Just two years ago, Fred Hoiberg was perhaps the hottest coaching commodity around. He was fresh off his fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance at Iowa State and his second consecutive Big 12 Tournament championship. In five years at Iowa State, Hoiberg was 115-56, and that came against competition stout enough to give the Cyclones a top-10 strength of schedule in each of his five seasons. After his first season, when the Cyclones went 16-16, 3-16 in the Big 12, Hoiberg’s team never finished worse than fifth in the Big 12 standings.
Hoiberg took the opportunity that resulted from his success in Ames and departed his alma mater to take the head coaching job for the Chicago Bulls.