SB Nation - David Palmer

It's Not Plagiarism If You Link To It Moonsaults Off The Top Rope

Hawkeye State — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:49:22 -0000

Go Tell It On The Mountain About one year ago, the Everson/Satterfield coverup allegations went from "smoldering embers" to "towering inferno" when Sally Mason disclosed that a box of related documents (including the infamous letter from the victim's mom) were withheld from investigators pursuant to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Of course, the vast majority of the redacted documents had nothing to do with FERPA, which was designed to protect student's grade reports from public disclosure. When grilled about this expansion of FERPA to redact documents not remotely within the law's scope, Mason caved:

The original thinking that federal law known as FERPA, designed to protect student privacy, prevented the letter from being shared with our Board of Regents leadership is just not tenable. There is no excuse for the failure to turn over those letter as part of the investigation that you directed the Board of Regents office to conduct in the wake of the report of the assault.

I will make it clear to all member of my administration that our obligation to maintain the privacy of student records should never be interpreted as preventing us from sharing information that you request in pursuit of your governance responsibilities.

Mason proceeded to can UI general counsel Marc Mills like he was tuna for withholding these documents, and rightfully so; the wholesale concealment of douments on FERPA grounds, just because said documents include a student's name, is incorrect, and any general counsel worth his salary would know it.

The reason we're reopening this can of hell? Apparently Iowa isn't the only one hiding behind FERPA:

The Columbus Dispatch has done some yeoman's work in recent months examining the increasing veil of secrecy placed over the activities of ostensibly public -- and therefore FOIA-vulnerable -- athletic departments. ADs now use FERPA, a law narrowly tailored to prevent the release of student grades and transcripts, to shoot down or bowdlerize public information requests of all varieties.

MGoBrian is right. Marc Mills' argument could very well have been "everybody else is doing it, so why can't we?"

Across the country, many major-college athletic departments keep their NCAA troubles secret behind a thick veil of black ink or Wite-Out.

Alabama.Cincinnati. Florida. Florida State. Ohio State. Oklahoma. Oregon State. Utah. They all censor information in the name of student privacy, invoking a 35-year-old federal law whose author says it has been twisted and misused by the universities.

Former U.S. Sen. James L. Buckley said it's time for Congress to rein in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which he crafted to keep academic records from public view.

A six-month Dispatch investigation found that FERPA, as it's commonly called, is a law with many conflicting interpretations. And that makes it virtually impossible to decipher what is going on inside a $5 billion college-sports world that is funded by fans, donors, alumni, television networks and, at most schools, taxpayers.

Brian goes on to discuss the NCAA's newest method of preventing document disclosure: Keeping documents that would otherwise be available to the public pursuant to a FOIA request on a secured server to prevent pubic disclosure. By keeping them on an NCAA server, the Indianapolis-based Leviathan claims, these documents are the property of the NCAA rather than the schools, and therefore not subject to state public institution disclosure laws. Brian's conclusion is absolutely correct: If the NCAA wants to conduct its business under the same veil of secrecy that the NFL and MLB do, it should be paying the same taxes those leagues do.

RIP, Billy Mays Is it wrong that this means more to me than Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett combined?

Caring Remains Creepy Iowa picked up 2010 recruit #7 over the weekend, in the form of 6'5", 260 lb. Wisconsin defensive end Mike Hardy. He turned down offers from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, Purdue and Iowa State. He was also the state discus champion, so he should have no trouble picking up Norm Parker's controversial "spin around with your arm extended and smack the opposing lineman until he's senseless" pass rush technique.

Not Mike Hardy

We knew Mike Hardy was disappointed in his brother's championship match DQ win over CM Punk at last night's pay-per-view, but we never imagined he'd leave the family business to pursue a career in the Big Ten. We're glad to have him, though it remains to be seen how the Twist of Fate will translate to the football field.

As for Wisconsin losing an in-state recruit (which never used to happen), Hardy's defection could be due to the fact that nobody wants to go to their games anymore.

Footnotes David "El Presidente" Palmer will transfer to Northern Kentucky for his senior season. Let's hope he gets a fairer shot than he did here...Phil Steele, he of the VHT, predicts Iowa will play Alabama in the Capital One Bowl. As you know, Phil is always correct, so order your plane tickets now and beat the rush. If you want to start getting prepared, I suggest you start here...Chuck Long is pulling a George Costanza on San Diego State, though, to be fair, it's not really his fault.

