Iowa State was preparing coach search before Fred Hoiberg left

Here are the facts: The Bulls’ season ended May 14. Management fired Tom Thibodeau two weeks later on May 28 and took five days to announce Fred Hoiberg’s hiring.

Given that Hoiberg’s name had been rumored as Thibodeau’s replacement for upward of a year, most everything else colors in the gray areas, including what the Ames (Iowa) Tribune reported Tuesday.

Through an open records request, the newspaper confirmed Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard flew to Atlanta on May 19 to meet with a search firm. The Cyclones named Hoiberg’s replacement, Murray State’s Steve Prohm, on Monday.

Pollard told the Ames Tribune on Tuesday that a busy schedule including personal business forced him to miss an Iowa State “tailgate tour” stop on May 19 to visit the search firm because he “couldn’t do it when (he) wanted to do it.” And it’s in the realm of possibility that Pollard could have been doing some proactive due diligence.

But multiple outlets, including the Tribune, reported Hoiberg as the only candidate to replace Thibodeau in the direct aftermath of his dismissal on May 28.

That Pollard had visited the search firm that Iowa State hired nine days before at minimum raises questions about Bulls’ management claim from its May 28 news conference that it had yet to start its search for Thibodeau’s replacement. It also could undercut management’s claim that it reached its decision on Thibodeau’s status the previous May 27 night.

Management did say if the Bulls had defeated the Cavaliers and advanced to the NBA Finals that Thibodeau wouldn’t have been dismissed. Sources confirmed that likelihood after the May 28 news conference addressing Thibodeau’s departure.

At his introductory news conference, Hoiberg said he wrestled with his decision until June 1.

Whatever the case, Hoiberg is busying himself this week hiring his assistant coaching staff.

kcjohnson@tribpub.com

Twitter @kcjhoop