I would expect Lickliter to pull the scholarship offer.
With the transfer rules in Minnesota, his prep basketball career in the state of Minnesota is most likely over. However, rumors are now flying that both Williams and White might go the prep school route.
GAME INFO: Tues., Mar. 4th, 2008 - 8:05 CST - Welsh-Ryan Arena; Evanston, IL IOWA: 12-18 (5-12); RPI: 184 / Northwestern: 7-19 (1-15); RPI: 200
TV COVERAGE: Big Ten Network - DirecTV (Ch. 220) / DISH Network (Ch. 439) - Mel Proctor and Jimmy Jackson will call the action. OFFICIAL GAME NOTES - VIEW HERE LINE - 1-15 in conference Northwestern is a 1.5 favorite at home / 115 is the over and under
By all intents and purposes Iowa should have lost this game in Carver last time out. They escaped in one of the ugliest games I have watched in a long time. A looooong time.
I really don't want to get into the keys of the game, analysis, etc... The bottom line is whether or not this team cares enough to show up. They've regressed as of late and you can strategize all you want, but if you don't have the killer instinct, you aren't going to get it done. This team doesn't have the talent to have an off-night.
I want to pick Iowa in this game, but I just haven't seen the right thing for a while.
A lot of rumors flying around the Hawkeye Universe in regards to who is losing a scholarship, who is going to be asked to leave, who is going to leave on their own, etc... How many scholarships does Iowa have to give? Are they going to go after one, possibly two, JUCO bigs to fill out the roster? What's the coaching staff thinking?
Here are my assumptions at this point and time... I am not saying they are right or wrong, just what I think. Clearly this year was not ideal in regards to personnel (talent and/or numbers). Lickliter wants to have 15 on his team like most programs.
2008-09
Scholarship: Freeman, SR Tate, SR Davis, JR Palmer, JR * Kelly, SO Peterson, SO Cole, SO Tucker, FR Gatens, FR Fuller, FR Brommer, FR
Walk-ons: Lickliter, FR Bohall, JR
Departures: Johnson, Gorney, Looby, Angle**
* This scholarship could open up ** Graduates in four years and doesn't play in his fifth year.
At this point, I see there being 1, probably 2 scholarship left for a big and a wing with the possibility of 1 more depending on Palmer's status. As of right now, I'd say he is going to be in an Iowa uniform next year (that can change).
SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE: One to three available. If Iowa can sign the right guys, they will make moves accordingly to make room.
2009-10
Scholarship: Davis, SR Palmer, SR * Kelly, JR Peterson, JR Cole, JR Tucker, SO Gatens, SO Fuller, SO Brommer, SO Cougill, FR
Walk-ons: Lickliter, SO ** Bohall, SR
Departures: Freeman, Tate
* This scholarship could open up ** This may go from walk on to scholarship
Again, this depends on Palmer's status, but Iowa has at least 2 to work with.
SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE: At least two, maybe three available.
Todd Lickliter and his Iowa staff have received a commitment from fast rising Arizona combo forward Aaron Fuller...
Reports were that Aaron really enjoyed his visit at Iowa this past weekend. Other Iowa recruiting sites are confirming the commitment. Hawkeyenation had been discussing Fuller for a while now.
Terrific get for Lickliter and the Hawkeyes. Fuller is very much under the radar.
Here a few links on Fuller...
Fuller Sets School Record in Win - January 15, 2008 Aaron Fuller broke the school record with his for single game high with 46 points and he also grabbed 16 rebounds. Season Recap
Iowa was robbed tonight. No, Dominique Douglas didn't find more credit cards and Jason Berryman is still trying to spend his previously taken singles. I am talking about the end of the Penn State - Iowa game held tonight in Bryce Jordan.