Black Heart Gold Political Cartoons, Volume 1

Oops Pow Surprise — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 11:22:11 -0000

Todd Lickliter says "sometimes it's a little dark before the dawn." Perhaps that's not the most apt analogy.

Welcome To The Swift, Fiery, Horrific Destruction Of Iowa Basketball

Oops Pow Surprise — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 04:18:31 -0000

There's no way to sugarcoat this news or otherwise adequately prepare you for this news, so let's just get it right out: Jake Kelly is, barring a miracle, leaving the Iowa basketball team... and he's not alone.

(A perfect visual metaphor for what's happening in Iowa City.)

The majority of the Kelly rumors, which could be settled by as early as tomorrow (or today, or six months ago, depending on when you read this article), place him at Indiana State, much closer to his hometown of Carmel, IN. Sure, homesickness doesn't normally set in after two years, but recall that his mother had recently moved to Solon to be closer to Kelly. Just a few months later, she was killed in a plane crash, plunging the entire family into a sadness we couldn't possibly wish on the worst of our enemies. If Kelly wants to be closer to his family, we won't presume the authority to call bullshit or second-guess that decision.

DEPARTURE COUNT: 1

What's far, far more troubling is the exodus occurring with the rest of the program. To the best of our knowledge, Jermain Davis did not lose a mother in a plane crash recently, yet the junior college combo guard has decided that he'd rather exhaust his eligibility at Minnesota State, a D-II school in Mankato, than with the Iowa Hawkeyes.

(no, not these guys.)

Davis, if you'll recall, was an important role player in Iowa's backcourt during the early season; he was key in Iowa's beatdown of ISU, scoring 16 points and adding 6 boards and 5 assists.

But Lickliter thought him better for the bench, and decreased PT combined with an injury meant that those 16 points Davis scored against ISU matched his entire scoring output for the last nine games of the season.

Davis blamed the system.

"I was just unhappy here," Davis said Wednesday afternoon. "I didn’t really understand my role on the team."

[...]

"The style that we play is just so slow," Davis said. "I like to play more fast-paced, and force turnovers and stuff like that."

No word on how exciting Mankato is.

DEPARTURE COUNT: 2

Oh, we're not even close to done.

According to Dochtermann, Jeff Peterson is also gone daddy gone, his likely destination Missouri State. This is a mortal fucking lock for being an issue with Lickliter; Peterson was seemingly practically handed the starting point job coming into this season, and really has it for himself now with Kelly and Davis gone. Or had it, anyway.

We've written before that Peterson's bad tendencies boded ill for the Hawkeyes this season, but all the same, he was vastly improved over last season, especially from the field. Logic dictates that the rate of improvement would begin to decrease--he couldn't have put up .575 from the field, .917 from the line, and .525 from 3-point land next season, after all. But no matter your opinion of his performance, he's the kind of guy you keep around for the sake of experience, depth, and program continuity. Unless your name is Todd Lickliter, of course.

By the way, this completes Iowa's slide from "Every player who logged minutes at the point this season is coming back" to "They're dead; my God, they're all dead." Just worth pointing out, considering Lickliter's penchant for a guard-dominated offense.

DEPARTURE COUNT: 3

Remember Chanse Creekmur, last seen dunking on what was at least an 8'6" rim over a car?

Yeah, he's "exploring other options." Always good to see your top junior prospect get cold feet, right? RIGHT?!

DEPARTURE COUNT: 4

There's lotsundlotsen rumbling that this revolt started in part over the mistreatment of David Palmer and Lieutenant J.R. Angle by Lickliter (we're pretty sure the seeds of discontent were sown well before this season tipped off; more on that later). While Angle is finally graduating (after not seeing one single second of playing time on Senior Day; the Angle family thanks you, Lick!), El Presidente has another year of eligibility.

Palmer also graduates in May, according to Dochtermann, and unless there's a graduate program in Iowa that he's in love with and he's wanting another year with this program, Palmer'll be hitting the ol' dusty trail too. This is the only departure of the group that's stuck strictly in the realm of "conjecture" at this point, but after getting done so hard that multiple players are walking off the team in disgust, why would Palmer even consider coming back? That's so El Unpresidential.

