Steve Prohm

Steve Prohm
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamMurray State
ConferenceMVC
Record133–64 (.675)
Biographical details
Born (1974-07-12) July 12, 1974 (age 50)
Vienna, Virginia, U.S.
Alma materAlabama ('97)
Playing career
1992Oglethorpe
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1998–1999Centenary (assistant)
1999–2005Southeastern Louisiana (assistant)
2005–2006Tulane (assistant)
2006–2011Murray State (assistant)
2011–2015Murray State
2015–2021Iowa State
2022–presentMurray State
Head coaching record
Overall230–159 (.591)
Tournaments4–3 (NCAA)
2–1 (NIT)
5–0 (CIT)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
CIT (2014)
2 OVC regular season (2012, 2015)
OVC tournament (2012)
2 Big 12 tournament (2017, 2019)
Awards
2× OVC Coach of the Year (2012, 2015)
Joe B. Hall Award (2012)

Steven Marshall Prohm (born July 12, 1974) is an American basketball coach who is in his second tenure as the head coach for Murray State men's basketball. Previously, he was the head coach at Iowa State University, a position he had held from 2015 to 2021. Prohm served in the same capacity at Murray State University from 2011 to 2015.

Early life

A native of Vienna, Virginia, Prohm's family later moved to Dalton, Georgia, where Prohm attended high school at Northwest Whitfield High School in Tunnel Hill, Georgia and lettered in basketball for three years, graduating in 1992.[1][2]

He started college at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta where he played NCAA Division III basketball. Prohm made it less than halfway through his first season as a player when he left the team to follow his passion for coaching. After his first semester at Oglethorpe, Prohm transferred to the University of Alabama where he worked as a student assistant coach and student manager for the Crimson Tide men's basketball team for five years. He graduated from Alabama in 1997 with a degree in education.[3][4]

Coaching career

Prohm began his coaching career in 1998–99 as a volunteer assistant to Billy Kennedy at Centenary College, where he initially lived in the basement of a dorm and lived off cafeteria meals.[1][5] He followed Kennedy to Southeastern Louisiana University, where he spent five seasons as an assistant before leaving for Tulane University.[3] In 2006, he rejoined Kennedy's coaching staff, this time at Murray State University.[3] Prohm played a key role in Murray State's resurgence under Kennedy, which culminated with a school-record 31 wins in 2009–10 and an upset of Vanderbilt in the 2010 NCAA tournament—only the second NCAA tournament win in school history.

Murray State

Prohm was named Murray State's 15th head coach on May 23, 2011, after Kennedy left for Texas A&M. In his first season, he led the Racers to their third straight Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title, a school record-tying 31 wins (including a school-best 23–0 start), a top-10 national ranking and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

Iowa State

On June 8, 2015, Iowa State University announced that Prohm would take over as head basketball coach replacing Fred Hoiberg, who left ISU to take the head coaching position with the Chicago Bulls.[6] Prohm brought his lead recruiting assistant, William Small with him to the Cyclones.[7]

In his first season with the Cyclones, he managed to secure a #4 seed in the Midwest region, where they defeated Iona and Little Rock to advance to the Sweet Sixteen, where they fell to top-seeded Virginia, 84–71.

During the first half of the 2016–17 season, the Cyclones struggled to meet preseason expectations, starting off with a record of 13–8. However, on February 4, 2017, they stunned third-ranked Kansas, 92–89, in overtime, snapping the Jayhawks' 54-game home winning streak. This proved to be a catalyst for turning their season around, as the Cyclones won six of their final eight games of the regular season, and went on to win the 2017 Big 12 men's basketball tournament with an 80–74 victory over West Virginia. They received a #5 seed in the Midwest region of the 2017 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and defeat #12 seed Nevada, 84–73, before falling to #4 seed Purdue in the second round, 80–76.

After a losing season in 2018, the Cyclones rebounded in 2019 with a Big 12 Tournament championship and an NCAA tournament appearance. But the Cyclones suffered back-to-back losing seasons in 2020 and 2021. The 2021 season was particularly brutal, as ISU, plagued by COVID-19 issues for a significant portion of the season, won only two games all year and went 0–18 in Big 12 play, the first team to go winless through Big 12 play since TCU in 2014. The season concluded with a loss to Oklahoma in the preliminary round of the Big 12 tournament. Afterward, ISU athletic director Jamie Pollard announced that Prohm and ISU had agreed to part ways.[8] Prohm was succeeded at Iowa State by T. J. Otzelberger.[9]

Return to Murray State

On March 25, 2022, Murray State announced that Prohm would return to the university as head coach following the departure of Matt McMahon to LSU.[10]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Murray State Racers (Ohio Valley Conference) (2011–2015)
2011–12 Murray State 31–2 15–1 1st NCAA Division I Round of 32
2012–13 Murray State 21–10 10–6 1st (West)
2013–14 Murray State 23–11 13–3 1st (West) CIT champion
2014–15 Murray State 29–6 16–0 1st (West) NIT quarterfinal
Iowa State Cyclones (Big 12 Conference) (2015–2021)
2015–16 Iowa State 23–12 10–8 T–5th NCAA Division I Sweet 16
2016–17 Iowa State 24–11 12–6 T–2nd NCAA Division I Round of 32
2017–18 Iowa State 13–18 4–14 10th
2018–19 Iowa State 23–12 9–9 5th NCAA Division I Round of 64
2019–20 Iowa State 12–20 5–13 9th
2020–21 Iowa State 2–22 0–18 10th
Iowa State: 97–95 (.505) 40–68 (.370)
Murray State Racers (Missouri Valley Conference) (2022–present)
2022–23 Murray State 17–15 11–9 7th
2023–24 Murray State 12–20 9–11 T–7th
Murray State: 133–64 (.675) 75–30 (.714)
Total: 230–159 (.591)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

  1. ^ a b "2011-12 Men's Basketball Coaching Staff". Murray State Racers. Murray State Athletics. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
  2. ^ "Northwest Whitfield grad Steve Prohm 'wonderful' coach for Iowa State". 27 January 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  3. ^ a b c Grant, Michael (May 24, 2011). "Murray State hires assistant Steve Prohm as new head coach". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
  4. ^ "Unbeaten Murray State: Who are these guys?". 20 January 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  5. ^ "New Murray State coach leans on Kennedy". November 2011.
  6. ^ "Prohm takes Iowa State job, leaves Murray St". 8 June 2015.
  7. ^ "Reports: Prohm tabs top Murray State recruiter for Iowa State spot". The Des Moines Register.
  8. ^ "Iowa State, coach Steve Prohm agree to part ways after Cyclones earn just two wins in 2020-21 season". 16 March 2021.
  9. ^ "Official: T.J. Otzelberger leaving UNLV, heading to Iowa State". MSN.
  10. ^ "Steve Prohm Returns as Racer Basketball Head Coach – Leads Program into New Era". 25 March 2022.