Should Fred Hoiberg be the Big Ten Coach of the Year?
What a turnaround for Fred Hoiberg and the Huskers. Is it enough for the Big Ten Coach of the Year honor?
The Nebraska men’s basketball team was picked to finish the 2023-24 season 12th in the Big Ten Conference, according to the preseason media poll that’s conducted by The Columbus Dispatch and The Athletic. Instead, the Huskers will enter the Big Ten Tournament this week at No. 3 and with a double bye.
Just hand Fred Hoiberg Big Ten Coach of the Year honors now, will ya?
If only it were that easy. Hoiberg isn’t the only coach getting attention for the honor. Northwestern’s Chris Collins and Purdue’s Matt Painter are two other names in consideration. As for who is the leader in the race, it really depends on who you ask (or what you search on Twitter/X).
But this is a case for Hoiberg, who deserves it for what he has led his team to accomplish this season.
Let’s look at the highlights:
>> Nebraska finished the regular season with a 22-9 overall record, as well as a 12-8 conference record and an 18-1 record at Pinnacle Bank Arena. It’s the Huskers’ best league finish since the 1992-93 season.
>> As mentioned, Nebraska enters the Big Ten Tournament ranked No. 3 in the conference. It is the Huskers’ best regular-season conference finish since joining the Big Ten in 2011.
>> Nebraska defeated Michigan, 85-70, on Sunday to clinch that No. 3 spot and the double bye in the tournament. That’s impressive on its own, but it was also Nebraska’s first-ever win in Ann Arbor. In fact, the Huskers were 0-12 all-time in Ann Arbor before Sunday’s matchup.
>> Speaking of Michigan, it was also Nebraska’s first season sweep of the Wolverines.
>> The double bye is Nebraska’s first since the 2017-18 season.
These are the things that will be considered for the Big Ten Coach of the Year honors. However, there’s probably more to look back at when we look at the road that got us here.
Let’s specifically go back in time to Feb. 24, 2022. Hoiberg’s Huskers were 7-20 overall (and 1-15 in conference play). Hoiberg was in his third season at Nebraska, and it had been a bumpy ride. He was 21-65 (.244) overall and 6-48 (.111) in league play by that point. Nebraska had finished last in the conference twice under his watch, and was headed to a second-to-last finish for the 2021-22 season.
Yet that night, Nebraska athletic director Trev Alberts announced that Hoiberg would return for the 2022-23 season with a restructured contract (and expected changes to his staff).
“Over the past few weeks, I have had several productive meetings with Coach Hoiberg, and we agree the results of our team are not acceptable,” Alberts said at the time. “No one is more disappointed or frustrated than Fred Hoiberg. I have known Fred for a long time and watched him build and lead successful teams.
“Fred has presented a plan to me that I believe is in the best long-term interest of the Nebraska Athletic Department and our men’s basketball program. Additionally, Fred has agreed to restructure his contract to help us make the changes that are necessary to reorient our program. I believe in Fred and look forward to working with him as he executes his vision for the future of Nebraska men’s basketball.”
The specific metrics of Hoiberg’s situation were never disclosed, but the changes to Hoiberg’s staff were made. Lead recruiter Matt Abdelmassih was fired, and Nebraska underwent major roster reconstruction. Since that fateful night in February 2022, Hoiberg and the Huskers have turned it around, going 41-26 overall and 24-20 in league play.
It hasn’t been perfect, but it has been impressive.
The problem is that the Coach of the Year honor will most likely go to Painter. In the last 10 years, there have been 12 honorees (because the honor can be awarded by media, coaches or both) and the honor has been given to the coach from the first-place team seven times. Two of the winners were from second-place teams and two were from fourth-place teams.1
Could Hoiberg become the next coach from a non-first place team to win? He definitely deserves the consideration, if not the honor entirely.
Maybe a contract extension too, but we’ll leave that one to Alberts.
In other hoops news . . .
What a Big Ten Tournament for the women’s basketball team in Minneapolis over the last few days. The Huskers — who entered the tournament as the No. 5 seed, just missing the double bye — took down Purdue, Michigan State and Maryland to play for the Big Ten Tournament title for only the second time in school history on Sunday.
Despite leading No. 2 Iowa through most of the game, the Huskers weren’t able to hang on and ultimately fell, 94-89, to the Hawkeyes in overtime.
“This is heart-wrenching and just a super disappointing loss in overtime here,” Nebraska coach Amy Williams said post-game. “Our kids came here expecting to win, and nobody else really probably believed that we would even be in the championship game, much less have a chance to win it.”
And whether or not it makes anyone feel any better, Iowa coach Lisa Bluder was clear post-game as well that Nebraska made the Hawkeyes work for this one.
“It took everything we had to win this game,” she said.
Next up: Nebraska will find out its NCAA Tournament seed on Sunday, March 17. The NCAA Selection Show is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.
Fun fact: One of the two coaches honored from a fourth-place team in the last 10 years was none other than Nebraska’s Tim Miles in 2014. He was awarded by his peers, while Michigan head coach John Beilein claimed Coach of the Year laurels from the media.