CLEVELAND — Ten hours before the Iowa women’s basketball team faced UConn in the NCAA Final Four, new athletic director Beth Goetz was helping prepare the next generation of women’s basketball coaches.
Goetz, 49, served on a panel offering advice to newly hired coaches. She previously served as a youth soccer coach after graduating from Clemson. It’s his way of giving back. But that didn’t distract her from what was to come Friday night: a 71-69 Iowa victory over UConn.
In one of the most impactful eras of college sports, Goetz has three layers of issues to worry about. There is the local day-to-day responsibility of running an athletics department that generated $167.4 million in fiscal year 2023. A new Big Ten is on the horizon, which includes four new universities and countless logistical challenges. Finally, there are existential issues at the national level regarding pay for gambling.
In Goetz’s interview with Athleticism, which took place before his panel discussion, mostly topics related to Iowa athletics. Our conversation takes place in two parts. The first covers women’s and men’s basketball and Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Part two, which takes place later this week, revolves around football and broader topics.
For the second straight season, the women’s basketball team finished second nationally. The Hawkeyes have sold out 37 of 39 games, including the entire slate at home last August. Caitlin Clark was the consensus national player of the year twice and seemingly set a major record in every game. Her impact, from local attendance to national television audiences, changed women’s sport in this country. She will enter the WNBA draft next week and will undoubtedly become the first selection.
The popularity of Iowa women’s basketball is off the charts. Have you seen anything similar?
Goetz: “Not right now today. Obviously, I spent time at UConn (as a female senior administrator from 2016-2018). They were in the middle of their 100-game unbeaten streak and national championship series. Sure, there was a lot of excitement… but this moment is different.
“I think it’s because you have multiple stars in the game, the media attention and if there was another Caitlin Clark, who has a talent and a generational personality, a passion and a fire that has captivated (the audience), we just couldn’t do it. see that previously. Probably because it was before the advent of social media and everything else. So it’s surreal, just the reach that This has had for Iowa in particular.
GO FURTHER
Caitlin Clark’s last day as a college superstar: No championship, but contentment
The next step is to capture that enthusiasm and maintain it.
Goetz: “I think what Lisa (Bluder) did so well was highlight the things that make the game so great. (Clark) and her spectacular plays aside, women’s basketball is being played at a really, really high level right now. I think people who are listening are drawn to that. They’ve seen games where there were a lot of talented athletes, incredible passes, and they’re more athletic than they’ve ever been. I think the (Iowa) team did a really good job of showcasing that. So I think because the level of play has increased and the attention has increased, it’s not just about an athlete, I think it’s something that Caitlin can definitely be proud of the legacy that she will leave behind.
“It’s our job to make sure that, in what I just described, we capture that and express that message to our fans, and market it to our fans so that we can continue to sell tickets at a very high level. high and attract people to the games. I think this time it’s different. I think it’s a different time nationally. Are we going to have tickets on the secondary market for thousands of dollars? May be no. But we will have an exciting team to watch, and I think we have attracted fans who will continue to want to be a part of it.
On the other hand, the Iowa women’s basketball phenom is the situation facing the men’s basketball program. At first glance, this seems like a healthy situation. The Hawkeyes advanced to four straight NCAA tournaments before falling to the NIT in a rebuilding year. Iowa had a two-time national player of the year in Luka Garza (2020-21), a first-team All-American and NBA lottery pick in Keegan Murray (2022), and a first-round pick in the NBA in Kris Murray (2023). In the ultra-competitive Big Ten, Iowa has had just one losing season in league play since 2012.
But there are problems. In 17 home games, Iowa has sold an average of 9,981 tickets, which is the second lowest level for the program since at least the 1970s. Once the talk of the state, these men have rarely garnered a lot of attention this year. Fran McCaffery is the winningest coach in program history, but many fans are tired of the program’s lack of success in the NCAA tournaments. Once a Sweet 16 staple, the Hawkeyes haven’t reached the NCAA’s second weekend since 1999.
