EMU Basketball Coach: Eagles Leaning Toward Retread

The buzz around Ypsilanti (other than "WTF why is it snowing?") is that former Butler/Iowa coach Todd Lickliter is becoming the frontrunner for the EMU basketball coaching vacancy. The Detroit News also says that the Eagles interviewed Grand Valley State (Division II) head coach Ric Wesley, but gives no further details. (So, it won't be him.)

Lickliter's three years at Iowa are pretty much forgettable: no winning records and a 15-39 Big Ten mark. But those two Sweet 16s he guided Butler to ... those are the distant stars athletic departments must see in his eyes when he's interviewing with them, which he did over the weekend.

Why EMU? During their last MAC championship (Earl Boykins!), Lickliter was an assistant coach with them before leaving for Butler and eventually heading them up. And other than his history with them, there are only eight (for now) jobs left in Division I that he could snag, and they're goin' fast. Frankly he'd be better off at somewhere like IUPUI, but maybe this is where he needs to prove he can turn a program around. He didn't necessarily need to do that a Butler, as he replace some pretty solid guys (Thad Matta, for example).

Supplanting Charles Ramsey as a coach means that, hey, a .500 record is a refreshing improvement! And if the Convocation Center can bring in 2,000 fans a game, then all the better.

And with every passing rumor, it seems less likely that Stan Joplin is going to emerge from the puff of smoke. But maybe this can wait until, y'know, it stops snowing.