Big Ten Banter: Nebraska's Fred Hoiberg Early Front-Runner For Big Ten Coach of the Year

Fred Hoiberg has Nebraska at 12-2 (2-1), the program's best start in over a decade. The Huskers have wins over Kansas State, Michigan State and Indiana. Nobody expected this type of start, and Hoiberg deserves a lot of credit.

Dustin Schutte | Jan 5, 2024

Big Ten Banter: Nebraska's Fred Hoiberg Early Front-Runner For Big Ten Coach of the Year /

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Nebraska Cornhuskers

Let’s cut right to the chase: Nobody believed Nebraska would be 12-2 (2-1) through the first 14 games of the season. You can say you thought it was possible, but you’re only lying to yourself and others. That lack of belief — from all of us — is a big reason why Fred Hoiberg is the early front-runner for Big Ten Coach of the Year.

Fans at Pinnacle Bank Arena celebrated another big Nebraska win on Wednesday night, an impressive 86-70 victory over Indiana. It snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Hoosiers and has everyone talking about the Huskers making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 2013-14 season.

This is what everyone expected when Nebraska hired Hoiberg in 2019. Turns out, building a tournament contender takes time when you start at the bottom. For years, it wasn’t pretty.

Hoiberg’s teams finished a combined 14-45 in his first two seasons. The Huskers saw a slight bump in 2021-22, improving to 10-22. Progress, yes, but nothing worth writing home about.

Last year was the first time Nebraska looked considerably different under Hoiberg. There were still moments of disappointment, but the Huskers closed the season winning six of nine games.

Since Feb. 1, 2023, Nebraska owns an 18-5 record.

What’s more impressive about Hoiberg’s success this season? He’s done it under a magnifying glass — and has never once wavered from his approach.

The calm, cool-mannered coach knew what he was up against coming into this season. It wasn’t necessarily described as a “tournament or bust” year, but falling short of a postseason appearance — even an NIT berth — would feel like a failure.

Instead of panicking, Hoiberg went to work. He landed important pieces from the transfer portal in Brice Williams (Charlotte), Rienk Mast (Bradley) and Josiah Allick (New Mexico). All three have played key roles this season.

Williams is Nebraska’s second-leading scorer at 13.8 points per game. Mast is nearly averaging a double-double with 12.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per contest. Allick has also been a significant contributor, tallying 6.6 points and 5.5 rebounds.

That transfer trio has fit in nicely with the talent Nebraska returned — primarily Keisei Tominaga, Juwan Gary and C.J. Wilcher.

Is 14 games too early to crown Hoiberg the Big Ten Coach of the Year? Absolutely. But his team has already accomplished so much that he deserves to be at the forefront of the conversation.

Along with snapping the seven-game losing streak to Indiana, Nebraska also ended an 11-game skid against Michigan State, defeating the Spartans 77-70 in December. The Huskers picked up an important road win over Kansas State just one week later.

Nebraska’s 12-2 start is its best since the 2010-11 season, one year prior to joining the Big Ten. The Huskers are listed as an 11-seed in the latest Bracketology from Fox’s Mike DeCourcy and ESPN’s Joe Lunardi. Following Wednesday’s win over Indiana, there’s a good chance the Huskers jump up a seed line.

Life is going to get more difficult for the Huskers, and quickly. Nebraska travels to Madison to play No. 21 Wisconsin on Saturday before a showdown with No. 1 Purdue at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Tuesday. We’ll find out just how good Hoiberg’s team can be within the next week.

Regardless of those results, though, Hoiberg deserves credit for what he’s done during the first half of the college basketball season. Sitting at 10 games above .500 is never an easy feat — especially for a coach entering the year on the proverbial hot seat.

There’s still a lot of basketball to be played. We can’t just hand over the Big Ten Coach of the Year honor in January. But if Nebraska continues to perform at this level and reaches its first NCAA Tournament in a decade, Hoiberg’s 2012 Big 12 Coach of the Year trophy might soon have company.

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