ISU president says Prohm is ‘the guy we wanted’

One short message and a two-person selfie posted on social media by Iowa State athletics director Jamie Pollard signaled the beginning of an era.

Iowa State announced the hiring of Steve Prohm as the 20th head coach in men's basketball program history Monday. Prohm comes to Ames from Murray State and replaces Fred Hoiberg, who was hired as coach of the Chicago Bulls last week.

Prohm, who is expected to arrive in Ames at some point Monday, will be formally introduced in a press conference Tuesday morning. He agreed to a five-year contract with a base salary of $1.5 million.

'We feel Steve and his family are a perfect fit for Iowa State University,” Pollard said in a news release. 'Steve's personal values, style of play and proven success as a head coach make him an outstanding choice to be our next coach. He is a proven winner who is widely respected by his current and former players. We feel Steve is the ideal coach to continue the incredible success that Coach Hoiberg and his players have achieved during the past several years. We are excited to welcome Steve, Katie and Cass to the Cyclone family.”

Prohm, 40, spent the past four seasons at Murray State where he led the Racers to a 104-29 record, three postseason tournaments and reached the third-round of the NCAA tournament in 2012.

Prohm's 2011-12 team is considered the best in program history, finishing 31-2 and winning the Ohio Valley Conference regular and tournament titles. He also guided three of the last four OVC Players of the Year including a potential first-round NBA draftee in Cameron Payne.

Iowa State president Dr. Steven Leath and senior associate athletics director David Harris met with Cyclones players on campus Monday afternoon to discuss the hire. ISU players were not made available for comment.

Leath said seven candidates were interviewed during the weekend. He declined to say whether Prohm was the only candidate offered the job, but said, 'we got the guy we wanted.”

Leath added that a university president sitting in on interviews for coaching candidates may be unconventional, but he allowed Harris and Pollard to conduct the interview sessions.

'I approached this like a dean search,” Leath said. 'It's the second-highest paid person on the campus and it's reasonable to be involved.”

Leath also addressed reports that he and Pollard were at ends over the coaching search. He said, 'that was silliness. That was just an inaccurate report.”

Murray State has won at least 21 games in each of Prohm's four years at the helm, including a 29-6 record last season. The Racers were 16-0 in conference during the regular season, but missed the NCAA tournament after losing to Belmont in the conference tournament final and then qualified for the NIT.

Prohm will likely bring a similar style of basketball to that of Fred Hoiberg when he arrives in Ames. Murray State was eighth in the nation in scoring (79 ppg), 13th in offensive efficiency, 15th in scoring margin, 16th in field-goal percentage and 19th in offensive possession length last year.

Prohm was previously an assistant at Murray State (2006-11), Tulane (2005-06), SE Louisiana (1999-2005) and Centenary (1998-99). He graduated from Alabama in 1997 where he was a student assistant coach and manager for five years.

'It's a wonderful coaching opportunity,” Leath said of Prohm's move to Iowa State. 'We're thrilled he's got the passion and excitement for the job that he does.”

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