Iowa State considering Steve Prohm, Lindsey Hunter as next head coach

Murray State coach Steve Prohm, former NBA assistant Lindsey Hunter and Stephen F. Austin coach Brad Underwood are among the top candidates to replace Fred Hoiberg at Iowa State, according to reports Wednesday.

Prohm and Underwood have been considered two of the most obvious options for Iowa State since Hoiberg left to join the Chicago Bulls, and Hunter has emerged recently as another candidate. The team is reportedly open to options from the NBA, which explains why names like Hunter and Phoenix Suns coach Jeff Hornacek have come up in discussions, although Hornacek recently declined to meet with ISU officials and removed himself from consideration.

Iowa State is looking like a pretty appealing job these days after Hoiberg’s turnaround of the program. The Cyclones have won back-to-back Big 12 championships and enter the 2015-16 season with one of the most talented rosters in the country. The school may have lost its star coach to the pros, but the groundwork has been laid for a healthy program going forward.

That’s why successful college coaches like Prohm and Underwood might consider moving to Ames, and it’s why the gig might appeal to longtime NBA guys like Hunter. The money will certainly be there, too, so Iowa State Athletic Director Jamie Pollard should be able to entice someone with a pretty impressive résumé. Even if the team goes a different route and promotes T.J. Otzelberger, the Cyclones are still landing one of the most respected young assistants around.

Wide Right Natty Lite has a full list of the team’s top candidates, and now we can Hunter to that group, too. Considering the success that Iowa State had with hiring a former NBA point guard in 2010, maybe they’ll decide to stick with that route again and hire Hunter. Either way, with this list of candidates, the Cyclones should have a good shot at sustaining the success that Hoiberg brought in the past five years.