It was a back and forth battle for the first half, until Iowa went on a run in the 2nd half getting up as much as 12 points. Then some calls started to turn things around, Tate was called for his 4th and 5th fouls in less than a minutes time (both questionable). Once Tate left, Iowa went downhill fast. They couldn't stop Cornley and had no inside presence whatsoever.
Rick Hartzell and his fellow refs did their best to keep things close. As another Hawkeye comrade put it, "It was a tough loss. I guess Hartzell just wanted it more."
Fast forward to the end of the game (forget about the other junk calls throughout the game, Iowa worked their way through them).... PSU's last possession down the court. For whatever reason, the refs call the bucket good and charge Iowa will a foul. It was a marginal foul at best. Bohall nicked the PSU player and was called for the blocking foul. They call that tick-tack foul. VERY tick-tack. Ok, I can live with that call. Fine. If you are going to call that foul in the last 30 seconds of game, ok. Just be consistent. Iowa's next (and final) possession. Freeman drives the lane molested by the Talor Battle, goes up for the shot, and is taken down by Cornley. No foul. Nothing called. Whistles swallowed.
Look, I am a HUGE fan of swallowing the whistle at the end of the games. Unless someone is completely mugged, you have to swallow your whistle. With that in mind, the foul on Bohall should have never been called. Seeing that it was, I have no idea why there wasn't one called on Battle and then again on Cornley.
Just be consistent. That's all I want to see from refs. If you are a bad ref, at least be consistently bad. Refs are installed to be sure no one gains a competitive advantage. They failed in their roles tonight. Rick Hartzell - shame on you. You give the great state of Iowa a bad name. I thought better of you when I attended the University of Northern Iowa and you were the A.D. there. I was wrong then. How the Big Ten lets you continue to ref games is beyond me. I realize it's your only source of income now that you left UNI, but you'd think you would work on your trade in your free time. Guess not. You and your buddy, Steve Skiles, can go ahead and head the bookie to claim your prize.
I put together a video of the final moments of the game:
GAME INFO: Wed., Feb. 27, 2008 - 6:05 PM CST - Bryce Jordan Center; University Park, PA IOWA: 12-16 (5-10); RPI: 168/ Penn State: 12-14 (4-10); RPI: 159
TV COVERAGE: Big Ten Network (BTN); Matt Devlin and Tim McCormick will call the action. OFFICIAL GAME NOTES - View HERE LINE - Penn State is a 2 point favorite at home.
Cyrus Tate is coming off a very strong week, one strong enough to net him the Big Ten Player of the Week honor. It's my firm belief that he can have the same type of game he had against MSU tonight. PSU is weak inside. The are very much an undermanned team (not unlike Iowa), and give up a lot of size on the blocks. Iowa needs to look to Tate early and often to be sure to avoid any sort of lapse like they did against MSU. Getting Tate involved early, if successful, will open up the shooters from outside. Classic inside-out game should be enough for Iowa against Penn State.
Ed Dechellis has done a fine job of rallying the troops since the injury to their top player, Geary Claxton. Although they have dropped 4 out of 5, they did knock off MSU at home (similar to what Iowa did earlier in the year, although the style of the game differed immensely).
Iowa will need to be on top of their game the next three games in order to have a infinitesimal shot at the 6 seed (and perhaps 5 seed) in the Big Ten tournament. Their run needs to start tonight. It will be a tough game, no doubt about it.
KEYS TO THE GAME 1.) Attitude. Emotion. Drive. This team needs to come out with something to prove and not just go through the actions. 2.) Play within the offense. Work the ball inside-out, getting Tate (leader in FG% in the Big Ten) a lot of looks. Put up the 3s within the offense. 3.) Extend the defense on PSU's guards. Active hands. This includes bodying up Talor Battle, a good looking freshman who can carve up the D. 4.) Play four guards if need be. PSU isn't going to win any height contest, so a lineup like Iowa had during the 2nd half run vs. Northwestern might be the solution. 5.) Work PSU on the boards. Keep a body on Cornley at all times.
