After making comments slighting Iowa’s Maishe Dailey and the Hawkeye basketball program’s recruiting, Gary Dolphin will retain his job as the Iowa men’s basketball play-by-play announcer following his two-game suspension, Iowa athletic director Gary Barta said Friday.

“I mentioned previously that [Dolphin] crossed a line when he made derogatory remarks toward Maishe,” Barta said. “He regrets that. He owns it… He has fully accepted the two-game suspension and he’s ready to move on. And so is everybody else.”

Barta said he thinks the program is in a good place after discussing the incident with Dolphin and head coach Fran McCaffery.

In a statement early in the week, Barta said there were ongoing tensions between the two, and McCaffery said at a Thursday press conference that he had had previous issues with Dolphin. Barta reiterated Friday that the tensions were real, but said they are being worked through.

Barta said the previous difficulties between McCaffery and Dolphin were dealt with behind closed doors, but after Dophin’s comments during Iowa’s game against Pittsburgh on Tuesday, he found it increasingly difficult to keep everything private.

” Those tensions were real and we needed to work through those,” Barta said. “We needed to work through those, and we have. We’ve had some great discussion – Fran, Gary, and myself. We have a plan moving forward and we’re in a good place.”

Dolphin has not yet spoken with Dailey about his comments, according to Barta. Barta said he met with the student-athletes and Dailey, though, and that they were focused on Wisconsin.

A higher percentage of fans sided with Dolphin, Barta said, but there were some who thought Barta didn’t do enough about the situation.

“Gary Dolphin is a hall of fame broadcaster and he’s done a great job, but he has to be held accountable just like I do, just like our staff does,” Barta said. “He made a mistake and we worked through it. When things occur, I care about the fans. I love our fans, but I can’t make decisions based on how fans are feeling.”

Dolphin’s next game back on the air will be Dec. 6 when the Hawkeyes take on Iowa State in Carver-Hawkeye.