Fred Hoiberg has no choice—he has to come back to his hometown of Ames. After all, he is “The Mayor.”

Hoiberg, currently a shooting guard for the Indiana Pacers, still makes an annual pilgrimage back to Ames each summer for the Iowa Games and the Fred Hoiberg Basketball Camp.

While Hoiberg cannot forget about Ames, Cyclone fans can never forget Hoiberg. His name is everywhere topping the Iowa State basketball record books. He ranks among ISU’s all-time Top 10 in career scoring, assists, steals, rebounds, three-pointers and free throws.

In addition, he is widely acknowledged as one of the three best Cyclone cagers of all time, along with Jeff Grayer and Jeff Hornacek.

Hoiberg talked about his current life and his memories of ISU on his most recent visit.

He said he wants to drastically improve upon the Pacers’ disappointing 1996-97 season when the team failed to make the NBA Playoffs.

His goals for the upcoming season are team-oriented rather than personal. “If we achieve the team goals we have, the individual goals will come,” Hoiberg said.

This season Hoiberg has the honor of playing for NBA legend Larry Bird, who is taking his first-ever head coaching position. “He’ll be very good for us. He’ll definitely have the respect of all the players,” he said.

Hoiberg’s former Pacers’ coach, Larry Brown, was fired after last season.

Hoiberg said Brown helped him make the adjustment from college to professional basketball. “He taught me a lot in my first NBA season. He taught me what the NBA was about.”

Hoiberg said professional basketball took a little getting used to. He said there are “a lot of little rule changes: illegal defense, the shot clock, etc.

“The pro game is more one-on-one, college is more of a team game,” he said.

Hoiberg said defense in the NBA is especially challenging. “The time I guarded [Michael] Jordan was definitely the toughest match-up for me,” he said.

Hoiberg said his most memorable NBA moments were on successive nights during this past season.

“The 21 points I scored against Dallas, and then the game-winning shot against Charlotte the next night,” he said. Hoiberg said no one should be fooled into thinking the life of an NBA player is all glory.

He said, “[Traveling] is fun, but it gets old, especially being away from your family.”

Hoiberg’s contract is up at the end of next season, but he said he hopes to re-sign with the Pacers.

“I’d like to stay in Indiana if possible. Indiana is similar to Iowa, with the good Midwest people,” he said. “Market Square [Arena] is one of the best in the country at being loud, and they just broke ground for a new [stadium].”

Hoiberg claimed his favorite ISU memories are beating second-ranked Oklahoma State his freshman year, playing the University of Iowa at home, beating Kansas in 1995 and advancing to the finals of the Big Eight tournament his senior season.

Hoiberg offers these words of wisdom to the 1997-98 team Cyclone basketball team:

“Listen to Coach Floyd. He’s a good enough coach that if you listen to him you’ll win your games,” Hoiberg said.

As for the athletic future of his daughter, Hoiberg said, “She’ll do whatever she wants to do. That’s the way my parents raised me,” he said.