Fred Hoiberg is sitting in the lobby restaurant of the hotel that is serving as his temporary home. Game 1 of the NBA Finals is playing on a large, wall-mounted TV eight feet away, but Hoiberg is only half-watching.
He's more focused on sharing how he just met the student-manager from the first three Nebraska teams that his grandfather, Jerry Bush, coached from 1954 to 1963.
"That stuff is emotional for me," Hoiberg says.
Hoiberg met Lloyd Castner on the final stop of Nebraska's "Big Red Blitz," a tour that visited small towns _ Norfolk, Fremont and Ashland _ affected by March floods that devastated the region.
For close to 10 hours and 300 miles, Hoiberg, football coach Scott Frost, athletic director Bill Moos and three other coaches and school support staff rode a bus emblazoned with Nebraska's distinctive large red "N" on the side, stopping for three 90-minute rallies moderated by former Cornhuskers offensive lineman Brenden Stai.
The bus barreled through towns with single-digit populations, strengthening an already substantial bond with the Huskers faithful. At each stop, pictures were posed for and autographs were signed.
"This is the only show in town," Hoiberg says about Nebraska athletics' status in a state with no professional teams.
If Hoiberg misses the NBA, he isn't showing it.
Given his walk-on-water status in Ames, Iowa, it sounds odd to hear Hoiberg refer to Lincoln as home. But it's true.
Ames is where Hoiberg moved at age 2 and later starred as both player and coach at Iowa State. It's also where he earned his nickname of "The Mayor" after receiving write-in votes during a local election.
But Lincoln is where Hoiberg was born. His parents grew up here, began dating in high school and later went to college at Nebraska. His father, Eric, received a doctorate from Nebraska. Fred sat in Bush's lap as an infant. His other grandfather, Otto Hoiberg, did community outreach and engagement for Nebraska for 30 years. The Hoibergs would return here from Ames on holidays to visit family.
So when Hoiberg's former college roommate, Nebraska golf coach Mark Hankins, told him he better accept Moos' offer to replace Tim Miles because of the school's facilities and family atmosphere, the job that many view as a major project _ Nebraska has never won an NCAA Tournament game _ felt more and more right.
"Family was a big part of it," Hoiberg says.
