In just his second season as a head coach in the collegiate ranks, Fred Hoiberg led his alma mater Iowa State to a 23-11 record and a trip to the Round of 32 in the NCAA tournament. It was the program’s first trip to the tournament since 2005, and it was also enough to convince the suits in the Cyclone athletic department to re-up on Hoiberg’s contract.
On Tuesday afternoon, the school announced that Hoiberg had signed a contract extension for eight years at an average of $1.5 million per season.
“Returning to Ames has been so much more than expected for our family and I’m thrilled to have the chance to continue developing a nationally competitive program at Iowa State,” Hoiberg said. “The support of our fan base and commitment of our players has brought the magic back to Hilton. I am humbled with the extension, to say the least, and anxious to continue our journey at Iowa State.”
Hoiberg was able to orchestrate the program’s turnaround by taking advantage of transfers and castoffs from other programs. Seven players on his roster during the 2011-2012 season transferred in from a different program. Six of those players came from power conferences, including star power forward Royce White from Minnesota. They also added Chris Allen and Korie Lucious from Michigan State, Scott Christopherson from Marquette, Anthony Booker from Southern Illinois and Chris Babb from Penn State.
Hoiberg should have a team with enough talent to compete for an NCAA tournament berth in 2013, and so long as Big Ten players continue to get kicked off of their teams, The Mayor should continue to thrive in Ames.
Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.