The latest on the Iowa men's basketball coaching search

Although I loathe war references in comparison with sporting events, it seems Iowa fans and media are locked into the "sitzkrieg" portion of the Iowa men's basketball coaching search.

The original "sitzkrieg" took place in fall 1939 through spring 1940 when people commenting about World War II's Western Front complained about the lack of activity. Well, it didn't take long for the Germans to change the "sitzkrieg" into "blitzkrieg." The same goes for the Iowa basketball coaching search. (OK, enough of the war references).

Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta plans to watch the Iowa wrestling team in the national championships at Omaha. It's possible he'll fly to California to attend the women's NCAA Tournament game on Saturday against Rutgers. If Iowa's women's team wins Saturday, the Hawkeyes will play Monday. That keeps Barta away from Iowa City until Tuesday or so.

That's not to say Barta won't make phone calls, watch highlights of NCAA Tournament games and read through the resumes sent to his e-mail account. But the University of Iowa's way to hire coaches includes a search committee, even in an expediated process like picking a coach for a revenue-producing sport. Names of committee members are not yet public so the "official" discussions have not happened yet. It will, but it will just be next week.

I spoke briefly with former Iowa and NBA player B.J. Armstrong the other day. He was friendly as always but reluctant to talk because he didn't know what role he'd have in the current search. Armstrong was a search committee member in 2007 when Iowa tabbed Todd Lickliter, and he sent multiple recommendations through to Barta during that search. Armstrong is now a player agent and represents Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose, a position Armstrong once held 20 (gulp) years ago.

Keno Davis, son of Iowa all-time wins leader Tom Davis, apparently told a recruit in New England that he had no plans to leave Providence for Iowa. That's easy to say without an offer from Iowa. It's hard to say what Keno would tell that recruit if Iowa asked him to come home for a major bump in salary.

There's plenty of coaching prospects in the NCAA Tournament, including UTEP's Tony Barbee and Baylor's Scott Drew. Two such prospects sort-of square off Saturday with Northern Iowa's Ben Jacobson and Kansas assistant Joe Dooley. If UNI pulls the major upset, it would be difficult for Iowa not to look hard at Jacobson. You can bet the national audience would expect him to drive down I-380 for a big payday.

I know Jacobson doesn't really connect with the hopes of  Iowa's fan base, but look at it this way. He's a he sharp guy (high school valedictorian) who deserves much of the credit for recruiting players under former Coach Greg McDermott. Jacobson now has taken UNI to its second NCAA Tournament win. UNI beat  Iowa by 17 this year and really it could have been 30. Jacobson is 39 and carries a similar personality as Kirk Ferentz, meaning he doesn't say much but carries a dry wit. Last, but not least, Minnesota's Tubby Smith and Wisconsin's Bo Ryan aren't getting any younger. He'd be an obvious candidates for either of those positions in the future.

Get ready for a frenzy of activity -- beginning early next week.