Todd Arlan Lickliter (born April 17, 1955) is the former head coach of the

Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball The Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team represents the Purple Aces of the University of Evansville, located in Evansville, Indiana, in NCAA Division I basketball competition. They play their home games at the Ford Center. Evansville's ...

team of the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest. History The MVC was established ...

(MVC). He was previously the head coach of Marian University, the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...

, and

Butler University Butler University is a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university has over 60 major academic fields of study in six colleges: the Lacy School of Business, College of Communic ...

men's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

teams. 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 Hinkle Fieldhouse (named Butler Fieldhouse from 1928 until 1966) is a basketball arena on the campus of Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. Completed in early 1928, it was the largest basketball arena in the United States until 1950. The ...

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 The University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW or UNC Wilmington) is a public research university in Wilmington, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina System and enrolls 17,499 undergraduate and graduate students eac ...

(UNCW) but wound up transferring to

Central Florida Community College The College of Central Florida (CF) is a public college with campuses in Marion, Citrus, and Levy counties. It is part of the Florida College System. Founded in 1957 as Central Florida Junior College, CF has grown to span three counties and inc ...

. 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

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 Danville is a town in and the county seat of Hendricks County, Indiana, United States. The population was 9,001 at the 2010 census, up from 6,418 at the 2000 census. In 2019 the estimated population was 10,126. History Danville was founded in 18 ...

, 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 Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

in 1997 and remained on the Eagles' staff for two seasons, before returning to Butler in 1999. In six

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...

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 Thad Michael Matta (born July 11, 1967) is an American college basketball coach and the current head coach of the Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team. From 2004 to 2017, Matta led the Ohio State Buckeyes to five Big Ten Conference regular seas ...

. 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 Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

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

, who accepted the same position at

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati and Evanston (Cincinnati), Ohio. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4,860 stud ...

. During his first season, Lickliter led the Bulldogs to a then-school record 26 victories and third consecutive

Horizon League The Horizon League is an 11-school collegiate athletic conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, whose members are located in and near the Great Lakes region. The Horizon League founded in 1979 as the Midw ...

regular season championship. They also cracked the

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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 North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

and

Everett Case Everett Norris Case (June 21, 1900 – April 30, 1966), nicknamed the "Old Gray Fox", was a basketball coach most notable for his tenure at North Carolina State University, from 1946 to 1964. Early life and career Born in Anderson, Indiana, Case ...

(55 wins) of

North Carolina State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The unive ...

. 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. In April 2007, the

National Association of Basketball Coaches The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is an American organization of men's college basketball coaches. It was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, head men's basketball coach at the University ...

named Lickliter the National Coach of the Year. CollegeHoops.net also named Lickliter the High-Major Coach of the Year.

Iowa Hawkeyes

Lickliter was introduced as the head coach at the University of Iowa on April 3, 2007, replacing

Steve Alford Stephen Todd Alford (born November 23, 1964) is an American men's college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach for the Nevada Wolf Pack of the Mountain West Conference (MWC). Born and raised in Indiana, he was a ...

. Iowa and Lickliter agreed to a 7-year deal at a salary of $1.2 million per year. At the end of his 3rd year at Iowa, Lickliter was fired for poor performance. His record with the Hawkeyes was 38-58.

Marian Knights

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

Evansville Purple Aces

After spending six seasons out of NCAA Division I college basketball, Lickliter was hired by first-year head coach

Walter McCarty Walter Lee McCarty (born February 1, 1974) is an American basketball coach and former professional player. McCarty played for the NBA's New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns, and the Los Angeles Clippers. He last served as head coach ...

to be an assistant for the

team in the

. Lickliter's former assistant, Matthew Graves, was also hired to be part of McCarty's staff. After McCarty was fired midway through his second season for sexual harassment and Title IX violations, Lickliter was hired as head coach on January 21, 2020. On May 5, 2022, Lickliter was fired by Evansville after compiling a 15-53 record.

Head coaching record

Family

Lickliter and his wife, Joez, have three sons, Ry, Garrett and John, and three daughters-in-law, Magdalena, Molly, and Leah. 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.

References

External links

Evansville profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lickliter, Todd 1955 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Saudi Arabia American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Indiana Basketball players from Indianapolis Boston Celtics scouts Butler Bulldogs men's basketball coaches Butler Bulldogs men's basketball players College men's basketball head coaches in the United States College of Central Florida Patriots men's basketball players Eastern Michigan Eagles men's basketball coaches Educators from Indiana Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball coaches High school basketball coaches in the United States Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball coaches Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Marian Knights men's basketball coaches Miami RedHawks men's basketball coaches Guards (basketball)