(Lincoln, NE) — Nebraska men’s basketball made history this season and for that Head Coach Fred Hoiberg was named the Associated Press Coach of the Year.
Hoiberg received 17 votes from a 61 media personnel edging Duke’s Jon Schayer with 13 votes. Tommy Lloyd of Arizona was third with 11 followed by Dusty May of Michigan with 9 and Travis Steele of Miami (OH) with 9 votes.
The Huskers won 20 games to start the season and made it in the rankings as high as number five before they lost to Michigan. That is the highest Nebraska men’s basketball has ever been ranked before. Other firsts for Hoiberg’s team was winning their first ever NCAA Tournament game and going to the Sweet 16 where they lost to Iowa. The Cornhuskers also set a school record with 15 Big Ten victories and total victories as well going 28-7 overall.
Hoiberg is considered the “Mayor of Ames” after playing and later coaching at Iowa St. After a stint in the NBA, Hoiberg returned to the college ranks at Nebraska where he went 7-45 in his first two seasons. They went to 10 wins in year three, 16 in year four and the previous two seasons were 23-11 and 21-14 before their breakout performance this year.
Hoiberg was actually born in Lincoln, NE and his maternal grandfather was Jerry Bush, a former Head Coach at Nebraska from 1953 to 1963. His paternal grandfather Otto Hoiberg was a teacher at the University of Nebraska for 30 years. Hoiberg’s parents are also graduates at UNL.