DEPARTURE COUNT: 5

So... how was your Wednesday?

Entirely One-Sided Internet Questionsing With Penn State

Oops Pow Surprise — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 21:55:31 -0000

As you well know, Iowa is headed for a sweet evening game with their traditionally most hated rivals, Penn State. Err, yeah. We were going to send some questions to like Black Shoe Diaries or someone for them to answer about the upcoming game, but wvery time we came here to start the article, we got mentally sidetracked by the Obamicon open thread. So instead of a witty back-and-forthing to get people worked up for the game, we're just going to pose a few unanswered questions, but the catch is this: they're questions for which BSD (and PSU)'s only plausible answer is "nothing." Their silence will speak volumes!

Greetings, Black Shoe Diaries. Just to make sure you are not a spambot 5000, please answer the following math questions: What is (4 x 11) - 33 - 12 + 1?

BSD: (nothing)

Correct! What is any number timesed by zero?

BSD: (nothing)

Correctamundo! Last question: 17 + 4.

BSD: (nothing)

Incorrect, that is 21. We now know that you are a real people, because only spambots and TI-85s can answer such hard math questions correctly. Your imperfections make you perfect. What are some of your own philosophical thoughts to complement such brilliant observations by BHGP?

BSD: (nothing)

It is good to know your own limitations. Onto basketball. What can the Penn States do to slow down the offensive tornadocane (that is a tornado made of tiny hurricanes) [hang on.--ed] WHAT NOW? [Shouldn't that be a hurricane made of tornadoes?--ed] No, why? [because the second part of a compound noun like that should be the object, and the first part is the modifier.--ed] Expound. [Well, a jelly bean is a bean made of jelly, not a jelly made of beans.--ed] But that's two words! Tornadocane is one word. And I made it up and it can be whatever I want. [Look, you can call your tornado made of tiny hurricanes a snickerdoodle for all I care. I'm just telling you that you're using words wrong.--ed] A snickerdoodle is a cookie. [I'm just saying that when your roommate told you to eat a shitcake two years ago, it was understood that it was a cake made out of shit, not a shit made out of cake.--ed] What, so cake doesn't turn into #2 all of a sudden? [I'm leaving.--ed] ANYWAY, what can Penn State do to stop David Palmer?

BSD: (nothing)

I knew it! Here comes a 30-point night for EL PRESIDENTE!

BSD: (nothing)

I didn't ask you anything.

BSD: (nothing)

Okay okay okay. What do you use to wipe your own butt?

BSD: (nothing)

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

Nitt Picks Throws a Lot At You

BSD — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 15:20:54 -0000

After a dominating win over a Michigan team that is struggling of late despite wins over Duke and UCLA earlier in the season, many people are starting to talk about Penn State's chances of making the NCAA tournament. Some guy from the Bleacher Report likes our chances.

While there is certainly a long way to go, I have to say I like their chances. At the beginning of the season, I think everyone involved with the PSU program would take their results up to this point in a heartbeat.

While yes, I'm pleased with the 15-5 record at this point, I'm not convinced our chances are yet "good." The much more knowledgeable Penn State basketball blog, Crispin and Cream, isn't shopping for dresses yet either.

Frankly, I don’t know too much about this PSU team yet. I know we have 2 first team all-conference candidates, but as far as team success? I know we can’t shoot foul shots. I know PSU barely beat a 9-9 Georgia Tech team on the road by 2 (they’re now 0-5 in the ACC). I know PSU beat a UM team that has looked a lot more like the team that barely beat Savannah State than the team that beat UCLA and Duke. I know PSU barely beat a Purdue squad who not only was struggling at the time, but was also without their two best players. Like David Jones says, sometimes the game outcomes result from when you played and not who you played.

Saturday we play Iowa which is a huge game for us. So you can imagine I was happy to see an article headline that read Iowa's Tate Likely Out Against Penn State. It's always nice to know your opponent is short handed when you play them. But then I read the article and saw this part.

David Palmer has stepped up in Tate's absence. The reserve forward is averaging 20 points and 7.5 since being inserted into starting lineup two games ago.

Ugh. That's better than the 7.3 points and 6.4 rebounds Cyrus Tate was doing. So maybe we're not so much catching a break here.

