Iowa State student manager has best seat in the house

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

Among the duties Parker Kober has as student manager for the Iowa State men’s basketball team is to place a chair on the court near the bench for Cyclones head coach Steve Prohm to sit in while his players gather around for instruction during timeouts.

Good thing Kober is not working for Bobby Knight.

“That could have made things a little difficult,” Kober said of possibly having to retrieve a chair chucked across the floor, something Knight infamously did during one of his tirades at Indiana.

For the past three seasons, the Charles City native and Mason City resident has had the best seat in the house while serving on the Cyclones’ staff.

“I didn’t play basketball in high school, but after the end of my freshman year (at Iowa State) I wanted to get involved with one of our sport teams,” Kober said. “I got in touch with some of graduate assistants, and they were willing to let me work at some basketball camps during the summer.”

While working at the camps, Kober got to know the players and coaching staff, and they got to know him. He soon was called in for a job interview, then he became a Cyclone.

“I grew up a Minnesota Timberwolves fan, so I was excited about working with one of the players I used to watch on TV,” Kober said of former NBA player and Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg, who now coaches the Chicago Bulls.

“He’s a great coach and a great guy,” Kober said of Hoiberg, who wrote a letter of recommendation for Kober to aid his pursuit for a graduate law degree.

Kober was there for the Cyclones’ back-to-back Big 12 Tournament Championships in 2014 and 2015 under Hoiberg. When Hoiberg moved on and Prohm took over this season, it was an adjustment for the players as well as the managers.

“He brought in a whole new staff and system,” Kober said. “It’s been different, but it’s been awesome this year, especially with all our big wins and upsets.”

Earlier this week Kober was helping the Cyclones prepare for — perhaps — another major upset in a rematch this Saturday against No. 1 Kansas. The Cyclones had beaten the Jayhawks earlier this season in Ames.

“Right now I’m organizing video clips of Kansas on offense,” Kober said. “As managers, we do a lot of video work, like taping practices and making clips for the coaches to go over during meetings.”

Believe it or not, managers also get some playing time.

“We sometimes get out on the court when they need an extra guy to set screens or an extra rebounder,” Kober said. “During drills, we usually have a ball in our hands so if one gets away, we’re there with another to keep the drill or scrimmage going.

“During rebounding drills, we’ll be in the paint with pads to simulate contact.”

There’s even a manager rivalry between Iowa State and the University of Iowa.

“We organize games between managers on occasion,” Kober said. “It’s usually a matter who’s the home team.

“For road games, we only bring about six managers and so do they when they come here. So when you’re playing with just five or six guys, you get kind of winded.”

Last Monday during the Cyclones’ final home game against Oklahoma State, Kober and other senior managers were honored with the graduating players on “Senior Night.”

“It was a big deal to get honored with the players,” Kober said. “It’s been a great experience being a part of this team … being there for the Big 12 championships … reaching the Sweet 16 (in 2014).”

Kober someday would like to work in the front office of a major sports franchise.

“That’s why I would like to attain a law degree,” he said. “It would probably open up more doors for me.”

As an experienced senior, Kober is often among the managers who travel with the team on the road. Thus, he’s seen the madness across the nation.

“We have greatest fans in the world … crazy, too,” Kober said of the Iowa State faithful. “But when you go to Allen Fieldhouse (Kansas’ home court) and see they way their fans go at it … it’s something to see.”

They’ll be waiting for you.