Lickliter names captains, talks about recruiting

Iowa’s basketball captains for next year are junior forward Jarryd Cole and senior guard Devan Bawinkel, Iowa Coach Todd Lickliter said tonight.

Cole, a 6'7'' post, played in all 32 games last year and averaged 3.7 points and 3.0 rebounds a game. Cole joined graduating senior Cyrus Tate as a co-captain last year. Cole started a slow coming off knee surgery but started nine games.

Bawinkel , a 6'5'' perimeter guard, played his first season at Iowa last year, after transferring from Highland(Ill.) Community College. Bawinkel played in every game and started nine. He averaged 4.8 points a game and shot a team-high 139 3-pointers. All but five of his shots were 3-point attempts.

“I think they’re showing terrific leadership,” Iowa Coach Todd Lickliter said Wednesday at the Marshall County I-Club banquet.

Lickliter said recruiting efforts for the upcoming season are ongoing, and he’s got a recruit coming in this weekend. Lickliter declined to say if this recruit was for 2009 or 2010.

Sources close to the program say the player visiting is a transfer from another Division I program who won’t be eligible until the 2010-11 basketball season.

“We’re still recruiting,” Lickliter said. “There are some out there. I’m really comfortable with the group we have. Would you like to have a little more depth? Yeah, but I’ve been here two years now, and we haven’t given out 13 scholarships. Yet I’m not that concerned about that."

“We will have a visit this weekend," LIckliter said. "I don’t know for sure how that will play out.”

Iowa currently has 10 players under scholarship for the upcoming season. Along with Cole and Bawinkel, Iowa returns sophomores Matt Gatens, Andrew Brommer, Aaron Fuller, and Anthony Tucker, who likely will regain his eligibility following semester finals.

Entering the program this year are incoming freshmen Cully Payne, Eric May, and Brennan Cougill, along with junior-college transfer Devon Archie. Iowa also has red-shirt freshman John Lickliter, the coach’s son.

Four players from last year’s roster—guards Jake Kelly, Jeff Peterson, Jermain Davis, and forward David Palmer—left the program.

“Having 11 is probably thin, but it’s very manageable,” Lickliter said. “It’s not important how many you have, but who you have. And I really like who we have, and I like the spots that we have filled. At least now I feel that we have a good grasp of where we’re at and what our needs are and who’s going to be involved. I think you can really paint a much clearer picture for our recruiting efforts."

“We could [add another player]," Lickliter said. "I wouldn’t say it’s pressing or that it’s guaranteed. But we could.”

If Iowa adds a transfer from another school, the player must sit out for a season but likely will be placed under scholarship. Iowa has three scholarships available for this fall but has two commitments for the 2010 season—Sioux City Heelan’s Zach McCabe and Sioux Falls prep Cody Larson.

With Bawinkel the only senior, Iowa would need to hold at least one scholarship open for those commitments.

Iowa also has added a walk-on for the upcoming season. Nick Neari, a 6'3'' guard from St. Charles(Ill.) North High School, is a close friend of Payne. He averaged 14 points a game in suburban Chicago.

Lickliter said he can’t comment on walk-on players.

“You can say that we’re going to have some, but they have to arrive, enroll and be on the roster. No different than a recruit.”