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Coaches Roundtable: Who has the hardest job this season?

Insider Men's College Basketball, Iowa State Cyclones, UNLV Rebels, Oregon Ducks, Purdue Boilermakers, Connecticut Huskies, Gonzaga Bulldogs, UCLA Bruins, Michigan State Spartans

Among the three of them, Seth Greenberg, Fran Fraschilla and Dan Dakich have more than 40 years of head-coaching experience at the Division I level. Each week, they get together to discuss the hottest topics in college basketball.  

1. Which college basketball coach has the toughest job this season?

Greenberg: I'm going to go way outside the box. I think Steve Prohm at Iowa State has the toughest job in college basketball because of who he's following and the expectations that come with that. Iowa State is 99-40 over the last four years. He's replacing an icon and a person who's revered (former ISU and current Chicago Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg). You don't get the nickname "The Mayor" unless people look up to you, and Fred delivered. Prohm is getting a team with an All-American in Georges Niang, a guy who has a 5-to-1 assist to turnover ratio in Monte Morris, a great blend guy in Nazareth Mitrou-Long not to mention rim protector Jameel McKay and forward Abdel Nader. People expect that team to go to the Final Four. It's a great job, but the pressure that comes with it, and the pressure to maintain it, is great. You've got to recruit and keep the program at the level that Fred established. For a new coach, that's one of the toughest jobs in the country.

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