A public regent university in the state of Iowa hired a new basketball coach a few years ago. He had experienced tremendous success at every coaching stop along the way -- including leading his mid-major program to the NCAA Tournament. He was considered a genuine, good guy, with good values that fit in with the people of Iowa. When he arrived at the university in a major BCS conference, he did not experience major success right away. In fact, he had some on-the-job training to do in order to learn the kind of players he would need to recruit to be successful at the highest levels of college basketball. He also had major problems with attrition in the off-season -- it seemed like every year, players were jumping ship to go elsewhere.
Who am I describing? Trick question. I intentionally wrote that last paragraph to describe two people with a lot of similarities: Todd Lickliter, and Greg McDermott. There's one major difference: Greg McDermott still has his job, and Lickliter does not.
When Todd Lickliter was first announced as the head coach at the University of Iowa -- I'll admit -- I was scared. Steve Alford was the best thing to ever happen to Iowa State fans everywhere -- he had an abrasive personality that turned Iowa fans off of basketball, and his only strong suit seemed to be an ability to upset the Big Ten tournament as a numerically higher seed. (As an aside, that's always such a clunky thing to write when describing seeding -- yes, the number of the seed is higher, but the prestige is lower. I initially wanted to write a lower seed, but that's technically wrong.)
Back to Lickliter -- I was actually quite scared of the hire. Here comes a proven winner who had experienced success on every level with a quiet, respectful, and likable personality. Iowa fans hated Alford with a passion -- and this new guy is the polar opposite of Alford -- he's a hard guy not to like! Sure, Lickliter is dull as dishwater, but so is Saint Kirk Ferentz, and Hawk fans love him.
Alford had dug a bigger hole than anyone had thought. Despite having a likable guy roaming the sidelines at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Hawks fans stayed away in record numbers. I didn't get it then and I don't get it now. It seemed like Lickliter never got a fighting chance at Iowa. Hawks fans hated Alford -- okay, so we'll bring in a different personality -- but the fans still didn't come.
Look, I get it -- it's hard to get fired up about a poor athletic product, but sometimes you need to show support for your coach, your school, and student-athletes who BUST THEIR ASS EVERY DAY regardless of wins or losses (Iowa State fans have been doing this for years!) But, let's realize one simple point -- these aren't professionals getting paid millions of dollars -- these are KIDS. Kids who have to fly back from an ass-whupping in East Lansing, Michigan on Wednesday night, then wake up the next day to take an exam. The fact that 70,000 people will pack the stands at Kinnick Stadium every weekend, but not even 1-in-14 will attend a game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena is truly sad. Isn't that INSANE? If you lined up 14 Hawk fans at a football game, only ONE of them would attend an average Men's Basketball game (I realize the average attendance is higher than 5,000 -- but let's be honest -- there was not a single game with 5k all year).
Was Lickliter going to get it done at Iowa? I am not sure whether he would have or not, but I can say this for sure from an outsider's perspective -- he deserved more time and more support than he got. A lot more support and at least one more year.
Let's go back to my original point I made -- where I described Greg McDermott and Todd Lickliter in the opening paragraph. I pointed out that McDermott still had a job and Lickliter does not. Even more interesting is this -- Iowa State's season could be considered a tremendous disappointment based on the expectations for the season, whereas Iowa's season was almost exactly what was expected. Yet, the guy who did not meet expectations still has a job, and the guy who delivered what was expected does not.
At the end of the day, the difference comes down to fan support. Iowa State fans still showed up. Iowa fans didn't. I think Gary Barta was put into a corner where he had no choice -- there was no fan support left, and no reason to think that things were going to improve next year. It was an absolute embarrassment to Iowa how empty the stands were at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, both from the TV perspective as well as a financial perspective. A change had to be made.
After a few public and rumored rejections, Gary Barta got his man. I think Fran McCaffery is a hell of a coach, too. However, it sure sounds like a lot more of the same that Iowa had with Lickliter. Great guy, mid-major coach, NCAA tournaments, blah blah blah. I think McCaffery can be successful, but let's be honest -- I don't think he was in Gary Barta's top five. Barta's not stupid -- he knew darn well that the ideal move would be to throw a pile of cash at a proven BCS coach with a big name. That didn't happen. Had that happened, it would've brought the fence-sitter fans back to Carver, which is exactly what they needed. Unfortunately, Iowa fans have demonstrated a "win first and THEN we'll come" attitude, which doesn't bode well for McCaffery. As a fan of college basketball, it pains me to see Iowa struggling so bad. Obviously, I'd prefer Iowa State to be the dominant team in the state, but having good teams around the state is better for everyone.
