Nebraska basketball fans didn't fault head coach Fred Hoiberg for his reaction to an Iowa fan getting in his face with a camera after the Huskers' loss to the Hawkeyes earlier this week. However, he did find himself under some fire from onlookers after he slapped away that camera as he walked off the court. On Friday, he explained why he felt he had to do what he did.
"I am 100% reliant on a pacemaker," Hoiberg said during the press conference ahead of NU's Saturday game against Penn State. "I'll never forget a conversation with my doctor."
The Nebraska head coach made it very clear that the idea that something could mess with his pacemaker is always at the back of his mind. Even if he knows it likely won't happen, there's still always a worry.
Fred Hoiberg reached out to the Iowa staffer he made contact with and apologized:
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) February 20, 2026
"He said he would've done the same thing... I'm not against court storms. But you can't go into the handshake line and put players and coaches in danger"pic.twitter.com/Klg6k5sWQX
Nebraska basketball coach Fred Hoiberg explains the danger behind the phone‑slap incident
"If a cell phone can put it off, if anything ever happens, I'm done."
"I will not survive if something ever happens to a pacemaker. I'm very cognizant of that. So when somebody rushes up on me with a cell phone, of course, I'm going to react."
"So, you know, there's, yeah, what's the likelihood of that happening? Close to zero, but it was also close to zero that I even developed the heart block when I was under the knife on my first open-heart surgery. So there's circumstances that were involved."
The Huskers' head coach also knows that, in dealing with the situation, he accidentally struck an Iowa staff member who was near the kid with the cell phone camera. He added that he got the phone number of that staffer and personally apologized.
"I felt bad about that. that i apologized to him on the spot and i and i communicated with him yesterday and his response was and this should put it to bed coach it's all good i would have done the same thing you know so again it's a highly emotional time and that stuff should never should never should never happen."
With his comments on Friday, Fred Hoiberg and Nebraska feel the case is closed on the situation. Now it's time for the Huskers to move on and get back to winning and preparing for the Big Ten Tournament and the Big Dance after that.