Former Iowa State basketball coach Steve Prohm went back to Murray State, hoping to find the kind of success that made him an attractive candidate for the Cyclones in the first place. But that reunion has not gone according to plan, and it was announced late on Friday night that Prohm would be stepping down as head coach of the Racers.
ESPN‘s Pete Thamel had the report first, and noted that the Racers have not finished higher than sixth in the Missouri Valley in his three seasons since returning to the school. They’ve had losing records in conference in the last two years.
After being named the head coach at Murray State in 2011, where he had been on the staff for five seasons, Prohm led the Racers to a division title in each of his four seasons. In 2015, he landed the head coaching job at Iowa State, replacing Fred Hoiberg, and had immediate success. In 2015-16, Prohm led the Cyclones to the Sweet 16. The next season, he finished T-2nd in the Big 12 but got knocked out in the Round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament.
The next four seasons got progressively worse, capped off with a 2-22 campaign in 2020-21, including an 0-18 record in Big 12 play. Prohm and Iowa State then parted ways.
After a year off, Prohm hoped to bottle up the magic from his first stint at Murray State and bring it back to the program. However, that hasn’t happened. He went 17-15 in his first season, including 11-9 in the Missouri Valley Conference. That was followed by last year’s 12-20 campaign and then a 16-16 record this year, including 9-11 in league play.
Murray State has a strong basketball history that includes 18 NCAA Tournament appearances.
