Roy Marble to Iowa

Interesting legacy situation down in Iowa. Roy Marble's son Roy Marble (Jr) just committed to play for his father's college team - the Hawkeyes. His other offers were Providence (Dr. Tom Davis' kid coaches there), Buffalo, Detroit, Dayton and Fairfield.

There will now be a few famous sons playing in the Big Ten over the next few years - Ralph Sampson III, Roy Marble Jr, and Tim Hardaway Jr.

tjgopher said:

His other offers were Providence, Buffalo, Detroit, Dayton and Fairfield.

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Duke had cooled on him...

SoMSPHawk -

What's your impression of what Iowa will do next year? What's the fanbase think? How is Lickliter being regarded up to this point? It seems hard to find much reason for optimism there, but are there things happening that have you feeling okay about the direction of the Hawkeyes?

tjgopher said:

SoMSPHawk -

...It seems hard to find much reason for optimism there...

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After the worst two year span I can remember that statement pretty much sums up how I feel.
The fanbase seems to be taking a "Rome wasn't built in a day" attitude but unless there is a big bump in talent and soon I don't see a very long tenure for Mr. Licklieter.

We are getting a new practice facility as part of a $40MM renovation of CHA so it isn't all bad news.
And no one quit the team recently so that's good too.

Iowa (and to some extent Indiana) are going to have a hard time picking themselves up out of the cellar for a while, because it's looking like the Big Ten is the best it's been in about 20 years, since the late 80's and early 90's when it was clearly the best conference in the nation.

WanderingGopher said:

Iowa (and to some extent Indiana) are going to have a hard time picking themselves up out of the cellar for a while, because it's looking like the Big Ten is the best it's been in about 20 years, since the late 80's and early 90's when it was clearly the best conference in the nation.

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Indiana is bringing in the best class in the conference. I won't take long for them to be back with the big boys. Iowa on the other hand....

ColNathanJessup said:

Iowa on the other hand....

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Exactly. Iowa, on the other hand, will have to rebuild once again. And rebuild isn't truly the best term for it as it implies that it was "built" in the first place. It's like saying that the Clippers are rebuilding. Aren't they always?

Ugh. Losing the best returning player(s) year after year sure doesn't help the process at all. Iowa fans are hardened into the "this really isn't all his fault, let's wait and see what Coach Lickliter can do" and "can't we just admit the mistake and get someone else in here already" camps.

The only problem with firing Coach Lickliter now is that Iowa could get a reputation in the coaching circles as "the place where promising mid-major coaches go to derail their career." Ha.