Phoenix Suns Hire Former Iowa State Basketball Star as New Head Coach

Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

Former Iowa State Cyclones’ basketball star Jeff Hornacek will be the new head coach for the Phoenix Suns next season, returning to the team where he began his NBA career.

Other NBA team candidates were the Philadelphia 76ers and Charlotte Bobcats. The information was made official shortly after there was rumor that both Hornacek and the Suns were close to an agreement.

Hornacek played with three NBA teams during his 14-year career: six years with the Suns, a little over one whole season with the Philadelphia 76ers, and the remainder of it with the Utah Jazz. After being forced to retire in 2000 with knee problems, the former shooting guard spent time away from the game of basketball until the 2007 season when he became a special assistant coach with the Jazz.

When Jerry Sloan retired in 2011, Hornacek became a full-time assistant head coach. The move to the Suns will mark his first time associated with the team since they traded him away to the 76ers in 2002 for Charles Barkley.

During Hornacek’s tenure at Iowa State, he was a point guard that set the then-Big 8 record of 665 career assists and a Cyclones’ record of 211 steals. He set the season records of 219 total assists in 1985-86 and 6.8 assists per game in 1983-84 for the Cyclones.

Read more about Hornacek’s NBA career at his Wikipedia page.

[Source: NBA.com]