It’s official: Bill Armstrong has picked up his first big piece for next season’s puzzle.

After convincing four players to return from last year’s club, including a pair of starting guards, the new McNeese State head coach signed his first recruit.

Five days after committing to McNeese, Jacolb Fredson-Cole signed to play for the Cowboys. Fredson-Cole is a redshirt freshman transferring from Oklahoma.

The 6-foot-7, 220-pound forward played for Armstrong three seasons ago at Link Academy in Branson, Missouri. He played in 15 games for the Sooner last year after redshirting the season before. 

He was part of Armstrong’s national championship team before heading to Oklahoma.

“I’m very excited to have Jacolb sign with my first class at McNeese,” said Armstrong. “For him to trust us enough to continue to want to work with us is amazing. We really look forward to working with him.”

Fredson-Cole has three years of eligibility left. Armstrong expects to get more commitments in the coming days..

“We have gotten some real legwork in on some guys,” Armstrong said. “We have a good list of guys. Hopefully, we can have some news on them in the next couple of days and weeks.”

According to ESPN and Rivals, Fredson-Cole was a four-star prospect and a three-star by 247Sports. His one year with Armstrong at Link led to the championship. 

Before Link, he attended Bellaire High School in Texas and earned 2021-22 6A Region 3 District MVP and 6A All-Region honors after his junior campaign. He averaged 22.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 3.0 steals, and 2.0 blocks per game in 28 games as a junior at Bellaire (2021-22) and led his team to a 21-9 finish.

DJ Richards announced he was coming back to the team on Tuesday. Richards was the Cowboys’ main long-range shooter and led the Southland Conference in 3-point shooting percentage last season. 

Richards, who has one year remaining, said he considered hitting the transfer portal but elected to stay after talking to Armstrong. 

“A lot of things played into my decision,” said Richards. “I talked to coach Armstrong and he has a good plan. I like what I heard. 

“He is kind of the brains behind this whole thing here. And I really want to try and win a third straight Southland championship and get back to the NCAA Tournament.”

No McNeese team has ever won three titles in a row. 

Richards followed in the footsteps of his friend Javohn Garcia, who was the first to announce his return. Garcia was the SLC Player of the Year and is clearly the top returner in the conference.

The Southland has been hit hard by key players from all over the league entering the transfer portal. 

Two others returning are guards T’Johnn Brown and Howard Gaskins. Brown dropped his redshirt last year when Omar Cooper was ill at the start of the calendar year. 

Gaskins was awarded a scholarship last season when Mike Saunders transferred out at the end of the fall semester.