I was fairly shocked when I heard that Coach Lickliter pretty much told Tony Freeman that he would be better off to pack his bags and play his senior season somewhere else. After all, he was the leading scorer on the team and the only person that seemed to want to take the ball and even try to do anything with it after the first couple Big 10 games. And he definitely was one of the better defenders and most athletic guys on the team.
Plus, he was a guy that seemed to be a good person and never seemed to have any hints of causing any trouble off the court (that I heard of at least).
So let me break out my tin foil conspiracy cap for a second. Maybe Freeman realized that Lickliter’s style doesn’t quite fit with Freeman’s skills. Or maybe Lickliter realized that Iowa was not going to turn into a power house and make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. Feel free to swap Freeman and Lickliter’s names above.
So, then let’s say Freeman and Lickliter are playing pool and drinking a couple beers and start talking about all of this out loud to each other and the subject of Freeman transferring schools comes up.
Lickliter says something along the lines of, “We’d really love it if you stuck around this year but I totally understand if you want a better chance of playing somewhere that will highlight your skills and give you a better chance of making it into the NBA.”
Freeman says something like, “I had thought about it but I really don’t like the thought of sitting out a year.”
Lickliter: Yeah, that rule blows when coaches come and go like we do these days. What you need is a hardship?
Freeman: But coach. I’ve got my shit together. My family is fine. My injury from last season is completely healed.
Lickliter: Well, I’ll make you a deal. You announce that you are going to transfer and I’ll make up some story about how I told you that you weren’t going to get any playing time during your senior season even though you were the best player on our team last year while fighting through an injury. It’s not 100% guaranteed to work. But maybe everybody will think I’m an ass and totally screwing you over and the NCAA will let you play without sitting out for a year.
Freeman: That just might work. I love you, man.
I know it is a little far fetched but I just can’t think of any reason why Lickliter would not want Freeman to be a part of the program so at least a conspiracy theory would answer that nagging question. Plus, SIU really does have a much better chance of making it to the Sweet 16. They do it way more often than Iowa these days. And Lickliter doesn’t really seem like a mean guy that would kick a guy under the bus for no good reason.
Good luck at SIU, Tony. I hope to catch you on TV a few times this winter.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
its sad to see freeman go. But you could definately tell last year he didn’t fit lickliters system at all.
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You are probably right that he wouldn’t have be a perfect fit. But that team was such a train wreck last year it is really hard to tell how Freeman would have done if they had a better all around team. The few guys that tried to step up had way to little support from midseason on because of injuries and cold streaks to the other players.
It’s just sad to see a player with so much potential and talent leave the team…especially after losing Smith the previous season.
Hopefully there will be some stability now that the new Lickliter’s recruits are pretty much all that is on the team.