I will say the hate for Fred is way more than he deserves. Mostly due to people still being mad he bolted for the "no defense league" and the Bulls.
You can argue he screwed ISU over in recruiting. What I don't buy is that he completely ****ed Prohm over. How many coaches get a top 25 team to start off their coaching career? Not many, and rare to happen to Iowa State. ISU arguably has a 7 man rotation this year but that's not much different than prior Hoiberg teams.
Oh but Cash, all the best players are seniors, that'll make his transition tough for the future. ISU still possibly has Monte next year, Matt Thomas (who has made great leaps from being CF whipping boy to being a possible go to player next year), Burton, and Naz (a bonus). Even with Monte gone, those guys combined with Malou, Jackson, Long, etc., could be a team that surprises next year and gets into the tournament.
Fred did some great things for ISU basketball program. Made the Sweet 16, Back-to-back conference tournament champions, got ISU into the top 25 and stayed there, most wins against the top 25 in the past 3 seasons he was at ISU (I believe), made the tournament 4 times in a row. These things don't happen at ISU very often, and whoever came after Fred had a huge task at hand to keep ISU at the current level. I'll take that culture any day of the week.
Fans are forgetting the McDermott and Morgan days. Undisciplined (Morgan), being the laughingstock of the Big 12 who couldn't even make the NIT (McDermott). The expectations may have been too high for this team with a new coach, that's why you see all the meltdowns that go on after losing to a top 25 road team.