But one thing I've noticed as the season has progressed is the Andrews, Jones and Ott, have been getting steadily better in each game. Maybe assistant coach Lewis Preston is starting to have an impact.

Preston, who played at Virginia Military Institute in the early 1990s and still holds the Keydets’ career blocked shots record (202), has brought a physical and hands-on approach to his sessions with Penn State’s big men.

“It’s been fun,” said Jones, a 6-foot-9, 245-pound redshirt sophomore from Philadelphia. “He’s been working with me on a multitude of things — rebounding position, posting up, post moves, always trying to have my hands ready for passes or rebounds.”

Catching Battle’s no-look passes and staying out of foul trouble remain adventures for Jones, but his high-energy presence at both ends of the floor is beginning to yield results.

Through 20 games, he needs just seven rebounds to reach his 31-game total of last season (116). He leads the team and is third in the Big Ten with 44 offensive rebounds (eighth in offensive boards per game) and is 13th in the Big Ten in overall rebounding.

The play of Jones and Ott to counter the guard attack of Battle and Pringle are going to be huge down the stretch of this season.

Are You Kidding Me?

I saw this quote in an article about Purdue and it made me chuckle.

"We know we have to go inside early," Jackson said. "If we let the crowd get into it, it would be a battle just like it was at Northwestern and Penn State."

If you recall, classes were out of session and there was a terrible ice storm the night Purdue visited the Jordan Center. I guess those 500 senior citizens in attendance were pretty rowdy.

Let's Talk Some Football

It was really odd how silent Maurice Evans was all through the process of making the decision to enter the NFL draft. The supposed deadline passed last week and there was still confusion about his decision. This week the Sentinel caught up with him and helped shed some light on his thought process. In it he specifically discusses the marijuana incident.

Evans said that if he receives an invite to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis this spring he will attend and knows he must be honest with those who will interview him at the combine about his off-field situation.

“If I’m not invited it’s not a big deal. We still have pro day at Penn State (March 18). It gives me more time to improve, get bigger and faster. It would be a plus to get accepted to the combine,” Evans said.

“There was no sour relationship between me and coach Paterno. I was never mad at him for the decision he made. The decision for me leaving early was just something I was comfortable with. Like I said before I think I’m ready to compete.”

Derrick Williams seems to be putting things together after a shaky start to practice at the Senior Bowl. I love this quote.

"I'm driven by greatness."

That pretty much sums up his career at Penn State. I don't think I ever witnessed a player give more effort and devote every minute of every day to being great as much as Derrick Williams did. I hope he does well in the NFL.

In Scores of Other Games

Tomahawk Nation shares some interesting rumors about Bobby Bowden's tenuous situation at Florida State...Dr. Saturday plots a google map of the Rivals Top 100 for this year which kind of ties into our discussion on star rankings...Several Penn State football players are training for the NFL draft locally...Members of the football team will be at the basketball game Saturday to sign autographs...The Lady Lions came back from 17 points down to beat Wisconsin in overtime...And Penn State won the Lambert Meadowlands Trophy which used to be a big deal. It's the 27th time Penn State has been crowned Beast of the East. If we were Pitt this would be worthy of hanging a banner in the stadium.

Cyrus Tate "Doubtful" For Wisconsin Game; You Know What That Means

Oops Pow Surprise — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 21:00:12 -0000

Time for a heapin' helpin' of EL PRESIDENTE!

What? No. The other one.

Good jesus, what the hell is that? No. The OTHER other one. Not Upsidey-downhead Obama. Though with a giant beard, he does seem wise.

I'd David Palm her! [dude, what?--ed]

Yes, according to Hawkcentral, Tate is doubtful for tonight's game. So even if Tate does find his way onto the court (unlikely), he's going to be of limited-at-best utility to the Hawkeyes, both in quantity and quality of minutes. So we get David Palmer, who managed to rack up 19 points (and 4 turnovers) in just 22 minutes of work this past Sunday. The 19 points accounted for A) nearly 40% of Iowa's scoring production in the loss; and B) a new high scoring mark for Palmer, barely beating out his previous Iowa best of 7.