Two starters, including son Patrick McCaffery, entered the transfer portal while star shooting guard Payton Sandfort declared for the NBA draft, although he could return. At best, the long-term future is uncertain.
Goetz: “Men’s basketball is a priority for us and always has been. But I can just tell you that this is an area that we continue to focus on right now in terms of what we can do from a programmatic standpoint and from an administrative standpoint to make sure that we provide the level of support we need. .
“Obviously, a lot of conversations have been about students and how we engage them. So there are places where I think as a university you have to be creative and try new things and work with our students and our fans to really understand what they need and what’s important to them. We know that some factors can be uncontrollable, but that doesn’t mean there are things we can’t do to try to resolve them, whether it’s TV schedules, parking, all those other things. How can we then take that information and ensure that we’re trying to put some things in place that will be helpful? »
Men’s basketball season ticket sales are down slightly, Goetz says, and she hopes to get answers from fans as part of an offseason survey on the program.
Goetz: “There certainly could be some disappointment at not making the tournament and some worry. We therefore do not rule out this element. But it could also be that some of these same people have jumped on the women’s bandwagon, which is great. Where do they come from ? Do they make multiple trips to Iowa City? It’s a little different from football, where you plan to come every week. Every time you do it, you really want to dive in, understand the data, but also talk to these fans.
GO FURTHER
Can Iowa men’s basketball bounce back from the brink of apathy?
Any concerns about the transfer portal are mitigated by context, Goetz says. As of Monday, 13 Big Ten men’s basketball teams had at least three players in the portal, including Iowa, according to On3.
Goetz: “We want all of our programs, and certainly men’s basketball, to compete at the highest level and recognize that there has been a little more apathy than maybe in the past. And so, alongside the coach, we are not going to let this go. How can we intervene and determine exactly what the concerns are? And how can we address that and ensure that we’ve tried to position ourselves for continued success?
“It was a very good coaching job in my opinion. We had a very young group. Yes, you’d like to do more, but we just had three pretty great years in a row where you lost an NBA pick and that’s really impressive. I thought the team’s last two games were tough, but I think we saw a lot of improvement and development. They started playing together and we have some really talented young athletes. Again, we’re not going to bury our heads in the sand. I hear that from fans. I understand their concerns and we will try to address them.
A perennial complaint among Iowa fans concerns Carver-Hawkeye Arena. It was complete for the women’s basketball and wrestling seasons in noisy environments. From the lack of a mid-level lobby to dining options to lower-level restrooms to students not seated near court, the complaints are perpetual. The ministry recently conducted a feasibility study to examine ideas for future renovations.
Goetz: “I don’t see how this can be a great facility for two sports and not the other. So I’m not sure if it’s an installation issue. It’s 40 years old. We all need love after 40. I know it to be sure. Certainly it was designed in a bit of a different era, and I think it’s a critical facilities project for us. Not in the sense of an arms race – not that we don’t want her to look good and be one of the best in the Big Ten, of course – but it’s not about chasing that . It’s about how can we ensure that we have facilities that best serve our fans, our student-athletes and our students?
“One piece of the puzzle is trying to find additional toilets at field level. In addition to this, one of our concepts is to set up a premium club area which would be in the main stands. You would actually have another elevator stop up to that floor, there would be restrooms in the club, which would now attract everyone who was in that seated area and have access to the club.
As for bringing students closer to the ground, there are obstacles. Donors often fill many of these seats, which are the best in the arena.
Goetz: “You want to be of service to your long-time donors and supporters. You want the arena to look cool, you want to create an environment. But just because you put the students section at the bottom doesn’t mean they show up. That’s why you really need to step up and decide and hear from everyone about what the problem is. So you move them down, and they feel like they can’t get here very easily. Well, that won’t change much.
“It’s a necessary project. This impacts several sports. I think ultimately, if we can generate philanthropic support to move forward in this area, it will really benefit all of these people.
(Top photo: Lily Smith / The Register-USA Today)