McNeese has found its replacement for Will Wade.
The Cowboys named former Baylor assistant Bill Armstrong as the new men’s basketball coach Tuesday, two days after Wade was officially announced as the new head coach at NC State. Wade, who spent two seasons in charge of the Cowboys, led the program to its first NCAA Tournament win — a 69-67 upset of Clemson — last week. McNeese was then bounced by Purdue in the round of 32.
Armstrong, who has a reputation for being a talented recruiter, spent this past season at Baylor under head coach Scott Drew. Armstrong was previously an assistant and associate head coach under Wade at LSU from 2017 to 2022.
“I couldn’t be happier for McNeese or the (Southwest Louisiana) community,” Wade said in a statement. “They’re getting a great coach in Bill Armstrong … The players are going to love playing for him and I have no doubt he will build on the success of the past two years.”
Wade and Armstrong were both fired for cause from LSU in 2022, shortly after the school received an NCAA notice of allegations of recruiting violations related to comments Wade made in 2017 that were overheard on an FBI investigation wiretap.
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Before Armstrong’s year at Baylor, he was the head coach for two seasons at Link Academy in Branson, Mo., one of the top prep school programs in the country.
“I’m thrilled to have Bill Armstrong take over the reins of our men’s basketball program,” said McNeese athletic director Heath Schroyer. “We’ve built a successful model over the last two years and Bill fully understands that model and embraces the championship expectations we have at McNeese.”
Since moving to Division I in 1972, McNeese’s men’s basketball program has reached the NCAA Tournament four times. Two of those came in the past two seasons under Wade, who also led the program to 58 wins and a pair of Southland Conference championships during that span. Before Wade’s arrival, the Cowboys last won a regular-season title in 2011 and last reached the NCAA Tournament in 2002.
(Photo: Mark J. Rebilas / Imagn Images)
