Fred Hoiberg's Nebraska Moment: Big Ten Coach of the Year After Sweet 16 Run
Fred Hoiberg just won AP Coach of the Year, and honestly, the Nebraska basketball program is never going back to being an afterthought. The Cornhuskers went 28-1 this season, made their first NCAA Tournament win in nine tries, and punched a ticket to the Sweet 16. Hoiberg beat out Duke's Jon Scheyer and Arizona's Tommy Lloyd for the honor, becoming the Big Ten's first national coach of the year since Michigan's Juwan Howard in 2021.
Building Something Real in Lincoln
This wasn't luck. Hoiberg rebuilt Nebraska from the ground up, and he did it the right way. When he took over in 2019, the Cornhuskers had made the tournament exactly once in the previous 21 seasons. Yeah, his first two years were rough: 7-45 combined. But he was laying brick, not looking for shortcuts.
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👉 Claim Your Free $10 at KalshiThe foundation held. Nebraska went 23-11 last season to finally reach March Madness in 2024, then took a bigger step this year. The team matched the school record of 26 wins before March even started. In the Big Ten specifically, they racked up a school-record 15 wins in one of the toughest conferences in America. That's not an accident. That's a coach who knows how to build a program.
"It took us some time to get here, but it was all about getting the right players in here, especially the ones that the fans could get behind," Hoiberg said. He delivered. Nebraska played exciting basketball, locked down defensively, and turned the fanbase back on to hoops in a place that used to be all football, all the time.
A Lincoln Legend Takes His Shot
Here's what makes this story even better: Hoiberg has deep roots in this place. His grandfather Jerry Bush was Nebraska's head coach from 1953 to 1963. His grandfather from his father's side taught at the school for 30 years. Hoiberg was born in Lincoln. Both of his parents are Nebraska graduates. After playing at Iowa State and a 10-year NBA career, he came home to lead his alma mater. This wasn't a job. It was a calling.
The run ended with a loss to Iowa in the Sweet 16, but the sting will fade. The Cornhuskers proved something this year: Nebraska basketball has arrived. And the guy who brought it back home knows exactly who deserves the credit.
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