Let me be clear -- I am not blaming the failure of Todd Lickliter to win games as being solely on the fans. Better fan support certainly did not lead Greg McDermott win any more conference games than Lickliter. At the end of the day, the coach is responsible for identifying, recruiting, and retaining talent, and Lickliter struggled to do that.
However, fan support DOES matter. It matters to recruits and it can certainly give you a home court advantage. If the fans don't show up, it makes it that much harder for Coach McCaffery to sell recruits on playing for Iowa -- who wants to play in front of a 25% full arena? If the fans don't care, why should the recruits?
Not only does it affect recruiting, but it also affects home court advantage. Getting a few key upsets early in the McCaffery era would certainly help get folks excited about Iowa basketball again. A packed Carver-Hawkeye Arena makes those upsets go.
Again, it's on the coach to recruit players that can win and to put an exciting product on the floor. I think McCaffery is capable of doing that -- but only with some fan support at the same time. If Hawks fans continue to demand W's before they'll get behind their team, they may just find themselves in the same position three years from now. A little faith now could pay some huge dividends later.
Will the Hawk fans support Coach McCaffery sight unseen? That's the million dollar question.
As for Iowa State basketball...
First, hats off to the Iowa State women's basketball team for reaching their second consecutive Sweet Sixteen. Bill Fennelly has built a consistent winner in Ames, and certainly does not receive enough credit for it. Did you know that Iowa State ranks THIRD in the nation in average home attendance? The only two schools who have better attendance? UConn and Tennessee. Folks in Ames love their basketball -- whether it's the ladies or the men.
Iowa State ran into one of the best teams in the history of any sport in this year's UConn team. Seriously. It's absolutely ridiculous how good UConn is. Yes, the ISU women got beat soundly today, but they should be proud of their accomplishments -- this team was not expected to go much beyond the NCAA First or Second round and instead they reached the Sweet Sixteen and finished 2nd in the best women's basketball conference in the country. The future for the Twister Sisters is bright, indeed.
There's something about McDermott...
While Iowa was firing Lickliter after his 3rd season, ISU AD Jamie Pollard chose to retain Greg McDermott after his 4th season in Ames. ISU's season was certainly a disappointing one, but the fan support remained strong throughout -- and that was the major difference between the positions that Pollard and Barta found themselves in.
Barta had to make a move with the tepid support Lickliter received. Pollard at least has the opportunity to "circle the wagons" so to speak with McDermott. Right now there's certainly a portion of the ISU fanbase that has seen enough of the McDermott era, and there's another portion who thinks he deserves at least one more year.
I think Pollard's decision is a wise one -- if McDermott's club stinks again next year and players jump ship left and right, the fanbase will reach a natural consensus and the choice will be made clear. Right now, any decision (whether to keep Greg or send him packing) would piss off about half the fanbase. Next year, the answer should be made clearer.
The problem with a decision on McDermott is that he's the kind of guy everyone is rooting for. He's a native Iowan, a great father, a great teacher, and he is doing things "the right way". There's not a person out there who doesn't want McDermott to be successful at Iowa State. We'll all pulling for him so hard to do what he's done at every stop along the way. Let's face it -- this guy has won at every level he's been at, save for his current stop. He didn't suddenly forget how to coach or how to teach. He's been dealt more his share of bad fortune, and he's had his share of recruiting misses too.
I want nothing more than for McDermott to finally turn the corner next year and to start making at least some noise in the Big 12. Every major losing streak came to an end with that win in Manhattan, Kansas at the end of the Big 12 regular season. ISU can start next season without any major negative streaks hanging over their heads and can just focus on winning ball games.
One way or the other, I look for the McDermott situation to become crystal clear come March 2011. His fate will be clearly sealed by the time the horn sounds on ISU's last game. If he's staying, hopefully that horn sounds at the end of a deep NIT run or an NCAA Tournament game. If he's gone, it'll be another first round exit in the Big 12 Tournament. Either way, I think the fanbase will mostly feel the same way on what will happen.
Either way, the one thing I am most proud of as a Cyclone fan is that win or lose, Hilton Coliseum will be packed with some of the loudest, noisiest, and most passionate basketball fans in the country. If McDermott fails, it won't be from lack of support.
