Prohm handled pressure of taking over for Hoiberg en route to Sweet 16

AMES — Typically Iowa State men's basketball coach Steve Prohm and Chicago Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg correspond through text messages — both tend to be pretty busy and phone calls aren't always the easiest way to talk.

After the Cyclones reached their fifth Sweet 16 in program history last Saturday, Prohm and the team were sitting at the airport when his phone started ringing. Hoiberg was on the line.

'The great thing about him is I think he's as excited as I am (about Iowa State going to the Sweet 16),' Prohm said. 'I really appreciate it. We talked probably 10 or 15 minutes and I told him we're looking forward to seeing him and hopefully he'll get a chance to see us Wednesday and our kids will be able to watch him. That to me is really cool.'

No. 4-seed Iowa State is playing 1-seed Virginia on Friday at 6:10 p.m. (CBS) in Chicago — in Hoiberg's new home at the United Center. The Cyclones (23-11) drawing The Windy City as their regional destination — where they will bid to go to their first Final Four since 1944 — might seem like poetic justice, and it is.

It's also validation for Prohm in coaching the team through its ups and downs and navigating the sky-high expectations.

'He coached his ass off in both of the tournament games and he has been all season,' said junior Matt Thomas. 'A lot of people don't understand how tough of a job he had in trying to replace Fred and all of the high expectations this team had preseason with all the talent we had returning. He had a tougher job than most people think.

'Some people thought he was blessed with talent, but that's tough because you have such high expectations that you have to meet. He's done a great job at handling all the pressure.'

Prohm accepted the job in Ames last June and was well aware of the expectations almost everybody placed on the team led by Georges Niang, Naz-Mitrou-Long, Monte Morris and Jameel McKay to reach the Final Four in Houston.

Eight losses by seven points or less and two home losses for the first time since 2012 left a handful of what-if scenarios on the table, but he also oversaw some program milestones.

Iowa State surpassed 20 wins for a program-best fifth-straight season and Niang became the third player at Iowa State to score 2,000 points in his career while becoming the No. 2 all-time leading scorer for the Cyclones.

'Just the things Coach Prohm has done for me as a person and us as a team; great dude,' Niang said. 'I have the utmost respect for him and thankful I got an opportunity to work with him. But I'm enjoying every moment I have with him throughout the rest of this year.'

Adverse situations dominated the headlines in January and February, but in March, Prohm has his team on track for all of the goals it set out to achieve in the preseason with Hoiberg watching from afar.

'(The adversity) all happens for a reason,' Hoiberg said before the Bulls' game against the New York Knicks in Chicago. 'But again, they stuck together, which I think is a credit to Steve Prohm and his staff for keeping this group working and getting them where they are right now.'

l Comments: montzdylan@gmail.com