NCAA Basketball: Retrospective look at 2011 offseason coaching hires
By Joey Loose
9. Steve Prohm (Murray State)
Murray State is one of those rare mid-majors that have played fantastically for decades at a time. The Racers haven’t had one of those magical postseason runs, but have continued to churn out very competitive teams. They’ve also churned out some pretty successful coaches over the years, and in 2011 they were again hunting for a new leader, as Billy Kennedy marched on to Texas A&M.
His successor, Steve Prohm, actually knew him quite well. Prohm had spent almost all of his coaching career serving on Kennedy’s staffs. He began as a volunteer assistant at Centenary before later working on his staffs at Southeastern Louisiana and Murray State. In between, Prohm also picked up experience as an assistant at Tulane, but this Murray State post would represent his first head coaching job.
Prohm helped build success at Murray State, and a 31-2 season with a first-round NCAA Tournament win was a pretty remarkable initial season. He won at least 21 games in each of his four seasons leading the Racers, finishing atop the OVC West standings in every season. Throw in a CIT championship and a run in the NIT, and Prohm’s tenure was pretty successful. He moved on to Iowa State in 2015, leaving Murray State in capable hands yet again.