Lickliter brings fresh start to Iowa

Todd Lickliter still gets nostalgic about the undersized, overlooked bunch he coached to the Sweet Sixteen back in March.

"I'll be indebted to the guys at Butler forever," Lickliter said. "I don't think you're a true basketball fan if you didn't appreciate those players and the way that they were able to overcome.

"As a team, you could point to them and say, 'That looks like that'd be fun.' "

Lickliter's current players at Iowa admire what his former players accomplished. They understand why Butler succeeded: through teamwork, fundamentals, great passing and few mistakes. The Bulldogs led the nation in fewest turnovers (9.5 tpg), ranked fifth in scoring defense (57.1 ppg) and seventh in free-throw shooting (76 percent).

But the Hawkeyes don't plan to seamlessly simulate Butler. Lickliter wouldn't want them to.

"They're Big Ten players," he said. "They have their own identity."

Clarifying and developing that identity is critical for Iowa in a transition season.

Steve Alford is gone, and so is the cloud of controversy that always followed the coach during his eight seasons with the Hawkeyes. But what remains in Iowa City doesn't exactly foster optimism.

The Hawkeyes lost Adam Haluska, the Big Ten's leading scorer, to graduation and saw budding star Tyler Smith transfer to Tennessee to be near his ailing father.

Three starters return, including point guard Tony Freeman, who had a team-high 116 assists last year. But the roster doesn't contain a dependable scorer.

Lickliter made grinder basketball an art form at Butler. With Iowa, he has no other choice.

"We just have to out-tough our (opponents)," senior center Seth Gorney said. "We have to play with more heart than everybody else. If we can get the grasp of what he's teaching us, we're going to be fundamentally sound and win ballgames."

Gorney was thrilled when Iowa hired Lickliter after several others passed up the job.

"We had a bunch of names thrown out there, and Lickliter wasn't one of them," said Gorney, who averaged 5.5 points and 3.8 rebounds last year. "Bruce Pearl we thought was a good guy for us, but he turned it down. I was thinking we were going to get someone we really don't want.

"Then we find out Coach Lickliter was coming. It was pretty exciting."

Lickliter stresses opportunistic play on offense and will rely on Gorney, Cyrus Tate, Kurt Looby and Seton Hall transfer David Palmer to establish a post scoring presence.

Senior guard Justin Johnson and incoming freshman Jake Kelly will be featured as 3-point shooters. Johnson ranked seventh in the league in 3-point shooting percentage last year (45.5).

"Our curriculum is basically a soundness," Lickliter said. "Hopefully, it's a good balance of a system and the players being able to utilize their strengths.

"We're going to value the basketball."

Iowa at a glance

Coach: Todd Lickliter (first year at Iowa; 131-61, seventh year overall).

2005-06 record: 17-14 (9-7 Big Ten, tie for fourth)

Starters returning/lost: 3/2

Projected starters

• F Cyrus Tate* 6-8 240 Jr. Assertive defender and rebounder forms solid post tandem with Looby.

• F/C Kurt Looby* 6-10 210 Sr. Tremendous shot-blocker must develop other areas of his game.

• G Justin Johnson 6-6 190 Sr. Could flourish under Lickliter after hitting 45.5 percent of his 3s last year.

• G Tony Freeman* 6-1 190 Jr. Recognized court leader ranked seventh in league in assists (3.7 apg).

• G Jake Kelly 6-6 180 Fr. Sharpshooter from Indiana fits the Butler mold that clicked for Lickliter.

*Returning starter

Toughest nonconference games: Nov. 23: vs. Bradley (at South Padre Invitational); Nov. 26: Wake Forest; Dec. 5: at Northern Iowa

Big Ten single games: at Minnesota; vs. Northwestern