COLLEGE STATION, TX – JANUARY 06: LSU Tigers assistant coach Bill Armstrong applauds his offense … More
McNeese State didn’t waste time hiring Will Wade’s replacement.
The school named former LSU assistant Bill Armstrong its new head coach on Tuesday.
Armstrong becomes the 13th head coach in school history and replaces Wade, who was named the head coach at North Carolina State on Tuesday.
A press conference to introduce Armstrong will be held at noon on Wednesday in the Legacy Center arena.
“I’m thrilled to have Bill Armstrong take over the reins of our men’s basketball program,” said AD 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. Bill is a coach I’ve known for years. He’s a grinder who’s relentless in his approach and exactly what we need at this time. Poke Nation, we’re just getting started and this next chapter is going to be great.”
Said McNeese great and Hall of Famer Joe Dumars: “I really love this hire. Bill Armstrong understands the model that has brought so much success to McNeese and I look forward to him building on that model going forward.
“Heath has done an incredible job at McNeese,” said Dumars. “He has built the model for success in college basketball today. We’re incredibly lucky to have him leading the way.”
A veteran in the coaching ranks at the Division 1 level including 17 seasons in the SEC, Armstrong spent the 2024-25 season at Baylor with head coach Scott Drew and helped lead the Bears to the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament.
Prior to his arrival in Waco, Armstrong spent two seasons as the head coach at Link Academy in Branson, Mo., where he coached several notable prospects including BU’s Ja’Kobe Walter. In his time leading the Lions, the program was perennially in the top-10 and made it to the Chipotle High School Basketball Nationals, formerly the GEICO Nationals, in 2022-23 and 2023-24.
Led by Armstrong and spurred by Walter, the 2022-23 Lions captured the national championship and finished the season as the No. 1 ranked team in the country. This past season Link made it to the semi-finals of the eight-team national finals, before being upended by Paul VI High School in the semifinals.
Prior to his tenure at Link, Armstrong served as the associate head coach at LSU from 2020-22 after spending three years in Baton Rouge as an assistant coach from 2017-20. During his time with the Bayou Bengals, LSU made four postseason appearances, including three NCAA tournaments, highlighted by a run to the Sweet 16 in 2019.
The Tigers also had back-to-back first round picks in 2021 and 2022 as Cam Thomas and Tari Eason were taken with the 27th and 17th picks, respectively. Over his six seasons in South Louisiana, the Tigers amassed 108 wins and a 2019 SEC regular-season title.
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