Armstrong takes helm of Cowboys

 

Looking to keep the ball rolling, McNeese State hired a top Will Wade assistant, hoping it would mean the basketball doesn’t fall far from the hoop.

Wednesday, Bill Armstrong officially became the school’s 13th head coach in McNeese men’s basketball history during a ceremony in the Legacy Center.

He has some big sneakers to fill. 

Armstrong was with Wade as the Associate Head Coach at LSU and was fired with him in 2022 over a recruiting scandal. He comes from Baylor, where he was on Scott Drew’s staff.

McNeese is Armstrong’s first college head coaching job. He signed a four-year, $1.4 million deal, the second-highest in the history of the McNeese Athletic Department.

“This is a dream come true,” Armstrong said. 

Armstrong is following in his friend Wade’s footsteps. Wade turned the Cowboys from bottom feeders into a Mid-Major program on the rise nationally in two years. Under Wade, the Cowboys went 58-11 and won back-to-back Southland Conference championships, with a 40-2 record against league foes.

They lost just once at home, made two straight NCAA tournaments, and even won a game last week when they upset No. 12 Clemson in the first round of the Midwest Regional.

Wade officially became the head coach at North Carolina State on Tuesday, just hours before McNeese signed Armstrong.

“Coach Armstrong does nothing but win,” McNeese Athletic Director Heath Schroyer said. “I wanted to keep this going. This is a very coveted job—the best one-bid league job in the country.”

Armstrong comes with endorsements from all over, especially from the guy he’s replacing.

“McNeese is in very good hands with Bill,” said Wade. “He has been a great coach for years and will keep things rolling there.”  

Armstrong and Wade were fired from LSU during a long NCAA investigation into recruiting improprieties. When Wade returned to coaching after sitting out a season, the NCAA suspended him for 10 games. 

Like Wade, Armstrong said he learned and changed after the firing.

“I’m not the same person I was that got fired March 12, 2022,” Armstrong said. “I am a better person now. 

“To get fired hits you hard. It makes you go through real adversity. It made me stronger.”

Like Wade, Armstrong has come out on the other side and put it in the distant past. Armstrong says he’s not worried about taking over for a popular coach who set a high standard to follow.

“I don’t want to hide from the pressure; I want the pressure,” said Armstrong. “We want to build on what has been accomplished here over the last two years.”

Armstrong’s hiring comes just three days after the Cowboys were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament by Purdue in the second round of the Midwest Regional. That came after they beat Clemson Last Thursday, 69-67, for the first NCAA win in program history.

Getting somebody fast, with the transfer opening last Monday, was imperative.

“It was really, really important to get this done quickly,” Schroyer said. “You need to have someone with boots on the ground right away.”

Armstrong has already spoken to players and hopes to keep several, should they want to stay.

“We want the guys to come back,” said Armstrong. “They’ve laid the foundation for this with their work.”

Armstrong also knows he’ll have holes to fill.

“We have a great list of guys we want to recruit from the portal,” he said.

Armstrong would not name names, but you can bet some guys from Baylor and those he coached two years ago at Link Academy are on that list.

As for his staff, Armstrong says he’s working on that as well.

When asked if he and Wade would collaborate as part of a talent pipeline between schools, Armstrong smiled and said, “That sounds like a good idea, doesn’t it?”

He went on to add that he and Wade are like brothers and that they talk every day.

It seems the Cowboys are still in good hands after what appears to be a very smooth transition.