Big Ten Basketball: Ranking all 14 head coaches heading into 2023-24 season
By Caleb Hall
No. 13: Fred Hoiberg, Nebraska Cornhuskers
Fred Hoiberg is one of the most experienced coaches when it comes to the BIG Ten conference, but his struggles at Nebraska should worry Cornhusker fans.
Hoiberg started his career out as a player for Iowa State where he eventually went on to get drafted and play in the NBA. Hoiberg played from 1995-2005 where he ultimately underwent a surgery that led him to retire. In 2010 Hoiberg took a job to be the head coach at Iowa State where he had success for the Cyclones. After missing the tournament in his first year, he made the tournament his last 3 years and even made a sweet sixteen in 2014. Hoiberg led the Cyclones to 23 wins in his last 4 years as the head coach there, while also never finishing below 4th in the BIG 12 standings in his last 4 years.
Hoiberg took the job to coach the Chicago Bulls in 2015 where things started to go badly as he never won a playoff series and was fired after starting the 2018-19 season 5-19, with a 115-155 overall record with the Bulls. He then took the Nebraska job in 2019, and has not had a lot of success there either. He won 7 games in his first 2 seasons back to back, and finished last season with his best record there with 16-16.
Maybe this is Hoiberg’s year with the Cornhuskers, and he has proved he can win at the college level, he just has to put it all together for Nebraska. Last season was his best with the team, and maybe he will turn the corner and finally make some noise in the BIG Ten this season. Only time will tell for Hoiberg and Nebraska.