Iowa hires Butler’s Lickliter as new coach

The Associated Press

Published Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Iowa hired Todd Lickliter as its new coach last night, replacing Steve Alford with the coach who turned midmajor Butler into an NCAA Tournament regular.

Lickliter was scheduled to be introduced by the university at a news conference today.

He was 131-61 in six years at Butler, taking the Bulldogs to the tournament four times.

This season was his best yet at Butler. The Bulldogs finished 29-7, losing to Florida in the NCAA Tournament’s round of 16.

The Bulldogs won the NIT Season Tip-off championship and were ranked in The Associated Press Top 25 for 16 consecutive weeks.

Lickliter takes over a program that won just one NCAA Tournament game in eight seasons under Alford, who left for New Mexico on March 23.

Iowa went 17-14 last season, missing out on postseason play after winning the Big Ten tournament in 2006. Athletic Director Gary Barta said shortly after the Big Ten Tournament that the team needed to improve next season - which will be difficult given that the Hawkeyes lose their best player, senior guard Adam Haluska.

Iowa had initially turned to Tennessee’s Bruce Pearl, who was an assistant with the Hawkeyes from 1986-92. The Hawkeyes received permission from Tennessee to formally interview Pearl just three days after Alford’s departure, but Pearl quickly turned them down.

Lickliter is Barta’s first major hire at Iowa since succeeding current Stanford A.D. Bob Bowlsby last summer.

Barta was in transit from Atlanta to Iowa City and unavailable for comment, Iowa officials said. Lickliter was also unavailable for immediate comment last night.

"I wish Todd well. He’s given us six great years, but boy am I disappointed that we’re losing him," Butler University President Bobby Fong told Indianapolis television station WISH in an interview last night.

● DEFENSIVE SPECIALIST: Dana Altman was introduced as Arkansas’ new coach at a news conference in Bud Walton Arena, with Athletic Director Frank Broyles leading a "Pig Sooie" cheer.

Altman said he was excited to follow in the footsteps of Eddie Sutton and Nolan Richardson. Sutton took Arkansas to the Final Four in 1978. Richardson’s teams reached the Final Four in 1990, 1994 and 1995 and won the national title in 1994 with a style of play dubbed "40 Minutes of Hell."

"Defensively, we’ve been identified as a pressing team that changes defenses quite a bit," said Altman, who coached the last 13 seasons at Creighton. "A team that gets up and down the floor, and spreads the floor and drives the ball to the basket pretty aggressively. And that’s the way we intend to set our mark here."

The Razorbacks heard some good news immediately after the news conference. Freshman Patrick Beverley, this year’s Southeastern Conference newcomer of the year, announced he is staying at Arkansas.

Altman was 260-141 at Creighton. The Omaha, Neb., school went 22-11 this season for its ninth straight 20-win season, a Missouri Valley Conference record.

Altman is 343-208 in 18 years at the Division I level. He coached at Marshall and Kansas State before going to Creighton.

● QUICK TURNAROUND: Stan Heath wasn’t unemployed for long.

Heath is the new coach at South Florida, replacing Robert McCullum. The Big East school said that Heath would be formally introduced as the Bulls’ new coach at a press conference this afternoon.

Heath was fired from Arkansas last week after five years at the school. He was 82-71 in five seasons with the Razorbacks. Arkansas finished this season with a 21-14 record, losing 77-60 to Southern California in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

● ON THE SPOT: Multiple media outlets reported that West Virginia Coach John Beilein accepted an offer to be Michigan’s coach.

The Dominion Post of Morgantown, W.Va., reported Beilein was in Ann Arbor, Mich., yesterday and planned to meet with his players today back on campus.

Media reports linked Beilein with Michigan just days after he led the Mountaineers to the NIT championship.

It would cost Michigan $2.5 million to buy out Beilein at West Virginia, plus perhaps about $1 million a season in a multiyear contract.