His own man

Published 3:03 pm Friday, July 11, 2025

Armstrong brings quiet fire to Cowboys

Bill Armstrong isn’t Will Wade.

He isn’t the complete opposite of him, either.

In many ways, the new McNeese State men’s basketball coach is nothing like his predecessor.

Wade was a two-year wild ride through the raging rapids. Armstrong is more like a pleasure cruise over calm seas.

But in a few key areas, they’re very much alike.

“Will is like a brother to me,” Armstrong said. “He is one of my best friends in the world. We just go about things differently.”

That is apparent just by watching the two go through film sessions with their players. Armstrong’s voice stayed smooth while Wade’s could peel the paint off the walls of the Legacy Center.

Armstrong is your chemistry professor, trying to get you to understand a toxic formula that could be used in the high school lab. Wade, the gym teacher, is attempting to get you to do 10 more push-ups. 

Both have the same goal: to teach, but they approach it in very unique ways.

However, don’t be confused by the easy-going demeanor of Armstrong; he has just as big a fire inside him, roaring to win.

“We are both very, very competitive,” said Armstrong. “I want to win just like he does. That’s why I came here. I want to build on what he started.”

And when his players mess up in practice, Armstrong is more than capable of getting them back on track, but he does it his way.

Wade took McNeese to two straight Southland Conference championships and their first-ever NCAA Tournament victory last spring when they beat Clemson. 

Despite it all, Armstrong isn’t worried about filling any shoes. 

Armstrong takes over for Wade, whom he worked for at LSU, after two historic seasons. The Cowboys went 58-11, including 41-2 against the Southland, with postseason results included.

That only made the job more attractive to Armstrong, who is getting his first chance at being a college head coach.

“Not many people get the opportunity to take over a program that’s doing so well,” Armstrong said. “Usually, you have to take over a bad team and build it. This is special because we’re ready to keep on winning.”

One fan Armstrong doesn’t have to win over? Will Wade. He fully endorses his friend’s hiring and is behind him 100 percent.

“He is going to make you guys forget all about me,” said Wade. “There is no bigger fan of Bill Armstrong or McNeese basketball than me.

“Bill is the most consistent person I have been around. You know what to expect and what you are going to get from him every day.”

Armstrong took over the program just days after Wade accepted his new gig at North Carolina State, taking a good portion of his staff with him. The transition to Armstrong, who came over after spending one season as an assistant at Baylor, could not have gone smoother.

“Bill has done a fantastic job since being hired,” said McNeese Athletic Director Heath Schroyer. “I could not have asked for more from him and his staff.

“He’s his own man and has his own personality, but the nuts and bolts of the program and how it’s run on a day-to-day basis? It’s the same.”

And the standards are the same, too.

“Our expectations for this program remain just as high,” said Schroyer. “I do not doubt at all that Coach Armstrong will continue to move this program forward.”

Armstrong and Wade are connected through their LSU hardships. Both were let go over recruiting allegations that rocked the Tiger program at the time. Armstrong wondered if he’d ever get a shot at the head coach’s gig.  

“You think about that, and it was a low point,” said Armstrong. “You wonder if you will ever get to tell your story and if anybody will ever take a chance on you.”

Armstrong ended up in the head coach’s chair at Link Academy, a nationally elite high school basketball program in Missouri. He won a national title and went to another Final Four in his two seasons before Baylor. 

Armstrong understands what it means to get a second chance; he just doesn’t talk about it as openly as Wade does.

“I use that chip on my shoulder a little differently than Will,” Armstrong said. “But I am just as appreciative of McNeese and this community for embracing me, my family and my staff. They have been great to all of us.

“I could not have drawn things up moving here any better. Now we want to just keep winning and take this program to an even higher level.”

With that, he sounds (at least a little) like… You know who.