Todd Lickliter met with his team for the first time in nearly a week Thursday afternoon, a sign that life is slowly getting back to normal for Iowa’s recuperating basketball coach.
Lickliter will not be on the bench when the Hawkeyes visit Iowa State at 7 p.m. today, but does expect to return for a Dec. 19 home game with Drake.
“It’s been hard to step away, especially under these circumstances where I couldn’t prepare anyone for my absence,” Lickliter said Thursday.
Lickliter wanted to speak to the team to let them hear in his own words what he has been through since last Saturday, when he underwent surgery at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. A stent was inserted to close a tear in his carotid artery.
“I just want them to know that if there was any way I could have been with them, I would have been and I would be now,” Lickliter said. “There are times when other things, health, family, take precedence.”
Lickliter said he appreciates that now more than ever.
He found strength from family and clergy members who were by his side as he dealt with an unexpected hospital stay and a potentially life-threatening situation.
“A lot goes through your mind when you find yourself in that situation ...” Lickliter said. “It is times like that when you realize maybe you do have some priorities beyond your career. I love coaching basketball, but at times other priorities take precedence. It would be impossible for most of us to do what we do without our health. I have a lot to be thankful for.”
Lickliter described himself as a “reluctant patient.”
He finally agreed to go in for a series of tests at the urging of the medical and training staff that works with his team.
“There are warning signs and I encourage everybody to listen to their bodies and heed them,” Lickliter said. “In this profession, you can chalk everything up to stress. I felt fatigued, a little stuffed up and I chalked it up to stress.”
The tear in the carotid artery Lickliter suffered is considered an injury and can occur from a sudden movement of the neck. Lickliter has been unable to pinpoint a possible cause.
“If it was up to me, I would have taken aspirin to try to get over the headache and moved on. I’m thankful the doctors didn’t do the same,” he said.
Doctors have told Lickliter there should be no long-term effects from the surgery and that with sufficient rest this week, he should be able to return to a normal workload next week.
Lickliter plans to ease his way back as the Hawkeyes prepare for Drake.
“I plan to be at the Drake game, and I plan to help prepare our team to play next week,” Lickliter said. “I am looking forward to helping them prepare to perform.”
Lickliter watched Iowa’s 67-50 loss at Northern Iowa on television from home on the day he was released from the hospital. Although he visited with the Hawkeyes on Thursday, he did not speak to the team about its game with Iowa State.
“I will not talk about Iowa State with them because I don’t want to pretend like I am prepared well enough to do that,” Lickliter said. “I have an understanding of them, a great respect for them. I can talk generally about them, but we are specific as we prepare.
“I trust that LaVall (Jordan, the Iowa assistant assigned to scout ISU) has put in more time than I have and is better prepared to detail to the team what needs to be done there.”
Lickliter said he has confidence in his staff to prepare Iowa for what it will face at Hilton Coliseum.
“For now, I’ll watch from afar,” he said, “and stay out of their way.”
Hawkeye tipoff
Opponent: Iowa State
Records: Iowa State 6-3, Iowa 3-6
When: Friday, 7 p.m.
Where: Hilton Coliseum, Ames, Iowa
Series: Iowa 42-20
Quad-Cities TV: WHBF, Ch. 4
Quad-Cities radio: WOC (1420 AM), KROS (1340 AM), WMT (600 AM), WHO (1040 AM)
You need to know/Iowa State
* The Cyclones will look to halt a three-game skid when they host the Hawkeyes, a place where Iowa has lost in its last three regular-season visits. After opening the season with six straight wins, ISU has lost to Northwestern (67-65), Northern Iowa (63-60) and California (82-63) in its last three starts.
* The Cyclones rank fifth nationally in 3-point field goal percentage, hitting 44.8 percent from behind the arc. ISU has shot 38 percent or better from 3-point range in eight of its nine games this season.
* Iowa State guard Diante Garrett leads the Big 12 in assists at 6.1 per game.
* Preseason all-American Craig Brackins leads the Cyclones in scoring at 17.1 points per game. He has scored in double figures in 41 of his last 44 games, including a 21-point effort in the loss last Saturday at Cal.
* Forward Marquis Gilstrap leads ISU on the boards at 8.4 per game. He juco transfer was picked as the preseason newcomer of the year in the Big 12.
You need to know/Iowa
* Anthony Tucker and Matt Gatens are now Iowa’s lone double-digit scorers, averaging 11.8 and 11.4 points, respectively.
* The Hawkeyes lost a 56-47 game to ISU in its last visit to Ames. Craig Brackins finished with nine points in that contest. Iowa won a 73-57 game in Iowa City a year ago, limiting Brackins to 2-of-12 shooting from the field.
* Sophomore Andrew Brommer has averaged 11 minutes in Iowa’s last two games. He collected one rebound, an assist, one block and one steal in Tuesday’s 67-50 loss at UNI.
* The Hawkeyes are currently shooting 41.3 percent from the field and 32.4 percent from 3-point range.
Batterson’s call
Iowa State 66, Iowa 52
Probable lineups
Iowa State
F Marquis Gilstrap, 6-7, sr., 13.6 ppg, 8.4 rpg
F Craig Brackins, 6-10, jr., 17.1, 7.6
C Justin Hamilton, 6-11, soph., 4.2, 2.8
G Diante Garrett, 6-4, jr., 7.6, 2.3
G Lucca Staiger, 6-5, jr., 10.0, 1.9