Yes, it's worth noting that his points usually came while he was wide open, but they also came from everywhere on the floor, and if defenses start to collapse on Palmer when he gets the ball 15 feet from the bucket then so much the better; collapsing defenses = wide open perimeter shooters = Todd Lickliter dances like a leprechaun. No, Palmer didn't record an assist on Sunday, but that's because everyone ran away from him as soon as he got the ball like he was a fat kid on the 3 point line at the Y; a pass would have been idiotic and earned him a spot on the bench.

And further, though Palmer's defense was meh against Purdue, he wasn't the one blowing transition D responsibilities while the Boilers were raining 3s on Iowa in the second half and pulling away. That story might change a bit with bigs like Joe Krabbenhoft and Jon Leuer looming for the Badgers; neither are huge scorers, but who's going to stop them tonight? Palmer and whom? Jarryd Cole? We're a little worried.

Be sure to stop by the liveblog tonight; HS is going to be drinking himself blind and I, being the designated driver, will gorge myself on Triscuits and other hors d'oeuvres. Just kidding, HS doesn't drink.

Bad News For The Iowa Basketball Team, America

Oops Pow Surprise — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 16:18:56 -0000

Following his breakout 19-point, 8-rebound performance for the Hawkeyes in their loss at Purdue, David "El Presidente" Palmer was assassinated by a sniper. The bullet traveled through the forward/center's neck and he died instantly. Palmer will be given a state funeral and is expected to miss the rest of the season.

El Presidente, days before tragedy.

Authorities believe the sniper was working under direction from militant fundamentalist Todd Lickliter, who is a known enemy of Palmer. Police have named Conrad Haas and John Lickliter as persons of interest but have declined further comment.

The Problem(s) With Iowa Basketball

Oops Pow Surprise — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 16:40:51 -0000

Though we haven't spent much editorial space on the Hawkeyes' basketball team (largely because their games have been scheduled for Friday nights, Sunday mornings, and the curious "as soon as you fall asleep"), we're still watching, thinking, fact-gathering. And though the team is undoubtedly improved--even with a 1-3 conference mark, they're 11-6, and they didn't get their 11th win until February 2nd last season--that 1-3 record isn't quite where fans would like to see the Hawkeyes.

The animus has reached such a fever pitch, in fact, that the basketball forum on our favorite Hawkeye message board (no, not that one; not that one either) has become a functionally unreadable cacophony of "FUCK THE SYSTEM" and "LICKLITER WOULD RATHER PLAY HIS SYSTEM THAN WIN" and "SPEED IT UP YOU COCKMASTER." Setting aside the nonsense, like the notion that there's a coach anywhere that doesn't want to win, there are three glaring faults with the Iowa basketball team (the first feeding the last two), and while Lickliter isn't absolved of blame, they're all matters of personnel.

1) This team is still incredibly young. Here are the players who have been in the Iowa program for at least three years:

F Cyrus Tate (SR)
F J.R. Angle (SR)

Basically one legitimate, clear-cut starter, and then DanJRous. There's your long-standing, institutional knowledge.

And the list of players in their second year:

G Jeff Peterson (SO)
G Jake Kelly (SO)
F Jarryd Cole (SO)
F David Palmer (JR)

This list is even more depressing, because it goes (in order): a 2-star prospect who should have redshirted last season and who wouldn't start on most teams this year; another kid who maybe should have redshirted (but played well) and may have regressed from last year (though we can kinda understand why); an undersized forward whose PT has been cut in half in the aftermath of a major knee injury, and that guy from 24.

That's it. The rest are first-year players, and it's looking increasingly like the foundation of the program will be built on the first year guys instead of the sophomore class. It's one thing to have a young team; it's even worse when the weaknesses are largely contained to the more experienced players. Indictment of Lickliter? Maybe, but what is any coach going to do with, let's say, Cole or Peterson? They're not BXI-level players yet.

2) Cyrus Tate and Anthony Tucker are out. With Tate in the game, Iowa at least has a shot at establishing a semblance of an inside game, whether it be through scoring, rebounding, or defending the opponents' #1 big man. But when Tate went down yelping during the Minnesota game, all hell broke loose, and what was a suffocating dominance of the Gophers turned into, well, justifiable cause to suffocate yourself.

Obviously, It really didn't help when Jake Kelly, holding the ball with about 4 seconds to play and a chance to tie the game with a 3, instead hoisted a half-court shot that mysteriously failed. But Minnesota got back into the game by dominating the boards and jumping passing lanes while Iowa fruitlessly tossed the basketball back and forth around the perimeter, utterly devoid of an inside threat on offense.

