Coach thinks team will stick together
IOWA CITY (MCT) — Todd Lickliter would rather forget about what happened at this point last season.
In fact, when asked to recall what it was like last season — when four Hawkeyes transferred a couple of weeks after Iowa was bounced from the Big Ten Tournament — Lickliter said it had been a long time since it happened and his memory was a bit foggy on what it was like.
Lickliter, in his third season as Iowa’s basketball coach, doesn’t expect there to be a similar exodus this season.
“I can only answer how I feel about this group right now,” Lickliter said Tuesday. “I feel good about them.”
The Hawkeyes, who are 10-21 heading into this weekend’s Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis, suffered a major setback at the end of last season when four players, including starting guards Jake Kelly and Jeff Peterson, transferred.
In a season where the Big Ten was deep in experience, a Hawkeye rotation that only features one senior and one junior took a beating.
Iowa closed the season by losing by 27 points at Wisconsin and by 35 on Sunday at Minnesota.
Unless some miracle run happens in the Big Ten Tournament — the Hawkeyes are the ninth seed and play eighth seed Michigan on Thursday — the season will be over this weekend.
“All we can do is respond,” junior center Jarryd Cole said. “We have to do what we can in our power to respond.”
“You have to keep staying positive, keep doing the things you need to do,” freshman forward Eric May said.
Given Iowa’s recent histories of transfers — leading returning scorer Tony Freeman left after Lickliter’s first season, and guard Anthony Tucker asked out of his scholarship last month — it isn’t much of a surprise that rumors have been flying that key players are going to be leaving.
But Iowa’s players — specifically sophomore forward Aaron Fuller and sophomore guard Matt Gatens — have emphatically denied such rumors.
If everyone as expected comes back to the Hawkeyes, Lickliter will have something he hasn’t had in his time at Iowa — a full roster.
Iowa has eight scholarship players and two walk-ons returning to join four incoming freshmen.
Lickliter said last week it is likely that the one open scholarship will be filled during the spring signing period.
Having that kind of experience will help, Lickliter said.
“There’s a lot to be said for the mindset that, ‘I’m going to be the guy that perseveres,’” Lickliter said. “This is a group that will want to help the new guys make an easier transition. They know what they’ve gone through.”
And Lickliter knows what he’s gone through.
“I’ve been doing this a long time,” he said. “Nothing surprises me.”
