“Zero issues.”
That’s how former Iowa State men’s basketball coach Fred Hoiberg described how he felt about ISU athletics director Jamie Pollard’s handling of the program during his celebrated tenure.
Hoiberg, now the coach of the Chicago Bulls, made this and several other emphatic comments Wednesday afternoon on “Murph & Andy” on KXNO-AM (1460).
Hoiberg spoke on the show to repudiate key claims in an Ames Tribune article that cited unnamed, but well-placed sources who intimated Hoiberg might not have left ISU for the NBA if he hadn’t felt “nickel and dimed” in terms of resources for the Cyclone program.
Hoiberg disagreed with that characterization, saying, "My decision was based on getting an opportunity to coach at the highest level in my profession.”
The publication of the article ignited a firestorm of criticism on social media — almost all of it directed toward Pollard, who preceded Hoiberg on “Murph & Andy.”
Pollard provided strong rebuttals to the allegations, while adding he felt bad for the Tribune’s men’s basketball beat writer, Travis Hines, who authored the story.
“I like Travis,” Pollard said. “I feel sorry for him because he’s clearly gotten misled on this particular situation and that’s unfortunate for him, for me and for Fred.”
Pollard said he’d talked to Hoiberg earlier in the week and Hoiberg had informed him that the article in question may be coming out soon.
Pollard also said Hoiberg told him that he’d advised Hines not to run the article.
“‘I told him that what he’s about to write is completely inaccurate and if he does write it, I’m going to have to go out and, you know, call him out for it,’” Pollard quoted Hoiberg as saying.
Hines noted in the article that he’d reached out to both Pollard and Hoiberg multiple times for comment, but neither spoke with him.
Hines reiterated that Wednesday while appearing on “The Sports Fanatics on KXNO,” and said that he “absolutely stands” by his story and the almost double-digit sources who were consulted for it during months of reporting.
Read the Ames Tribune article here.
Listen to the “Murph & Andy Show” segment that included Pollard and Hoiberg here. And here’s a link to the segment of "The Sports Fanatics" that featured Hines .
