Fred Hoiberg: Time to Worry for Iowa State

By Daniel Tran | May 28, 2015

With the Chicago Bulls head coaching position now vacant, Fred Hoiberg seems destined to become the next college basketball coach to make the jump to the pros.

Batten down the hatches Iowa State; it’s going to be a long couple of weeks. The Chicago Bulls announced that Tom Thibodeau has been released from his duty of being head coach. Though he was able to have the Bulls in the playoffs every year he was with the team despite having key players injured, the clashes with management about the minutes he was allocating to certain individuals and his tough practices doomed him in his first go around as an NBA head coach.

As Thibodeau cleans out his office, it wasn’t long before Iowa State Cyclones head coach Fred Hoiberg was named as the lead candidate for the Bulls coaching job. In fact, it was reported in late February by ESPN’s Jay Williams that there were whispers of Chicago wanting Hoiberg as their next head coach…while Thibodeau was still coaching for the team.

More from Iowa State Cyclones

As stated previously by this publication, Hoiberg has a pretty sweet setup in Ames. He has complete control of the basketball program at his alma mater and is coaching a team that has become one of the best programs in the country. But with the NBA calling, it’s a big possibility that he will leave his so-called dream job for the bright lights of the professional game.

The Bulls present almost a dream scenario for Hoiberg to walk into. He will be taking over a Chicago team that was within one game of the Eastern Conference Finals with a former MVP (Derrick Rose), an All-NBA center (Joakim Noah), one of the most versatile forwards in the game (Pau Gasol), and, if he re-signs with them, the Most Improved Player in the NBA this past season (Jimmy Butler).

Fred Hoiberg already has a relationship with the Bulls since he played with them from 1999-2003, enjoying some of the best years of his career. Gar Forman, who is currently General Manager of the Chicago Bulls, was an assistant coach at Iowa State while Hoiberg was playing there, so there is familiarity there that should keep Hoiberg comfortable.

Though Hoiberg is living large at Iowa State making $1.6 million a year, The Bulls will certainly increase that amount significantly. Billy Donovan, who was just hired to coach the Oklahoma City Thunder with no prior professional experience, is slated to make $6 million a year. In a larger market, the Bulls can certainly spare $4-$5 million a year to bring Hoiberg in.

Iowa State may be where Fred Hoiberg wanted to be, but with an opportunity to coach the best players in the world and a fatter bank account, the draw of the NBA may be too much for him to ingnore. It will be interesting to observe how events will unfold in the next couple weeks, but Cyclones fans should prepare for the worst.

Next: Stanford Cardinal 2014-15 Season Grades

More from Busting Brackets

Home/Iowa State Cyclones