Fred Hoiberg Says COVID-19 Diagnosis Scared Him Because of Prior Heart Surgeries

Nebraska head men's basketball coach Fred Hoiberg said Tuesday that testing positive for COVID-19 last month concerned him because of a heart condition he has dealt with since birth. 

Hoiberg, who was born with an abnormal aortic valve and underwent open-heart surgery in both 2005 and 2015, said the following about his COVID-19 diagnosis, per Eric Olson of the Associated Press: "I got a little scared, to be honest with you, just with everything I've had in my past with two open-heart surgeries and being fully dependent on a pacemaker. It concerned me. And I did have chest pains. That was the scary thing."

The 48-year-old coach noted that there were times after testing positive for COVID-19 that he experienced chest pains, which increased his worry.

Ultimately, Hoiberg said he didn't have to be hospitalized since his oxygen level remained within normal ranges and his fever never exceeded 101 degrees.

While Hoiberg has largely recovered since testing positive on Jan. 15, he noted that he lost 10 lbs. and has yet to regain his sense of smell.

The Cornhuskers experienced a COVID-19 outbreak within their program with nine players, a student manager, two assistant coaches, a graduate assistant and Hoiberg all testing positive.

As a result, each of Nebraska's past four games have been postponed, and the Huskers have not played a game since their 84-76 loss to Indiana on Jan. 10.

If Nebraska returns to action as scheduled against Michigan State on Saturday, it will mark the Huskers' first game in nearly a month.

Nebraska is 4-8 on the season with an 0-5 mark in Big Ten play during Hoiberg's second season as head coach.

Hoiberg, who was previously the head coach at Iowa State and for the NBA's Chicago Bulls, is looking to help the Huskers end a six-year NCAA tournament drought.