Iowa basketball coach Todd Lickliter won’t have much depth to work with when the Hawkeyes play four games in Italy and Greece beginning this weekend. Incoming freshman cannot take part in summer trips and with four players leaving the program at the end of last season the roster only has seven players.
Two of the defections were Jake Kelly and Jeff Peterson so the Hawks are without an experienced point guard. Lickliter says the players that remain in the program have worked hard and they want to compete.
He says the players don’t like where they are at, and want to do something about it. With only two reserves the Hawks will need to avoid foul trouble. He says they may play some zone as they have a lot of minutes to play.
Lickliter says it will be a good test to see if his team can play smart basketball. He says they are learning how to complement each other and the techniques, and now need to play the game fully alert.
Iowa’s first game is Sunday in Rome.