The room was quiet. Everyone was still. All eyes were glued on the man of the hour.

Three days after being introduced as the Chicago Bulls new head coach, Fred Hoiberg returned to Iowa State to give a final farewell press conference to the local Iowa media.

Hoiberg started the conference by thanking the media for the five great years at Iowa State. He then answered questions with emotional and humorous responses.

“Walking down that tunnel today, it was emotional,” Hoiberg said. “It smells the same. [This place is] something I will miss a lot.”

Most questions were about his move to the NBA, his former ISU players and the coaching search.

“I have met with five of [the players] in person and later today, I will meet with all of them at once,” Hoiberg said. “It’s going to be real emotional.”

Hoiberg also addressed why he made the decision to accept the coaching offer from the Bulls. 

“The feeling is surreal being the head coach of the Chicago Bulls,” Hoiberg said.

Hoiberg said 11 NBA teams have contacted him to see if he had interest in coaching in the NBA. 

Even a college team dialed his number to see if he would be interested in the team’s vacant coaching position. But Hoiberg never thought he would leave Iowa State for another job because he signed a contract extension in 2010.

“I wasn’t going to leave Iowa State for another college,” Hoiberg said. “I wasn’t going to leave [Iowa State] for many situations.”

Hoiberg has kept in touch with ISU Athletic Director Jamie Pollard about the vacant ISU coaching position. Hoiberg declined to go into any details about the talks, but said whoever Pollard decides to hire as coach will enter a great situation.

“You get Jameel [McKay] for a full year, you have Monté [Morris] and Georges [Niang] coming off all-Big 12 years, and Naz [Long] sounds like he is recovering well,” Hoiberg said. “I think [Iowa State] can compete for a championship this upcoming season.”

As the press conference drew to a close, Hoiberg made one thing clear: This won’t be the last time he will be in Ames.

“I’ll be back for football games to stop by to see how they are doing,” Hoiberg said.

Hoiberg also gave his approval to Georges Niang as the “New Mayor of Ames.”