Steve Prohm, the 2012 Basketball Times National Coach of the Year who compiled a 104-29 record in four seasons as the head coach at Murray State – has been named the 20th head coach in Iowa State men’s basketball history, announced today by Iowa State Athletics Director Jamie Pollard.
Prohm will be formally introduced at a press conference tomorrow morning (June 9) at the Sukup Basketball Complex at 10 a.m.
Prohm’s four-year stint as the leader of the Racer program earned him the distinction as one of the nation’s best young coaches. The 40-year-old produced the top winning percentage in school history (.782) while winning two Ohio Valley Conference outright regular-season titles and three conference division championships.
His Racer teams qualified for postseason play three times, advancing to the third round of the NCAA Tournament in 2012, winning the College Insider Tournament (CIT) in 2014 and making the quarterfinals of the NIT in 2015.
The energetic Prohm, who has tutored three of the last four OVC Players of the Year, has been successful playing an exciting brand of basketball. His 2014-15 squad ranked eighth nationally in scoring offense (79.0 ppg) and 13th nationally in adjusted offense (114.8).
“We feel Steve and his family are a perfect fit for Iowa State University,” Pollard said. “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, who has 17 years of college coaching experience at four schools (Centenary, Southeastern Louisiana, Tulane, Murray State), is coming off one of the greatest seasons in MSU history in 2014-15 where he led the team to a 29-6 overall mark, a perfect 16-0 record in conference play and a spot in the NIT.
The Racers won 25-straight games during the season, which was the second-longest winning streak in the nation at the time. Prohm won his second OVC Coach of the Year honor and point guard Cameron Payne was named OVC Player of the Year, OVC Male Athlete of the Year and earned third-team All-America honors by CBSSports.com.
In 2013-14, the Racers won the OVC West Division title with a 23-11 record and a 13-3 league mark. His team rallied in the postseason, winning five-straight games to claim the 2014 CIT title, defeating Yale, 65-57 in the championship game.
Prohm’s first season as a head coach in 2011-12 ranks as the best year in Racer hoops history. Led by All-American and NBA player Isaiah Canaan, a player Prohm helped recruit, the Racers set the OVC and school record for winning percentage and total wins with a 31-2 record.
The Racers cracked the top-10 in the Associated Press poll for the first time in school history and were the nation’s final unbeaten team, winning their first 23 games. As the No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament, MSU defeated Colorado State in the first round.
Prohm’s auspicious debut as a head coach earned him national coach of the year honors by the Basketball Times, the first of his two OVC Coach of the Year awards (2012, 2015) and district coach of the year kudos from both the NABC and USBWA.
Prohm just finished his ninth overall season at MSU, spending five seasons as an assistant for current Texas A&M head coach Billy Kennedy from 2006-11. The Racers made the NCAA Tournament in 2010 and the NIT in 2011 in his final two seasons as an assistant before being promoted to head coach for the 2011-12 season.
Prohm considers Kennedy one of his mentors in the coaching profession. He also worked on Kennedy’s staff at both Centenary and Southeastern Louisiana. In his final two years as an assistant at SLU, the Lions won back-to-back Southland Conference titles and earned an NCAA berth in 2005.
A 1997 graduate of Alabama, Prohm got his start in coaching under David Hobbs. Prohm worked as a student assistant coach and student manager for the Crimson Tide for five years, which included two NCAA Tournament appearances and one trip to the NIT Final Four.
The Vienna, Va., native attended high school at Northwest Whitfield High in Tunnel Hill, Ga.
Prohm and his wife, the former Katie Ross, have a son, Cass.
Prohm agreed to a five-year contract with a base salary of $1.5 million.
Prohm’s Coaching Experience
1998-99 – Centenary – Assistant Coach
1999-05 – SE Louisiana – Assistant Coach
2005-06 – Tulane – Assistant Coach
2006-11 – Murray State – Assistant Coach
2011-15 – Murray State – Head Coach
Prohm’s Head Coaching Record
2011-12 – 31-2 overall, 15-1 conference (NCAA 3rd Round/OVC season & tourney champs)
2012-13 – 21-10 overall, 10-6 conference (OVC West Division champs)
2013-14 – 23-11 overall, 13-3 conference (CIT Champions/OVC West Division champs)
2014-15 – 29-6 overall, 16-0 conference (NIT quarterfinals/OVC West Division champs)
Overall: 104-29 (.782) Conference: 54-10 (.844)
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Photo Courtesy Iowa State Athletics
