Four coaches have led the ISU basketball team to postseason play in 14 of the past 24 years.

The achievements at Iowa State began with Johnny Orr and kept pace with Tim Floyd, Larry Eustachy and Wayne Morgan.

After just one winning season in four years (1976-80), ISU head coach Lynn Nance was fired. After his dismissal, Iowa State was looking around for his replacement and hired longtime Michigan coach Johnny Orr.

Johnny Orr

Max Urick, associate athletic director in 1980, said then-athletic director Lou McCullough made the call to Orr.

“Lou called Johnny Orr, not to ask him about himself but about his assistant coach Bill Freider. Johnny said that Bill would do a good job,” Urick said. “Then Johnny said tell me a little bit about the job.

“So Lou described the job to him, kind of the pay range, everything we were going to do, interest in building up the program and having a good solid basketball program at Iowa State. Then Johnny said that he would be interested in the job.”

Orr was a big name that Iowa State needed. Orr had won 209 games at Michigan and took the Wolverines to six national tournaments in 12 years.

Urick said that he was extremely excited about the possibility of landing the successful Orr at Iowa State.

“I told Lou that this would be one of the greatest hirings you ever made. You could shock the nation with this hiring,” Urick said. “Here we are taking a coach from Michigan to Iowa State. Who would have ever have thought that?”

Urick said the ISU faithful were elated with the hiring of Orr to head the basketball program.

“To have a man of that stature and all the success that he had against Iowa really helped,” Urick said. “Iowa State boosters feel that we were on the same level with the University of Iowa when it came to basketball.”

Orr said the real reason for leaving Michigan for Ames was that he was ready for a change.

“I had a food career [at Michigan], I loved it but I was ready to make a change,” Orr said. “This opportunity came, and I was excited for it. The facilities were awesome — beautiful dorms and a beautiful campus. It was a great school that had everything, but just didn’t do well in basketball. This was a chance to do something that other people failed to do.”

Before hiring Orr, the ISU basketball program was struggling. In Orr’s 14-year tenure (1981-1994) he had a record of 218-200.

Orr said his decision to leave Michigan for Iowa State was one of the best moves he has ever made.

“It was just terrific. I enjoyed every minute of it,” Orr said.

“We got very respectable; everyone dreaded coming to Ames. [Hilton Coliseum] had the best crowds in America when I was there.

“It’s nothing now like it used to be; it used to be much better. We sold out about every game.”

Lifelong fan and associate director of ISU athletic media relations Mike Green said Orr meant a lot to the basketball program.

“We were going through a bad time, not doing well, and all of a sudden here was a team that was exciting to watch,” Green said. “They were winning basketball games at home, and the crowds fed off that in droves. It became that we were almost unbeatable at home.

“Hilton Coliseum was one of the toughest places to play in the nation. [Orr] started all of that. In 1985 he got us in the NCAA Tournament, which was the first time since 1944. That was huge and incredible.”

Tim Floyd

Even after Orr retired in 1994, the ISU basketball program didn’t miss a beat. Floyd took over the program in 1995. Floyd’s regime led the Cyclones to three NCAA Tournament berths in four years. While at Iowa State, Floyd accomplished a record of 81-47. In 1996, the Cyclones achieved a record of 24-9 and were Big Eight Conference champions.

Green said the tradition sent down from Orr helped Floyd.

“Johnny pretty much set the table; then [Tim] Floyd came in with a totally different style,” Green said. “Orr’s teams were fast paced and gambled a lot. Floyd’s teams valued each possession, worked the shot clock ’til the end and didn’t worry about scoring points; his No. 1 emphasis was defense.

“Floyd’s style was deliberate and slowed down which frustrated people. We were finally able to win some games on the road. It helped that he had a lot of great gritty players on his side.”

Larry Eustachy

After Floyd left in 1998, Larry Eustachy took over the basketball program and kept up the winning ways set by Orr and Floyd. In Eustachy’s four years at the helm, his squads reached the NCAA Tournament and were Big 12 champions in 1999-2000 and 2000-01. During the 1999-2000 season, Iowa State had a 32-5 record. The 2000-01 team went 25-6

Green said Eustachy’s style was more closely related to Floyd’s.

“Larry had very similar principles to Floyd’s, but a little more uptempo. [It was the] same type of basketball school like valuing the basketball,” Green said.

Green was very impressed with one of Eustachy’s teams at Iowa State.

“In Larry’s second year (1999-2000), in my opinion, is the best basketball team in Iowa State history. We went in knowing we would pretty much win every game,” Green said.

“They were really close to running the table in the conference. They lost twice, but both were in overtime.”

Green said Eustachy had fantastic talent in his stay as head coach.

“There was a perfect mix with coaches and players; they fit in great with Larry’s style. They could push the tempo when they needed to or could fall back and play halfcourt defense. They did everything good,” Green said.

“[Marcus] Fizer was just so dominant. He was a consensus first-team All-American by every

. He was runner-up to Kenyon Martin (Cincinnati) in every national player of the year honors. Fizer also made the cover of Sports Illustrated, and that never happened before.”

Wayne Morgan

After Eustachy resigned in May 2003, assistant Wayne Morgan came on board. Last year, Morgan’s first at Iowa State, ended with a final four appearance in the National Invitational Tournament. Green said last year was another great season for ISU basketball.

“This year was a big surprise to a lot of people,” Green said.

“People forget how close this team was to getting to the NCAA Tournament. We were only a few possessions away from making the NCAAs. At the end of the year, you could say that Iowa State was one of the hottest teams in the nation.”

Green believes good things are ahead for Morgan and the ISU basketball team.

“I am pretty excited about the future,” Green said.

“I think Wayne’s style is getting back to Johnny Orr’s style a little bit; push and press all the time. For the fans, it is more fun to watch.