The Iowa State men's basketball program hit rock bottom during the 2020-21 season, finishing 2-22 overall and losing all 19 games against Big 12 competition. As a result, Cyclone Athletic Director Jamie Pollard and head coach Steve Prohm have agreed to part ways.
After posting a 12-20 overall record and 5-13 in a 2019-20 season that was completed just prior to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, Prohm never could get his team pointed in the right direction this year. I-State lost a school-record 18 games to finish the 2020-21 campaign. It's now dropped 25-consecutive road games dating back to February of 2019. This was the first time a Cyclone team had finished with two or fewer wins since the 1924-25 squad went 2-15 overall.
Prohm, who arrived in Ames in 2015 following a four-year stretch as head coach at Murray State, spent six seasons leading the ISU program. That's the longest stint by any head coach since Johnny Orr.
He led the Cyclones to seven wins against top-10 foes, including the school’s second-ever win against the nation’s No. 1-rated team (Oklahoma, 2016).
Prohm also tutored 11 future NBA players during his six seasons in Ames. Nine of those 11 were selected in the draft, including most recently Tyrese Haliburton who was a lottery pick earlier this year.
The start of Prohm's tenure was full of superlatives, as he guided a roster full of veterans left over from head coach Fred Hoiberg's run as head coach to a 23-12 record, 10-8 Big 12 mark and Sweet 16 appearance. He followed that up in 2016-17 with a 24-11 overall finish, 12-6 finish in conference play, Big 12 Tournament championship and won an NCAA Tournament first round game.
The Virginia native and University of Alabama alum did some of his best work in Kansas City, where he was 6-4 coaching in the conference tournament. He is one of eight coaches (two active) that has won multiple Big 12 titles.
While Prohm added another conference tournament title to his resume in 2019, for the most part, Prohm's final four seasons in Ames were a sharp contrast from the first two. He finished 50-71 overall during that time and posted an abysmal 18-54 mark in regular season conference play.
He's the owner of two of the worst three point-margin losses in the history of Hilton Coliseum, and coached last season's team to a non-conference loss in Ames to Florida A&M. It was the first P6 in school history for the Rattlers.
This season's team dropped a 39-point decision to Mississippi State, which was the second-worst loss in terms of margin to a non-conference opponent in school history. The Cyclones were also blown out by 38 points at Iowa, marking the worst loss in the history of the CyHawk hoops series.
Over the past two seasons, the Cyclones lost a total of 11 games by 20 or more points, which is the worst stretch in history.
ISU will begin its search immediately for Prohm's replacement, who will be the 21st head coach in the program's history.
