Nebraska basketball's Fred Hoiberg makes guarantee after late-season collapse
Yesterday at 04:50 PM
Nebraska basketball coach Fred Hoiberg is making a promise to fans. Hoiberg pledged to work as hard as possible to return the Cornhuskers next season to the Big Ten Conference tournament, as well as the NCAA tournament.
“We’re going to be back next year and hopefully do a better job,” Hoiberg said Sunday, per On3.
Nebraska basketball had a difficult season. The Cornhuskers stumbled in the last month or so of the campaign, losing five consecutive games. Nebraska finished the regular season with a 17-14 overall record.
Hoiberg made the statement after his club lost on Sunday to Iowa, 83-68. It was a brutal defeat as the Cornhuskers finish the campaign with a 7-13 conference record in the Big Ten.
There’s a silver lining for the team. This is the second consecutive winning season for Nebraska basketball, which has never happened previously in Hoiberg’s tenure.
Fred Hoiberg is turning around Nebraska basketball
Hoiberg is widely considered to be one of the best young coaches in college basketball. He rolled while he was leading Iowa State, taking that program to multiple NCAA tournament appearances. He then left for the NBA for awhile to coach the Chicago Bulls.
Hoiberg left the Bulls in 2018 after getting fired. He popped up again ahead of the 2019-2020 season to take the Nebraska job.
Nebraska basketball was then known as one of the toughest places to win in college basketball. The school has never won a game in the NCAA tournament, and hadn’t been to March Madness in five years before Hoiberg took over.
Things started rough for Hoiberg in Lincoln. He won just 24 games in his first three seasons. Things then got a lot better, as Hoiberg took Nebraska basketball to the NCAA tournament last season. The team won 23 games but got bounced in the first round of the event.
The Big Ten conference has since undergone tremendous change. USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington joined before this season. That ballooned the league to 18 teams.
Nebraska basketball is not going to the Big Ten tournament this season. That’s because of the large field of conference teams. With the loss to Iowa, the Hawkeyes push past Nebraska and qualify for the event. The Cornhuskers are one of three teams that didn’t make it.
Nebraska basketball fans hate to hear it. That means the program’s chances of making the Big Dance this year are kaput. The school could still play in the NIT or another postseason tournament, if the program gets an invite.
The post Nebraska basketball’s Fred Hoiberg makes guarantee after late-season collapse appeared first on ClutchPoints.