Tate may or may not be back for the Hawks' next game against Purdue; God help us if he's not and his minutes go to Cole (who's basically Hot Rod Thompson with two more inches and one fewer knee) and Dr. Disaster, Andrew Brommer. Brommer may well one day be a serviceable big man in the league, maybe even by a year from now, but Good Jesus, the last Hawkeye I can remember getting major minutes while being so terrifyingly unsuited to be on the court was, like, Alex Thompson. So the question is, can Tate go from wearing a walking boot on Sunday to playing one week later? And speaking of questions, why in the hell is Iowa playing another Sunday morning game?! Is this enough to get Barta fired?

And then there's Anthony Tucker.

The Frozen Caveman Shooter is still on the bench, now recovering from mononucleosis, a particularly insidious disease for a basketball player. High-level guard play is usually based on shooting ability, usually based on ball-handling, and usually based on knowledge of the offense. It is ALWAYS, however, based on conditioning, which suffers in a bad, bad way with a case of mono. At this point, it's probably gravy if Tucker sees more than 5 minutes a game before March rolls around.

That's a shame, because as anyone who watched him play before the retardations set in knows, he has a gorgeous release on his jumper (that sounded Kincheny) and it was no accident that he was leading the team in scoring. There's a lot to be said for confidence in a shooter, and there isn't an ounce of panic in Tucker's game. Sure, Bawinkel's fine in replacement, but he's clearly not as good, especially with the ball in his hands. Tucker is a much more natural player overall, and like Tate, Iowa needs him back.

3) The team is sorely lacking at the point. One of the hallmarks of a good perimeter-oriented team is the ability to effectively distribute the ball, usually via the point guard. While we don't doubt Matt Gatens' basketball acumen, he's definitely not the kind of ball-handler (lol) you want bringing the ball up against a press, or trying to shake a good defender 1-on-1. He's not that athletic.

So while Gatens is probably your highest basketball-IQ guy, the point responsibilities go to Jeff Peterson, who as we discussed before, is not very good yet. Jermain Davis has also seen some time bringing the ball up the court, but he's definitely not a natural 1-spot and is at his most effective on the wing.

Peterson, to be sure, has shown some improvement; his shooting totals are way, way up across the board, and his steals have vastly improved as well. Of course, that's with 15 fewer BXI games than last year, but hush, folks, details. The one area where Peterson hasn't improved is turnovers; those remain at 3.1 per game, same as last year, and likely to rise now that there's no more superdirectionals or "Bryant" on the schedule. And having a point guard who can't effectively and smartly distribute the ball or at least set it in motion to eventually hit the open man on the wing is basically a guarantee of not making the tournament.

The one seriously glaring problem with this point guard situation is, um, Lickliter gave away a returning senior starter at that very position. Yes, Tony Freeman drove Lick insane, but it's not like World B. Freeman was the only thing keeping that team from sustained success. They were just plain bad, and without depth at the point (seriously, you couldn't tell Palmer or Lieutenant Angle that they "didn't fit into your vision for the team" instead?), this team might be just as bad when the dust settles on the conference standings in March.

Look, we're not saying "Iowa + Freeman = 17-0 in 08-09!!!", but this is a team that could desperately use his athleticism (especially now that he's not coming off a squeaky wheel) and his ability to hit contested shots. We understand that the Iowa offense is predicated on ball movement and getting guys open shots, and really, to that specific end, it hasn't been ineffective (check out that PPS). The problem is what happens when there's 5 seconds left on the shot clock, the man with the ball is covered, and there's no readily apparent 3-pass progression to get the ball to a wide-open shooter (or even if the guys are in place, defenders are laying back and praying for a pass through their lane). Freeman had a rather uncanny ability to get a good shot off under pressure, moreso than what most of the guys on this current iteration of Iowa Basketball have.

At the very least, keeping Freeman would have given Lickliter an opportunity to show potential recruits that he allows point guards to excel and put up stats in his system. Considering Lickliter's alternative course of action and the landscape of incoming commits, we're a little less than optimistic that this offense is fewer than 2-3 years away from really clicking. Hope Lickliter's got a Plan B, and soon.