Fred Hoiberg announced on Thursday that special assistant to the head coach Bobby Lutz is leaving the program to pursue coaching opportunities.
Lutz has been with Nebraska the past two years, helping with game planning, nonconference scheduling and assisting Hoiberg and the Husker staff in the day-to-day operation. Hoiberg worked previously with Lutz at Iowa State and within the Chicago Bulls organization, and brought him to Lincoln in 2019 in a non-coaching role.
“When I agreed to join Fred at Nebraska as Special Assistant, there was positive momentum in the NCAA for allowing an additional person to actively coach during practice and games,” Lutz said in a release. “That has not happened. While I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in Lincoln and will always be grateful to Fred for allowing me to be a part in building the foundation of this program, I miss coaching and recruiting. Therefore, I am leaving Nebraska to pursue coaching opportunities and look forward to the next challenge. We loved our time in Lincoln and met many special friends whom we will forever cherish. All the best. #GBR”
Lutz spent 12 years (1998-2010) as the head coach at Charlotte, his alma mater, guiding the 49ers to five NCAA Tournament and three NIT appearances and on overall record of 218-158. He’s the winningest coach in program history.
Lutz joined Hoiberg’s staff at Iowa State for the 2010-11 season then left to take an assistant coaching job at North Carolina State from 2011 to 2016. He left NC State to be an assistant for the Windy City Bulls of the NBA G League for the 2016-17 season, but the Bulls shuffled that coaching staff after the season and did not retain Lutz.
“Bobby has been a great resource for our staff the past two years and appreciate all of his contributions in helping build the foundation of our program in Lincoln,” Hoiberg said. “He has been a great sounding board for me at both Iowa State and Nebraska and has an outstanding basketball mind. He has a passion for coaching and wanted to get back on the sideline.”
Earlier in the week, Yvan Ouedraogo, Akol Arop and Elijah Wood announced they planned to enter their names in the NCAA Transfer Portal while senior Kobe Webster announced he will return to Lincoln for a fifth season of college basketball.
