Iowa State coach Steve Prohm's future in doubt after Cyclones finish 2-22, winless in Big 12 play

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Iowa State's Big 12 tournament run, and its season, is over.

Has Steve Prohm's tenure with the Cyclones reached its conclusion as well?

Perhaps the worst season in program history came to a close Wednesday as the Cyclones bowed out in the first round of the Big 12 tournament with a 79-73 loss to No. 24 Oklahoma.

Now all attention turns to Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard – who is in Indianapolis as a member of the NCAA Tournament selection committee – and Prohm, whose job status is in serious doubt after a 2-22 season that included the first winless conference season for the Cyclones since 1936-37 and 18 losses in a row, a program worst, to finish the year.

Pollard has been silent on Prohm's future, but with the season now officially – and infamously – relegated to the history books, it is expected that a decision on Prohm's fate will be quickly forthcoming.

"I’ll meet with Jamie next week. We’ll sit down and talk," Prohm said Wednesday night, adding that he did not anticipate learning his fate until that meeting. "Jamie and I have had conversations. We talk all the time, but Jamie’s obviously got a lot going on with the (NCAA) selection committee and different things like that to where we’ll meet next week.

"That’s the most I can tell you with that and being as open as I can."

Conventional wisdom would point to a parting of ways given not only the futility of this season, but three losing seasons in the last four and a Big 12 record of 18-54 during that time. Even Iowa State's lone winning season in that stretch, 2018-19, is widely viewed as a disappointment despite winning the Big 12 tournament given the talent and depth was not enough to stave off a late-season collapse and a first-round NCAA Tournament exit.

Coaching underachievers based on pay:Iowa State's disastrous season lands Steve Prohm on list

Brackets:Get in on the March Madness action

Beyond just the losing, Iowa State lost the identity it forged as it reasserted itself on the national stage a decade ago.

Hilton Coliseum, one of the most electric atmospheres in college basketball, stopped being a stronghold and instead was the site of increasingly frequent losses by the home team. The offense, which was renowned for its pace, space and shooting, entered Wednesday night ranked 226th nationally in adjusted efficiency, the worst ranking in database of KenPom.com, a college basketball stats site which has data dating to the 1996-97 season. It is a ranking that could drop further after shooting 41.7% from the floor and 28.6% from 3 against the Sooners.

Iowa State was certainly adversely affected this season by the COVID-19 pandemic, which kept the team, featuring seven new players, from fully being able to practice this summer. The Cyclones also were idle for two weeks in January due to health and safety protocols.

The Iowa State athletic department is also facing a $25 million shortfall because of the pandemic, and Prohm would be due a buyout of approximately $5 million if he were fired.

Still, the wins and losses coupled with the fact there is not an obvious path to immediate improvement puts Prohm's job very much in jeopardy as the offseason officially begins.

There was no magic moment

This season has been lost for some time for the Cyclones, but Prohm and Co. had been holding out hope they might "get over the hump" and at least have a few fleeting moments of success as the season wound down.

Instead, it was just a string of losses.

Iowa State's two wins were the fewest in a season for the program since 1924-25. The Cyclones' only victories this year came against Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Jackson State. It has been over a year since they beat a conference opponent and over two years since they won a road game.

Surely, the Cyclones get credit for continuing to compete throughout all the losing, but that doesn't put points on the board or mitigate the alarming ineffectiveness of this season for a program that not long ago was enjoying its greatest run of success in history.

Iowa State wasn't looking for much the last month, just a single win to avoid the historical 0-for marker and create an accomplishment – however small – to enjoy for perhaps just a few moments.

That proved to be to beyond their grasp.