All Huskers

Nebraska Basketball's Fred Hoiberg Named National Coach of Year

Husker men's coach receives the Jim Phalen award as the season's top Division I coach

Kaleb Henry

Feb 29, 2024; Columbus, Ohio; Nebraska men's basketball coach Fred Hoiberg calls a play against Ohio State
Feb 29, 2024; Columbus, Ohio; Nebraska men's basketball coach Fred Hoiberg calls a play against Ohio State / Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
In this story:

Another honor for Nebraska men’s basketball coach Fred Hoiberg.

Hoiberg was chosen as the recipient of the 2024 Jim Phalen Coach of the Year award Thursday. The award, given annually to the nation’s top Division I coach, is determined by a 10-member committee of current and former head coaches as well as two senior staff members of collegeinsider.com.

“I just want to say how honored and humbled I am to receive this great award,” Hoiberg said in a video posted to social media. “This is a hard business, and we’ve been through a lot of things over the last five years here at the University of Nebraska. But we’ve never lost our mission.

“We’ve always tried to come in with an unbeatable work ethic with our staff and go out there and really stick to the core values of what’s important with this program and try and build a winner.”

Hoiberg led Nebraska to a 23-11 record and a bid to the NCAA Tournament. The 23 wins are the second-most in school history and the NCAA Tournament appearance was the first in a decade.

As part of his effort in leading NU to a pair of wins over top-10 teams this past season, including a victory over then-No. 1 Purdue who is in the Final Four this weekend, Hoiberg shared Big Ten Coach of the Year honors.

The Jim Phelan Award is named in honor of the legendary bow-tied coach who spent his entire head coaching career at Mount Saint Mary’s University.

Published
Kaleb Henry
KALEB HENRY

Kaleb Henry is an award-winning sports reporter, covering collegiate athletics since 2014 via radio, podcasting, and digital journalism. His experience with Big Ten Conference teams goes back more than a decade, including time covering programs such as the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Oregon Ducks, and USC Trojans. He has contributed to Sports Illustrated since 2021. Kaleb has won multiple awards for his sports coverage from the Nebraska Broadcasters Association and Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association. Prior to working in sports journalism, Kaleb was a Division I athlete on the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Track and Field team where he discussed NCAA legislation as SIUE's representative to the Ohio Valley Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. 

Home/Basketball