Hilton Magic welcomed back one of its founding sons Tuesday night.

Former Iowa State star Fred Hoiberg was named the next head coach for the ISU men’s basketball team.

The Ames native and third-leading scorer in ISU history will succeed Greg McDermott to lead the team for the 2010-11 season.

A news conference introducing Hoiberg will be 10:30 a.m. Wednesday inside the Jacobson Building. Hoiberg, known affectionately by Cyclone fans as “The Mayor,” was the Vice President of Basketball Operations for the Minnesota Timberwolves until Tuesday. The 6-foot-4-inch former guard has no coaching experience.

Rumors placed Hoiberg in the position early Tuesday, but players could only confirm that they had been notified of the athletic department’s talks with “The Mayor” — one of only six men’s basketball players to have a jersey retired to the rafters inside Hilton Coliseum.

“We’ve heard that he’s been offered a contract to be our next head coach,” ISU junior guard Charles Boozer said.

“If he’s going to be our next coach, to us, that’s probably the best thing that Iowa State’s done in a long time.”

Jeff Grayer, Iowa State’s all-time leading scorer was named an assistant coach just three days before McDermott departed for Creighton on Monday.

The potential duo of Grayer and Hoiberg on staff would bring Hall of Fame playing credentials to the bench.

Hoiberg logged just less than 2,000 points in the cardinal and gold, and was an All-Big Eight selection, as well as an Academic All-American. Following graduation, “The Mayor” was drafted by the Indiana Pacers in the second round of the NBA draft and went on to play 10 seasons for various teams.

Chris Colvin, a point guard on the team during the 2009-10 season, said Tuesday that he heard  the rumors Hoiberg would be the next coach.

Colvin, who announced he would transfer from Iowa State after the conclusion of the season, said he first heard of Hoiberg’s potential hire at approximately 6:30 p.m.

The guard said he hasn’t changed his mind on his transfer officially yet, but said he is considering it.

“I don’t know too much about Mr. Hoiberg, but I didn’t know too much about coach McDermott, either,” Colvin said.

“Whatever happens, it’ll be a new start for me.”

Hoiberg’s career at Iowa State consisted of 123 starts, with an average of 15.8 points per contest.

The Cyclones went 78-48 during his four seasons, for a winning percentage of .619. By contrast, the Cyclones went 59-68 in their last four years under McDermott, a .465 winning pace. He will be the 19th head coach in Iowa State men’s basketball history, just one day after McDermott resigned to head to Creighton.

Check iowastatedaily.net for further updates from Hoiberg’s introductory press conference on Wednesday morning.