Todd Lickliter

Todd Lickliter (born April 17, 1955) is the men's basketball coach at Marian University in Indianapolis.^[1] He was previously the head coach of the University of Iowa and Butler University men's basketball teams.^[2] He spent the 2011-12 season as an assistant coach at Miami (Ohio). Lickliter was named the head coach of Marian on June 6, 2012. He is the 7th Head Coach in Knight history, replacing long-time coach John Grimes.

Early years

Lickliter was a starting point guard at North Central High School in Indianapolis, where he played for his father, Arlan. He helped North Central to a sectional title in Hinkle Fieldhouse in 1973, and he played his final high school game in the Fieldhouse in the 1974 sectional semifinals. Following his high school graduation, he enrolled at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, but wound up transferring to Central Florida Community College. He played one season at Central Florida, earning an associate degree in 1977, and then transferred to Butler, where he played his final two collegiate seasons, 1977-79. He earned a B.S degree in secondary education from Butler in 1979.

Early coaching career

Lickliter began his collegiate coaching career at Butler University in 1988-89 under his former college coach, Joe Sexson. He left the Bulldogs after a year to accept a head coaching job at Danville High School in Danville, Indiana, where he remained for three seasons. He returned to the collegiate ranks in 1996 as an administrative assistant on Barry Collier's staff. Lickliter accepted an assistant coaching position at Eastern Michigan in 1997 and remained on the Eagles' staff for two seasons, before returning to Butler in 1999. In six NCAA Division I seasons, he contributed to teams that won three conference regular season championships, four conference tournament titles, made four NCAA Tournament appearances, and compiled a 106-73 record.

Lickliter played a prominent role in refining Butler's basketball system during his stint as assistant coach to Collier and Thad Matta. During his three seasons on the staff of the two former head coaches, the Bulldogs had three 20-win seasons, won three conference regular season titles, three league tournament crowns and three trips to the NCAA Tournament. In his final two seasons as a Butler assistant coach, the Bulldogs compiled a 47-18 record, including "Top 25" wins over #10 Wisconsin and #23 Wake Forest. The win over the Demon Deacons in the 2001 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship was Butler's first NCAA tournament win in 39 years.

Collegiate head coaching career

Butler Bulldogs

In May 2001 Lickliter was named Butler University's 20th men's head basketball coach, replacing Thad Matta, who accepted the same position at Xavier University. During his first season, Lickliter led the Bulldogs to a then-school record 26 victories and third consecutive Horizon League regular season championship. They also cracked the Associated Press Top 25 rankings for the first time in 53 years. The following year the Bulldogs surpassed their previous season's win total, finishing 27-6. Lickliter's 53 wins during the first two years of his head coaching career rank third best in Division I history, behind Bill Guthridge (58 wins) of North Carolina and Everett Case (55 wins) of North Carolina State. During his six years as head coach, he owned the top three single-season win totals in Butler basketball history and led the Bulldogs to the postseason four times, including two appearances in the NCAA Sweet 16. Prior to his departure from Butler, Lickliter was named National Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

Iowa Hawkeyes

Lickliter was introduced as the head coach at the University of Iowa on April 3, 2007 replacing Steve Alford. Iowa and Lickliter agreed to a 7 year deal at a salary of $1.2 million per year.^[3] After failing to guide the Hawkeyes to a winning record in three seasons, along with frequent player defections and rapidly declining fan attendance, Lickliter was fired on March 15, 2010.^[4]

Marian Knights

Lickliter returned to his hometown of Indianapolis, accepting the head coaching job at Marian University on June 6, 2012.^[5]

Head coaching record

Family

Lickliter and his wife, Joez, have three sons, Ry, Garrett and John, and a daughter-in-law, Molly.^[6] Ry graduated from Marian University in 2006 and Garrett graduated in 2007. John is an assistant coach for the Marian University men's basketball program.^[7]

References