Fred Hoiberg is the new coach of Nebraska basketball and this should be a win-win for both parties.
Nebraska basketball has a new head coach as former Iowa State and Chicago Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg has taken the job to replace the fired Tim Miles.
The news of the hire was first reported by Chris Heady of the Omaha World-Herald. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports the deal is for seven years and $25 million.
This is a perfect hire for Nebraska who lost to TCU in the second round of the NIT and Hoiberg should be able to bring the Cornhuskers to the NCAA Tournament and make it a consistent affair.
Hoiberg was born in Lincoln and is the grandson of former Nebraska head coach Jerry Bush who oversaw the men’s basketball team from 1954-63. Hoiberg cut his teeth as a player at Iowa State before parlaying that into a 10-year NBA career in Indiana, Chicago and Minneapolis.
After his playing career, Hoiberg worked in the Timberwolves front office briefly before taking the job at Iowa State where he went 115-56 in five seasons and made the NCAA Tournament four times, including a Sweet 16 berth.
Hoiberg wasn’t as successful after leaving Iowa State for the Bulls where he was fired in his fourth season after compiling a 115-155 record. The win-loss record isn’t pretty but there are extenuating circumstances behind that. The Bulls weren’t in a position to win, they traded away their best player, Jimmy Butler, and didn’t build a roster conducive to running Hoiberg’s system.
In short, the Bulls set Hoiberg up to fail.
At Nebraska, Hoiberg should be rejuvenated to get back to coaching on the college level where he’ll be able to recruit his type of players to fit his system. Plus, he’s got Lincoln roots and should be able to recruit the Midwest well.
Will Nebraska turn into Michigan State overnight? Of course, not, but with Hoiberg at the helm, Nebraska should be slowly built into a consistent and perennial NCAA Tournament team.