day back in 44 B.C., when Caesar was stabbed to death on the floor of the Roman Senate by Marcus Junius Brutus and several other co-conspirators.

Iowa's version of the drama began as a small murmur on a message board and quickly turned into a screaming public mob of angry fans calling for change.

On Monday, Iowa's athletic director Gary Barta stepped up to play the part of Brutus in this drama, driving the final dagger into Lickliter's tenure as a Hawkeye.  

It was reported by the Gazette Online 's Scott Dochterman that Barta met with Lickliter this morning in a meeting that started at 9:00 a.m. and lasted less than 10 minutes. Shortly there after, the university announced a press conference had been set at Carver-Hawkeye Arena "to discuss the future of the Iowa basketball program."

Barta announced at the press conference that the future of Iowa men's basketball program no longer involved Lickliter as head coach.

Lickliter signed a seven-year contract back in 2007 that included a $600,000-a-year buyout clause for each year remaining on his contract, should he be fired without cause.  With four years left on his contract, he will be owed nearly $2.4 million. Barta said in the press conference that he will honor that clause.

Majority of the fans feel there was definitely "cause" for termination, though.

Statistically, Lickliter's three-year stretch as head coach at Iowa has been the worst three years in the history of the program.

Iowa's 22 losses on the year is a single-season record. The Hawkeyes lost 10 of their last 12 games, including a 27-point loss to Wisconsin and a 35-point loss at Minnesota. Both losses were the worst in the history of those two rivalries.

Attendance at home games has dropped off drastically.  Actual attendance hovers around 5,000, one-third of the capacity seating at Carver-Hawkeye Arena .

The speculation surrounding this drama started last week, as more rumors began to surface on the Hawkeye Lounge and Hawkeye Nation message boards about the possibility of player transfers. The rumors were very specific, and mentioned that a couple of players approached the athletic director about taking their talents elsewhere.

Those rumors sparked radio host and long time Iowa Hawkeye contributor Jon Miller, who operates the Hawkeye Nation website, to finally let his opinion about the state of the program be known in a live on-air radio broadcast.

Many long time supporters felt the way Miller did, but he was the first to come out and say something publicly.

Then, a radio station out of Iowa City, KCJJ , posted a message to their Facebook page claiming to have sources claiming Lickliter would step down following the season over concerns with his health. After their loss, Lickliter was fielded several questions about the story and denied having any healthy concerns.

Barta issued a vague four-sentence statement to the press after the game, but made no mention of anything specific.

Three days later came his announcement.

"This morning, I had a meeting with Todd Lickliter and informed him that he was no longer the men’s basketball coach at Iowa," explained Barta.

A cloud of uncertainty now surrounds the program.  It is unclear who Iowa will target to replace Lickliter, or whether the team will suffer any player/recruit defections as a result of the change.

For now, fans will have to be content with daydreaming about the new possibilities.

Iowa's basketball season may have ended, but the rumors surrounding the program have just started heating up.

While most Big Ten fans watched tournament games, Iowa Hawkeye fans had their attention focused on their social media streams, waiting for any information about the future of head coach Todd Lickliter .

A murmur began to pick up steam on message boards earlier in the week, when normally supportive people behind the program began speaking their less than flattering opinions in public. That murmur grew louder, as hints of meetings between athletic director Gary Barta and Iowa players began to surface.

Then, just as Iowa's Big Ten tournament game against Michigan tipped off, KCJJ , a radio station out of Iowa City, IA, posted a message to their Facebook page claiming to have sources that said Coach Lickliter will step down following the season over concerns about his health. 

Earlier in the season, Lickliter was hospitalized for several hours on Thanksgiving due to severe migraines. Later, the University of Iowa Hospitals diagnosed Lickliter with the beginning of a tear in his carotid artery.

The internal carotid artery is a major artery in the head and neck that helps supply blood to the brain. Tears are thought to be caused by extreme stress, and have been known to lead to strokes in middle-aged men.

Lickliter has four years remaining on this contract, but the idea of him stepping down to focus on his health isn't all that far fetched due to his recent health issues. 

The radio station suggests otherwise.

KCJJ claims to have sources saying the real reason for Lickliter's possible early departure might be two more threatened player defections.

During his three years at Iowa, Lickliter has had 10 player defections. The latest, guard Anthony Tucker, opted to transfer to Division II Winona State at the end of the semester after legal issues.

A high attrition rate does nothing to help a program in the midst of rebuilding itself.

Message boards, like Hawkeye Lounge and Hawkeye Nation, have been chattering about the possibility of more transfers for awhile. All indications point to another player transfer being the breaking point for most people.

At halftime of the game against Michigan, Phil Haddy, Iowa' Sports Information Director, called the KCJJ report inaccurate. He was careful with his words, though.

"Absolutely no decisions regarding the basketball program have been made," Haddy said. "Nothing has been done, and nothing will be done within the foreseeable future. What I am saying, everything you are reading on the Internet sites is inaccurate."

By reading between the lines, it's clear something's afoot. A released statement from Iowa's athletic director after Iowa's loss to Michigan did not offer any clarity to the matter, either.

"It's been a tough season, but the future is very bright with this group," Barta said in the statement. "With the season ending today, I'll do what I do at the end of every year. I'll evaluate 2010 and make preparations for next season."

Lickliter was visibly agitated after the game when Gary Dolphin, the radio commentator for the Hawkeyes, asked him about sitting down with Barta at the end of the season.  His agitation carried over to his post game press conference, where he was asked about the rumors floating around.

"I haven't been told I'm not [the coach]," he stated. "So until I'm told I'm not, I am."

