Nebraska basketball hasn’t fired Tim Miles yet, but there is a report that Fred Hoiberg will be targeted as the next head and if so, that would be perfect.
The Nebraska basketball team received a bid to the NIT Sunday night and that appears to have delayed the firing of head coach Tim Miles — for a short period of time at least.
However, it seems that the Huskers are already focusing on who could be the next Nebraska basketball head coach and the first big name that is surfacing is former Chicago Bulls and Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg.
The news was first reported by Jeff Goodman of Stadium, but when you think about it, it makes perfect sense.
Heck, I included Hoiberg when I outlined five potential replacements for Miles. For one, Hoiberg has some ties to the state of Nebraska. His grandfather was the head coach of the Huskers basketball team and he was actually born in the state.
His experience in the NBA will be a solid addition. A lot of coaches have failed in the NBA and have done well coming back to college and Hoiberg could easily follow in those footsteps.
Former Iowa State and Chicago Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg expected to be the frontrunner for the Nebraska job when Tim Miles is let go, source told @Stadium. Nebraska currently in NIT.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 18, 2019
Beyond that, Hoiberg knows what it takes to build a winning program at somewhere that isn’t known as a basketball powerhouse.
Hoiberg was the head coach at Iowa State and helped the Cyclones turn into a really good program before he left for the Bulls, who never really had the talent to amount to much during Hoiberg’s tenure.
Hoiberg brought a really fun style of basketball to Ames, Iowa too, which helped with recruiting. Nebraska could be a very similar situation. The athletic department has invested a lot in Nebraska basketball. So the program has resources. It also has a very nice arena and a really good TV deal with the Big Ten, meaning essentially every game is televised.
Basketball isn’t treated as a second-hand sport anymore in Lincoln, but the Huskers need a head coach that is talented enough to take advantage of everything that is now in place.
Miles was good for the Huskers. He brought a lot of energy into the program and also brought in plenty of excitement. Even back-to-back winning seasons have been rare and he did that this year and last season.
But Nebraska wants more. It wants to be in the NCAA tournament and win a game and under Hoiberg, all of that would be possible. It probably wouldn’t take that long either.