IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Iowa athletic director Gary Barta had no idea the man he was about to ask to be his new basketball coach had won a National Coach of the Year award the night before.
In three meetings with Iowa officials at the Final Four, Todd Lickliter never mentioned the honor. That show of humility cinched it for Barta, who moved quickly to bring the architect of Butler's recent success to Iowa.
"That told me a lot about the person we had been meeting with," Barta said.
The 51-year-old Lickliter was introduced as Iowa's coach Tuesday, having agreed on a seven-year deal worth $1.2 million annually.
Lickliter was 131-61 in six years at Butler, leading the Bulldogs to a pair of appearances in the NCAA Tournament's Round of 16 and 29 wins last season. He takes over for Steve Alford, who left for New Mexico on March 23 after eight up-and-down seasons.
"I'm thrilled," Lickliter said. "It had to be an awfully good resume to catch Iowa's attention."
It's hard to escape the parallels between Lickliter's arrival and Alford's back in 1999. Both were Indiana-born, mid-major coaches who used an appearance in the NCAA Tournament run to the regional semifinals as a springboard to Iowa.
That's where the similarities end.
Lickliter worked as a high school coach in Indiana for well over a decade, even spending part of one season coaching in Saudi Arabia. He got back in college ball by taking a job as an administrative assistant under Barry Collier at Butler in 1996, and produced immediate results upon being elevated to head coach in 2001.
He led the Bulldogs to 26 wins and the Horizon League regular season title in his first season, then guided them to two NCAA Tournament victories as a No. 12 seed a year later.
This season, Lickliter and the Bulldogs proved early on they were too good to be considered underdogs.
Butler knocked off Notre Dame, Indiana, Tennessee and Gonzaga to win the NIT Season Tip-off championship and earn a spot in the Associated Press Top 25. Butler then beat Old Dominion and Maryland in this year's NCAA Tournament before falling to eventual national champion Florida.
For his efforts, Lickliter was honored as Division I Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
