Report: Iowa athletic director Gary Barta to announce his retirement

According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Iowa Athletics is about to head into a new era. He tweeted Friday morning that sources told him current athletic director Gary Barta is expected to announce his retirement after 17 years at the helm of the Hawkeye athletic department.

Here was Thamel’s report:

“Sources: Iowa athletic director Gary Barta is expected to announce his retirement.”

If the report proves true, this will be a massive shift for the school after such a long tenure of leadership from Barta. He’s overseen quite a successful run at Iowa and saw another terrific year during the most recent sports seasons.

The football team made another bowl game, the men’s basketball team made their fourth straight NCAA Tournament, the baseball team is about to hear their name called in the tournament field as well. And lastly, of course, the women’s basketball team has one of the biggest stars in the history of the sport at the college level and finished national runner-ups this April.

If this is it for Barta, it’s one heck of a year to go out on. For more on his recent achievements, the Iowa Athletics website has provided a detailed report of the Hawkeyes’ triumphs since the start of the decade:

“Gary Barta is in his 17th year as the director of athletics at the University of Iowa, where he occupies the Henry B. and Patricia B. Tippie Director of Athletics Chair.

“Since the fall of 2020, Iowa’s athletics programs have won 11 Big Ten championships, along with claiming the football West Division title in 2021. It is the most championships earned by the Hawkeyes in any two-year period. The Hawkeye football team posted 10 wins in 2021 and earned yet another January bowl invitation.

“Hawkeye teams to have earned championships include women’s soccer (tournament); field hockey (regular season); wrestling (regular season and tournament); women’s basketball (regular season and tournament); men’s basketball (tournament); women’s gymnastics (regular season); indoor men’s track (two) and outdoor men’s track.

“Five conference titles, along with the football division championship, were earned in 2021-22 as a follow up to six Big Ten championships in 2020-21. Six student-athletes were named Big Ten Athlete of the Year in their respective sports in 2020-21 as Iowa earned its highest finish in the IMG Learfield College Director’s Cup since 1997.”

Mighty impressive stuff from Iowa of late. If he does call it quits, replacing such a legend won’t be easy for Hawkeye brass.