New ISU coach Prohm promises to put players first

AMES - Steve Prohm stepped away from the podium at the conclusion of his 30-minute introduction as the 20th Iowa State men's basketball coach.

His first move was a beeline toward his players.

The new coach of the Cyclones huddled the group into a tight circle as media snapped photos and a number of fans inched closer to hear Prohm's message to the team. The fanfare and activity might as well have been far away, though.

In that huddle that lasted only a couple of minutes, all that mattered was Prohm and the Cyclones were strengthening a bond. Trust and solidarity among the 40-year-old Prohm and his players are his first orders of business.

'You will always be my first priority, we will not let each other down,” Prohm said. 'We've got great expectations and I told you, ‘Let's just be great today and then we'll be great tomorrow and then we'll do something special.'”

Prohm was formally introduced as Iowa State's next coach Tuesday at the Sukup Basketball Complex with his wife and infant son in attendance, just one week after Fred Hoiberg left to coach the Chicago Bulls.

Unlike Hoiberg, the former Murray State coach had never been to Ames, seen a game in Hilton Coliseum or spent much time in Iowa. But players and administrators see more similarities than differences between the two.

'He's big on loyalty,” said junior point guard Monte Morris. 'The guys that have been here, we know we can give our trust over to him just like we could with Hoiberg. Hoiberg had an open door and his door will be open as well if you want to talk through something in life.”

Iowa State athletics director Jamie Pollard met with players last week after Hoiberg's departure to get their input on what they would feel comfortable with moving forward. The biggest thing that stood out to him was hiring someone with a down-to-earth manner and an up-tempo style of play.

Of the seven candidates interviewed - six of which had head-coaching experience - Pollard found Prohm embodied both.

'He's grounded. He has an understanding of who he is and who he's not,” Pollard said. 'To the seniors, you're not going to find another coach in the country who's going to run a similar style of play than what you're used to and I think you've already figured out what his demeanor is like. He's a player's coach.”

Prohm carried over his reputation as a player's coach into his first meeting with ISU players Monday night. They met in the team room of the Sukup Basketball Complex and started that process of building trust.

Cyclones players relied primarily on Google searches and any information they could find on the Internet in the hours leading up to meeting their new coach and were unsure of how it would go. Walking out of that meeting with Prohm calmed some nerves.

'He displayed a personality we could all get along with and could relate to,” said senior Jameel McKay. 'He's got a lot of similarities to Coach Hoiberg in his beliefs. He was preaching that it's a players-first program and we all truly believe he's just going to steer the ship and help us get places we want to be.”

'We're obviously extremely happy for Coach Hoiberg,” said senior Georges Niang, 'but for our personal benefits and interests we're extremely happy to see a guy that's this passionate about us, is a family man and has all of his goals put down for us about what he thinks we can be.”

Prohm said he hopes to have a staff in place sometime next week after the coaching search at Murray State plays out. For now, he said he's focused on getting to know his Iowa State players on an individual level and preparing to kick off a year filled with high expectations.

'It's time to get totally invested in Ames, Iowa,” Prohm said, 'and to get totally invested in those guys right there.”

l Comments: montzdylan@gmail.com