Fred Hoiberg (file photo)
Iowa State’s athletic director says he’s waiting just like everybody else to see what Fred Hoiberg will do. The men’s basketball coach has been rumored to be in the running for a number of jobs, including with the Chicago Bulls, and his silence on the issue has ramped up the issue in the last few days.
Speaking to the media at the Cyclone Tailgate Tour stop in Clear Lake last night, Athletic Director Jamie Pollard says everybody needs to take a step back at this point. “Fred has done a tremendous amount for our institution, and the last five years has been pretty special,” Pollard says. “What the future holds, I don’t have that answer. That’s a personal decision he’s got to make, and it’s complicated.”
Pollard says Hoiberg’s record of establishing one of the top programs in the Big 12 and his NBA background as a player and being in the front office make him a hot commodity. Pollard says Hoiberg has earned the chance should he decide to take it. “Life will go on and hopefully he will be our coach, but if he is not, it won’t be the first or last time that a program has had to move forward. We’re far better suited today for that day than we were five years ago. He has done wonders for us and I hope he is still here going forward, but he has earned the right to have this opportunity,” Pollard says.
Pollard says he’s prepared in the event Hoiberg decides to leave the program as he says he is always thinking that about all of his coaches.
By Bob Fisher, KRIB, Mason City