Iowa State Hired a Better Coach than Fred Hoiberg to Replace Fred Hoiberg

Steve Prohm is the new head coach at Iowa State and Cyclone fans should be rejoicing.

As great as Fred Hoiberg was, I believe Steve Prohm will take this program to a new level and that is saying something after Hoiberg helped ISU win back to back Big 12 tournament championships.

I've known Steve Prohm since his first year at Murray State when I worked in the Nashville market and he has been nothing but good to me and that seems to be the standard when people deal with Prohm.

You rarely see the guy replacing a legend doing what the legend did on or off the court. But in this case I think it's different.

Fred Hoiberg was the "Mayor" of Ames, but it was more so for what he did as a player and not as a coach. Although the record was good and the two Big12 Tournament Championships were huge, Iowa State never made the run in the NCAA Tournament like the Cyclone fans had hoped.

Prohm took Murray State to the NCAA Tournament and over achieved at a Ohio Valley Conference school, think what he can do now in Ames with the Big12 conference at his disposal.

Prohm was 104-29 in four years at Murray State. He led the Racers to 29 wins, which also included a 16-0 regular-season mark in the Ohio Valley Conference in 2014-15.

I spoke to Steve and he said he was "going to continue to bring in the best players possible to Iowa State" whether that was through traditional recruiting or through utilizing transfers from junior college as Coach Hoiberg did so well.

In addition, he told me that to this point, Coach Hoiberg has been a big asset, giving advice about Ames and the program itself.

There are clearly hurdles. Kansas being the main one. But with Steve Prohm taking that challenge head on, I believe that gap in the Big12 will eventually dissipate with the production from the Cyclones on the court.

For Iowa State fans, it has to be tough seeing a beloved guy like Fred Hoiberg go, but trust me, seeing the arrival of Steve Prohm should be something to cheer about.

Filed Under: Iowa State Cyclones, Regional Sports

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