Former teammate expects ‘Mayor’ to stick around Ames

By Gary Bedore     Jan 18, 2015

IOWA STATE 86, KANSAS 81

Nick Krug
Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg watches late in the second half on Monday, Jan. 13, 2014 at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa.

Box score

? ESPN GameDay crew member Jay Williams, who was a teammate of Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg with the Chicago Bulls, says Cyclone fans shouldn’t worry about the popular coach heading to the NBA.

“I don’t particularly see him going to the next level,” Williams told the DesMoines Register. “I think when you go to the next level, you deal with a lot more than just coaching.

“Here, Fred Hoiberg is able to run Iowa State the way he wants to run Iowa State and as long as he continues to progress and keep challenging players and keep doing well, I could see Fred Hoiberg here for a very, very, long time,” Williams added.

Williams, by the way, was a hit during GameDay festivities Saturday morning in Hilton. He tore open his shirt to reveal a Cyclone jersey during a segment in which he predicted an ISU win over Kansas. About 6,000 fans attended the morning GameDay broadcast, hours before the Cyclones’ 86-81 Big 12 victory.

‘The Mayor’ rules Ames: Hoiberg took part in a taped GameDay skit in which he took over the office of the mayor of Ames. 

Former Ames High phenom Hoiberg has, of course, been known as “The Mayor” since his days as a Cyclone point guard (1991-95). The nickname was coined by former ISU guard Doug Collins.

“Everywhere we turned it was ‘Fred Hoiberg this and Fred Hoiberg that,’ so I just called him ‘The Mayor of Ames’ one day,” Collins told Mike Green, ISU’s director of communications. “It kind of took off after that. I was calling him ‘The Mayor’ because everywhere we went I would get asked, ‘Do you know Fred Hoiberg?”’ added Collins, a grad assistant during Hoiberg’s freshman season at ISU.

Broadcaster Dick Vitale made the nickname stick, using it on ESPN during Hoiberg’s senior season in 1994-95. Collins, by the way, should not be confused with the Illinois State standout/former NBA coach/broadcaster.

Twitter talk: Iowa State’s Georges Niang swore off Twitter after he missed a possible game-winning shot against Baylor on Wednesday in Waco, Texas.

“You can’t listen to what everybody says. Being a human, obviously you will read some stuff you don’t appreciate,” Niang said prior to ISU’s Saturday win over Kansas. “But I mean, whatever, I can handle it. I deleted it (the phone app),” he added. “I figured I could give myself a mental break. I’m a headcase as it is.”

Niang addressed KU’s 10-year domination of the league in an article in the Ames Tribune. Niang recalled a moment at last summer’s LeBron James Skills Academy in which ESPN’s Jay Bilas spoke to the participants.

“He brought us in the huddle,” Niang told the Tribune, “and he was saying something about that’s embarrassing for the Big 12 that Kansas can go out and win 10 (conference championships) in a row.

“All the Kansas guys were obviously grinning ear to ear, and I was sort of like putting my head down and looking away.”


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