Iowa State Needs Steve Prohm The Most Right Now

This Cyclone team is full of different personalities, ranging from the laid-back Tyrese Haliburton, to the one-minute-fiery-aloof-the-next Cameron Lard. How a team, and specifically its coach, handles those different (and sometimes conflicting) emotions and personalities will often make or break a season. It’s obvious Iowa State has hit a major road block, and the fate of the rest of the season rest squarely in the hands of its leader, Steve Prohm.

I’ll defend Steve Prohm ‘till I’m blue in the face, but I’m also a Steve Prohm defender wondering what the heck is exactly going on with this team. Is it something happening behind closed doors? Is it just purely a major basketball funk? Only Steve Prohm knows right now. I’m not asking him to come right out and tell us everything. He doesn’t have to, and he’s not that type of coach. However, he is the type of coach that puts it on his own shoulders and carries the entirety of outcomes on his back. Without a doubt, Steve Prohm is one of the most honest coaches you’ll ever meet.

Iowa State’s latest stumble at the hands of a bad West Virginia team comes after a ‘physical practice’ and a fluke injury to Marial Shayok involving a door, according to Steve Prohm. Five years down the road, that’s the singular event that people may end up remembering most about this team, but in reality, it’s just a somewhat larger bump on an already bumpy path that’s brought us to where we are today. Everything Iowa State does from here on out will be placed directly under a microscope, which is exactly why this team needs Steve Prohm to step up right here, right now.

There’s still basketball left to be played this season. First is one more chance for a quality win to end the regular season on Senior Night against Texas Tech, a team trying to win the Big 12 Conference outright, in Hilton Coliseum. It hasn’t been easy inside Hilton this season, but Saturday’s game against the Red Raiders is an opportunity to recapture a few lost moments from the season, and potentially reestablish some momentum before we get to the postseason.

I’m not ready to quit on this season, and Steve Prohm damn sure isn’t ready to quit. Winning heals all wounds, and all can be forgotten with a memorable March run to end the year. I’m looking for Steve Prohm to provide that spark by any means necessary, and I truly believe he can.