Todd Lickliter

Todd Lickliter (born April 17, 1955) is a college basketball coach who is currently a regional personnel scout for the Boston Celtics of the NBA.^[1] He was previously the head coach of Marian University, 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).

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 at 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.

National Coach of the Year

Butler men’s basketball coach Todd Lickliter was selected as the 2007 Division I Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). He received his award on April 1, 2007 at the AT&T/NABC Awards Show at the Sydney Marcus Auditorium in Atlanta, Ga., The during Final Four weekend.

Lickliter guided the Bulldogs to a school and Horizon League record 29 victories in 2006-07. He led Butler to a regular season co-championship in the Horizon League and then took the Bulldogs to the Sweet 16 of the 2007 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship. Butler defeated Old Dominion in the first round of the tournament and then beat #18 Maryland in the second round, before falling to eventual national Champion Florida in the Sweet 16.

Butler was picked sixth in the Horizon League's preseason poll, but the bulldogs wasted little time proving the predictors wrong.Lickliter's club opened the season with a 40-point win at Tulane and then captured the Midwest Region Title of the NIT Season Tip-Off with back-to-back victories over Notre Dame and Indiana. The Bulldogs continued to roll in New York, defeating #22 Tennessee and #23 Gonzaga to capture the NIT Season Tip-Off title.

Lickliter led the Bulldogs to 10 straight wins to open the season, including a victory over Purdue in the Wooden Tradition. The 10 wins matched the second-fastest start in school history and the fifth-longest winning streak in school annals. Butler cracked the "Top 25" on Nov. 27 and the Bulldogs were nationally ranked for a school and league record 16 consecutive weeks. Lickliter's club became the first team in Horizon League history to break into the nation's "Top 10" on Feb. 5!

The Bulldogs became the first team in league history to record 20 wins before February and the first Horizon League team to win 26 regular season games. Butler had three wins over teams that were ranked in the "Top 25" and eight victories over squads that advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

Lickliter became the first Butler basketball coach to be selected for the NABC's highest award. He also became the first coach in Horizon League history to be honored by the National Coaches Association.

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] At the end of his 3rd year at Iowa, lickliter was fired for poor performance.

Marian Knights

Lickliter returned to his hometown of Indianapolis, accepting the head coaching job at Marian University on June 6, 2012.^[4]

In his second season, Lickliter led the Knights to their most conference wins in school history (12). The Knights ended their season ranked #1 in NAIA Division II in Scoring Defense per Game (57.958), #1 in NAIA Division II in Turnover Margin (6.292), and #4 in NAIA Division II in Assist/Turnover Ratio (1.558). ^[5]

Coaching tree

Notable coaches who have played for or coached under Todd Lickliter:

Brad Stevens - Current Boston Celtics head coach and former Butler Head Coach

Brandon Miller - Former head men's basketball coach at Butler University

Matthew Graves - Current head men's basketball coach at South Alabama

LaVall Jordan - Current head men's basketball coach at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Jeff Meyer - Current assistant men's basketball coach at the University of Michigan

Chad Walthall - Current head men's basketball Coach at Minnesota State University, Moorhead

Head coaching record

Family

Lickliter and his wife, Joez, have three sons, Ry, Garrett and John, and three daughter-in-laws, Magdalena, Molly, and Leah.^[7] Ry graduated from Marian University in 2006 and Garrett graduated in 2007. John, a 2012 graduate of Marian University, is an assistant coach for the Marian University Men's Basketball program.^[8]

References