Fred Hoiberg of Nebraska was named The Associated Press males’s basketball coach of the 12 months Friday following a 28-win season that included the Cornhuskers’ first NCAA event win and a run to the Sweet 16.
Hoiberg acquired 17 votes from a 61-person media panel, edging (*16*)’s Jon Scheyer (13) to develop into the Big Ten’s first nationwide coach of the 12 months since Michigan‘s Juwan Howard in 2021. Arizona‘s Tommy Lloyd acquired 11 votes.
“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 mentioned.
Hoiberg did simply that, constructing a roster that performed an thrilling type of basketball, locked down defensively and ignited the Big Red fan base’s pleasure for the basketball program and upended the notion that Nebraska is only a soccer college.
Nebraska went to the NCAA event for the first time in 10 years in 2024 and took an even bigger step this season, matching the college report of 26 wins earlier than even attending to March Madness. The Cornhuskers additionally had a school-record 15 wins in the rugged Big Ten.
Voting for coach of the 12 months was accomplished earlier than the event, when Nebraska posted its first March Madness win in 9 all-time tries with its 76-47 win over Troy. The run ended with a loss to Iowa in the Sweet 16.
“When the sting does wear off, which it will at some point — maybe — these guys deserve a lot of credit for what they have done for Nebraska basketball,” Hoiberg mentioned.
So will the coach with deep roots in Lincoln.
Hoiberg’s maternal grandfather, Jerry Bush, was Nebraska’s head coach from 1953 to 1963, and his paternal grandfather, Otto Hoiberg, taught at the college for 30 years. Hoiberg was born in Lincoln, and his mother and father are Nebraska graduates.
Hoiberg performed at Iowa State and, after a 10-year NBA profession, returned to guide his alma mater to 4 straight NCAA Tournaments. When he took over at Nebraska in 2019, the Cornhuskers had been to the event as soon as in 21 seasons.
The Cornhuskers went a mixed 14-45 in Hoiberg’s first two seasons, however he laid the basis for fulfillment. Nebraska went 23-11 to achieve March Madness in 2024 and, after simply lacking the bracket final season, went on a run that riveted Husker Nation.
Led by sharpshooting Iowa switch Pryce Sandfort, versatile Dutch huge man Rienk Mast and senior level guard Sam Hoiberg — Fred’s son — the Cornhuskers bought off to the greatest begin in class historical past, successful their first 20 video games, resulting in the program’s highest rating in the AP Top 25 at No. 5 with the hometown coach calling the pictures.
“This place means a lot to me,” he mentioned.
Scheyer was runner-up after guiding the Blue Devils to a No. 1 rating the ultimate 4 weeks of the season and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Blue Devils’ run got here as the fourth-year coach adjusted his strategy following final 12 months’s Final Four run with a perimeter-driven lineup, turning inside to pummel opponents in the paint behind star freshman Cameron Boozer, who turned Duke’s second straight AP males’s nationwide participant of the 12 months Friday.
Arizona spent 9 weeks at No. 1 with Lloyd pulling the strings and earned its first Final Four berth since 2001. He was AP coach of the 12 months in 2022, his first season at Arizona.
