The State of Iowa Basketball: A Look at the Program

By Scott Dochterman

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By Richard Pratt

Story Created: Mar 1, 2010 at 9:03 AM CST

Story Updated: Mar 1, 2010 at 9:08 AM CST

IOWA CITY -- It's not a good year to be a Hawkeye basketball fan. The team is going through one of its worst seasons in recent memory.

The problem is that's becoming a trend for the Hawkeye basketball team.

"I'm not at all happy where we are competitively," Iowa athletic director Gary Barta said, "not at all happy with our attendance and the feel around the program."

The Iowa basketball program is in the midst of the worst 3-year stretch in school history. This year the Hawkeyes will finish with more losses than ever before.

"I liken the fact that we aren't what we want to be," Barta said, "and maybe a year behind where Todd and I would have imagined we'd be."

The recent struggles hearken fans back to Tom Davis' era as Coach. Davis took the Hawkeyes to nine NCAA tournaments and three Sweet 16 appearances in 13 years. But his contract was not renewed, despite winning 2 NCAA tournament games in his final season.

"Coach Davis was an up and down press full court and it was a style same kind I ran in high school," said former Iowa player Kenyon Martin, who played under Davis. "So I know I'd be able to play right away it fed in to why I came to Iowa."

Steve Alford replaced Davis with hopes of taking Iowa to the next level. But in eight years he led the Hawkeyes to one NCAA tournament win. He also had numerous player issues, most notably Pierre Pierce, who twice was arrested for sexual assault.

Alford left Iowa for New Mexico in 2007. Barta then hired Todd Lickliter to replace Alford. But in three years Iowa has struggled to win games and has the lowest attendance in Carver-Hawkeye Arena history.

"Patience is hard," Barta said. "I hate losing, our coaches hate losing, our fans hate it and our athletes hate it. I don't have a switch in the office, nor does Todd, to flip and all of a sudden have it going the way we want."

"When you have turnover live you've had, some upheavals, some legal things going on and the program hasn't been stable," Murray said,
"you've had two different coaches come in under different circumstances that have had to battle different circumstances."

Despite all these struggles, Lickliter believes the foundation has been set.

"I'm hoping this group here can see that light," Lickliter said, "and we've played well enough even though we haven't gotten the wins to know we're knocking on the door and they can see us through this and turn that corner for us."

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