It’s been a tumultuous year for ISU men’s basketball coach Fred Hoiberg to say the least. The former NBA player and Cyclone hoops star made his return to the place that gave him his nickname a stardom with the mission to rebuild a struggling program.

He brought people to Hilton Coliseum in droves for much of the season, and had hopes high before a Big 12 season that surely gave the 38 year-old a few gray hairs. He also, despite the struggles late in the 2010-11 season, gave Cyclone fans hope for 2011-12 with all the transfers and recruits he brought into the program.

He assembled a coaching staff for his rookie coaching season that few people disliked, but lost what many considered the anchor of his staff in Bobby Lutz to NC State. Lutz’s replacements were named quickly, and confidence in the program didn’t lose much steam.

But during the season, Hoiberg had players get in trouble, violate team rules, and in one case, go completely AWOL and leave the program midseason.

Jordan Railey was in trouble with the law twice during his freshman season. He was first charged with OWI after getting in a car accident at 2:50 a.m. on New Year’s Day. Then, in the early hours of April 14, Railey was arrested once again and charged with disorderly conduct.

For the accident that led to the OWI, Railey served a two-game suspension midseason, and is under an indefinite suspension for the second offense.

Freshman forward Calvin Godfrey served a three-game suspension for an unspecified violation of team rules during the season. Junior college transfer DeMarcus Phillips was the player who left the team midseason after not seeing much playing time.

And now, only one day after being added to Hoiberg’s staff, it has been revealed that new assistant coach Cornell Mann has been charged with OWI after a traffic stop in Ohio.

That’s five less-than-stellar news stories for the ISU men’s basketball program under Hoiberg’s short term as coach. Sure, there isn’t much he can do to prevent what other individuals do, but he can control who he brings into and keeps in his program.

Keeping players on your roster who make mistakes is obviously far from uncommon, and granting people second chances is certainly admirable in certain situations.

But how long can Hoiberg let things like this keep happening? How many arrests are too many?

Cyclone fans have always prided themselves in the fact that Iowa State wasn’t the home of thugs and felons like people assume is the case in Iowa City. Fans and students like to believe that while Iowa State may not have seen the success that programs like Iowa and Nebraska and others have seen, it doesn’t have players and coaches getting in trouble all the time.

If Hoiberg doesn’t nip these situations in the bud, things could get out of hand quickly. He could very easily lose the trust of the fan base and make people think he doesn’t actually have control over his program. Guys like Jim Tressel, Kirk Ferentz and Bruce Pearl have gained that reputation.

How does that seem to be working out for them?

I don’t think Hoiberg has lost control. I just think the situation could spiral out of control if he isn’t careful. He has the hopes and dreams of Cyclone basketball fans on his shoulders. That can’t be easy, but he had to have known that was what he was getting himself into when he signed on.

He has guys on the roster coming into next season with histories that aren’t exactly spotless, but he’s assured everyone he believes his players will stay on the straight and narrow. He’d better hope he’s right.

Because even if he is The Mayor, he isn’t bulletproof.