Iowa native Fred Hoiberg is returning home to coach Iowa State's basketball program, ABC5 Sports reported Tuesday.
Hoiberg, a Cyclone alum and star player at Ames High School in the early 1990s, is replacing Greg McDermott. McDermott left to fill the vacancy at Creighton after Dana Altman was hired by Oregon.
Hoiberg, 37, has no head coaching experience.
Iowa State spokesman Steve Malchow said Tuesday only that the school is in negotiations with Hoiberg to assume the job.
Hoiberg was the vice-president of basketball operations with the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves this season after spending three years as the team's assistant general manager. Hoiberg played 10 seasons in the NBA with three different teams after being drafted by the Pacers in the second round of the 1995 draft, but retired in 2006 due to a heart condition.
Hoiberg averaged 6.3 points in two seasons with the Timberwolves, but his 10-year NBA career was cut short in 2005 when he underwent surgery to repair an enlarged aortic root in his heart. Hoiberg finished the 2005-06 season as an assistant to Wolves coach Dwane Casey -- his only coaching experience -- then joined the front office as assistant general manager to Kevin McHale.
The 6-foot-4 shooting guard had once been considered McHale's likely heir, but owner Glen Taylor passed over Hoiberg when McHale was fired, installing David Kahn as president of basketball operations instead.
Hoiberg was one of the most popular players in Iowa State history, scoring nearly 2,000 points from 1991-95 while earning the nickname "The Mayor." He left third in school history in scoring (1,993 points), first in 3-point field goals made (183) and third in steals (207).
He was named Iowa's top high school football and basketball player and won a Iowa state basketball championship in his senior year at Ames.
Iowa State never won more than 15 games under McDermott and has not reached the NCAA tournament since 2005.
Hoiberg will inherit a depleted roster without star Craig Brackins, who declared for the NBA draft. Fellow standout Marquis Gilstrap had his appeal for an extra season of eligibility denied by the NCAA and three others, including starting center Justin Hamilton, have announced plans to transfer.
No financial details were immediately available, but Iowa State paid McDermott $900,000 last year. [ESPN.com, Minneapolis Star Tribune].
An Interview with Fred Hoiberg: Matters of the Heart
From youtube.com - In high school he was Iowa's Mr. Basketball. At Iowa State they called him "The Mayor," and in the NBA, he was known as "a three-point threat." But after doctors found a serious heart defect during a routine insurance physical, he now calls himself lucky. Currently Assistant General Manager with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Fred Hoiberg stays immersed in the game he loves.
IPTV's Andrea Coyle sat down with Iowa's most well-known heart patient to talk about the road from recovery to retirement and his current life plan following this life-altering diagnosis.
Find out more at http://www.iptv.org