Statistically, Lickliter's three-year stretch as head coach at Iowa has been the worst three years in the history of the program. 

Iowa's 22 losses on the year is the most ever in a season. They lost 10 of their last 12 games, including a 27-point loss to Wisconsin and a 35-point loss at Minnesota. Both losses were the worst in the history of those two rivalries.

Attendance at home games has dropped off drastically. Actual attendance hovers around 5,000, one-third of the capacity seating at Carver-Hawkeye Arena .

If Lickliter doesn't step down on his own, it would cost the school $2.4 million to buyout his contract. With attendance down, a buyout might be difficult.

As of now, Todd Lickliter is still the head coach for Iowa men's basketball .  No press conferences are scheduled and no other announcements have been made.

Don't expect the rumors to die down anytime soon, though.

Basketball teams usually start to improve after four solid months of practice, game tapes, and games.

They start to get in a groove and start to figure out what their strengths and weaknesses are. They find out what works and what doesn't.

Not Iowa.

In their last regular season game of the year, the Iowa Hawkeyes lost to the Minnesota Golden Gophers, 88-53. The 35-point loss was Iowa's worst of the season and worst in the last 21 years.

The Hawkeyes have not performed well away from Carver-Hawkeye Arena this year. Twelve of Iowa's 13 road games were lost by more than 17 points.

As The Gazette 's Scott Dochterman points out in an article, in their last four road games, "Iowa has an average margin of defeat of more than 25 points." Dochterman also points out several other heartbreaking facts, like the fact that three of Iowa's road losses this year (Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Northern Iowa) were the worst Iowa losses to rivals in school history.

Head coach Todd Lickliter seems to have run out of excuses to explain his team's performance.

"There have been teams, good teams that have struggled to stay close on the road for whatever reason that is," Lickliter explained after Iowa's loss to Minnesota.

Struggling to stay close with a good team is one thing; struggling to not lose by more than 20 points is another. 

The Gophers have a good basketball team, but they aren't the best team Iowa has seen this season. Saying that several teams have struggled on the road this year doesn't explain a 35-point loss to a mid-level conference opponent like Minnesota.

It's clear to fans that something needs to happen, but that topic has become a polarizing decision among the Hawkeye faithful that still care enough to pay attention.

Some want to give Lickliter another year to correct things. Others want to give him a first-class escort out of town.

In a situation that appears nearly identical to Iowa's, the University of Hawaii fired head coach Bob Nash recently after his team posted a 34-56 record over three seasons.

Nash, a former player at Hawaii, was hired as head coach in 2007 as an attempt to help revitalize the basketball program. His team posted an 11-19 record in his first season and went 13-17 in his second season. This year, his team went 10-20, winning only conference games all season.

"Ultimately this comes down to a business decision based on win-loss record, not Bob Nash's character or how well he performed in other aspects of the program," said UH athletic director Jim Donovan.

Nash's record is almost identical to Iowa's head coach. Lickliter has compiled a 37-56 record during his time as head coach at Iowa and currently holds the worst winning percentage of any head coach in the history of Iowa basketball.

Fans generally like Lickliter as a person, but character only goes so far when your team keeps breaking historic records for losing and attendance.

Iowa plays Michigan on Thursday in the first round of the Big Ten tournament. The Wolverines are having a down year in their own right but have beaten the Hawkeyes in both contests this year.

Should Iowa lose, some fans might be quick to remind the university's athletic director Gary Barta that Fridays are the perfect day for a press conference.

Basketball started at Iowa in 1902. Over that 108-year span, the team had never lost 20 games in a season...until now.

For the first time in the history of University of Iowa basketball, the men's team recorded 20 losses in a season.

In a game on the road against the Wisconsin Badgers, Iowa achieved its record setting loss.

On Senior Night, the Badgers beat up on the Hawkeyes in every aspect of the game, winning 67-40.

Iowa shot 6-21 from the floor, and 1-9 from behind the three-point line. The team had eight turnovers to only two assists. Only one player, Aaron Fuller, scored in double digits.

Iowa's point total for the game (40) also tied a historic low, a record the team just set three weeks ago against Purdue.

"It isn't any fun being part of something like that," Iowa guard Matt Gatens told reporters after the game. His feelings are understandable, but that isn't what people want to hear from one of the team's best players when nine others have decided to take their game elsewhere over the last three years.

"We just panicked," Iowa coach Todd Lickliter said. "When you panic against Wisconsin, you’re in big trouble." 

What better way to describe this game: a 40-minute panic attack.

As Hawkeye Nation points out, it was the third straight road game where Iowa failed to score more than 19 points in the first half. In the last three road games, Iowa has trailed by at least 19 points at halftime, only scoring 15, 19, and 16 points in the first half of each game.

The loss was Iowa's 18th straight against a ranked opponent.

If this reads like a eulogy for someone that just died from a long illness, that's what it feels like I am writing.

Fans are depressed and have lost all hope. As a result, home attendance is at an all-time low, which is ironic considering that the Iowa women's volleyball team just set an attendance record high.

Local Iowa sports writers see the vultures circling and are now writing five-part series on the decline of the program.

Making matters even worse, former head coach Steve Alford, who coached at Iowa for eight years before taking another job offer, just won a conference title and has the New Mexico Lobos at No. 10 in the nation.

Maybe the worst side effect of all, the Big Ten Network didn't even bother showing a Barbasol commercial last night during the game, a sign the network didn't want to waste its premium sponsor's air time.

The Hawkeyes complete their regular season on Sunday against the Minnesota Gophers.

The team will try to end the season with a win.

Hopefully a win will help win back the hearts of Barbasol executives, too.