By ,
Published May 03, 2016
Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - The Chicago Bulls made it official Tuesday and named Fred Hoiberg as their new head coach.
Reports over the weekend indicated that Hoiberg agreed to a five-year deal worth about $25 million to leave the comforts of Iowa State for the hot seat with the Bulls.
Hoiberg spent five seasons as head coach at Iowa State. He led his alma mater to a record of 115-56 with NCAA Tournament appearances each of the last four years.
The 42-year-old Nebraska native played for the Bulls from 1999-2003 as part of 10-year NBA career that also included stops with Indiana (1995-99) and Minnesota (2003-05). He underwent surgery in June 2005 to correct an enlarged aortic root, then joined the coaching staff of the Timberwolves after an attempt to come back as a player and remained in Minnesota's front office until taking the job at Iowa State.
Chicago moved quickly to find a replacement for Tom Thibodeau, who was fired late last week amid friction with the front office despite five successful seasons.
"We are thrilled today to introduced Fred Hoiberg ... a great, great communicator," said Bulls general manager Gar Forman at a Tuesday press conference. "He was the right guy to maximize the potential of this team."
The Bulls were 255-139 under Thibodeau and reached the playoffs in each of the coach's five seasons, advancing as far as the conference finals in the spring of 2011 at the conclusion of his first year.
However, the Bulls suffered a pair of first-round exits and two second-round losses over the next four seasons, and issues between the coach and front office developed.
Hoiberg, nicknamed "The Mayor" during his time at Iowa State when he received a write-in vote for the Ames, Iowa mayoral race , was mostly a role player in his NBA career. He averaged 5.4 points in 541 NBA games.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/bulls-name-fred-hoiberg-head-coach