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If America wants a blueprint on how to quickly turn around a college athletics program, take a look at this year’s McNeese State University men’s basketball team in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
After finishing 11-23 last season, this year’s Cowboys have raced out of the chute to post an amazing 28-3 record as of this post. The team’s current NCAA “NET” ranking of #58 may get them into the NCAA March Madness field even if the Pokes should lose a game during next week’s Southland Conference basketball tournament.
Did I mention that the Southland Conference tournament will be played in Lake Charles at the home gymnasium of 28-3 McNeese State?
A brief history of McNeese State University
Founded in 1939 as Lake Charles Junior College, it was initially a 2-year college and part of the LSU system. In 1940, the school was renamed for an innovative former local educator named John McNeese.
By 1950, the school had evolved into a four-year institution.
Today, there are about 7,000 students on the wooded campus deep in southwest Louisiana called McNeese State University.
Since Interstate 10 passes north of Lake Charles, the city may be more famous for being home to Louisiana’s biggest thrill ride known as the I-10 Calcasieu River bridge. If you have driven up and over that very steep four-lane monster, you know what I’m talking about!
Though the Lake Charles area is home to several major chemical facilities and a growing LNG export business, the city of 75,000 residents looks to its local university as a rallying point for sports entertainment.
Alas, the Cowboys of McNeese State University have remained relatively quiet on the national sports scene of late. Neither the school’s football program nor men’s basketball programs have appeared on the national stage in more than twenty years. The men’s basketball team last qualified for the NCAA March Madness field in 2002.
As interest sagged in the school’s basketball program, the 8,500 seat arena being used by the university (Burton Coliseum – built in 1976) had become a virtual echo chamber during most McNeese State men’s and women’s college basketball games.
What has been the secret formula to transform a losing basketball program into a winner in just one season?
As the McNeese men’s basketball program has become (almost) a lock for this year’s 2024 NCAA March Madness field, let’s examine how this amazing transformation has taken place in Lake Charles:
- Build a nice “right sized” new facility and involve key alumni in the process
- Hire an athletic director who is determined to fill-up the facility with paying customers
- Hire a new coach with a proven track record for turning around a sport
- Provide the coach with enough supporting money (NIL) to entice talented transfers
- Get out of the way and cheer on the new coach and team
Step 1 – Legacy Center opens
In 2018, McNeese State unveiled its brand new $40 million on-campus basketball and volleyball arena. The facility holds about 4,200 fans for basketball. It was renamed Legacy Center after McNeese received a multi-million dollar donation from the family of a prominent local jeweler. The expectations were high for a renaissance in the school’s basketball programs.
Step 2 – If you build it, they won’t necessarily come
Before this season, the McNeese men’s basketball program had not finished with a winning record since 2011. After the opening of their sparkling new basketball arena in 2018, the McNeese men’s basketball teams continued to struggle under its new head coach, Heath Schroyer.
The coach would post losing records in his first three years going just 9-22 in 2018, 15-17 in 2019, and 10-14 in 2020. The school then promoted Schroyer to the full-time athletics director and appointed his assistant coach, John Aiken, in charge of the men’s team.
Aiken wasn’t able to make things better, either. McNeese finished 11-22 record in 2021 and only 11-23 in 2022. The disappointing play of the basketball teams drew crowds of less than 50% of the capacity of their new 4,200 seat Legacy Center facility. Coach John Aiken was fired by his former boss (now the Athletic Director) Heath Schroyer last spring in 2023.
Step 3 – Time for the AD to try a “Hail Mary” – quickly!
McNeese had a brand new basketball arena and was drawing about 2,000 fans per game. The Athletic Director needed to hire a new basketball coach who would inject a spark of lightning into the program quickly or his own job might be in jeopardy.
Enter Will Wade.
Yes, the same Will Wade who was relieved of his duties in March, 2022 at LSU after five seasons as the men’s basketball coach of the Bayou Bengals. A highly successful turnaround artist, Wade was able to transform UT-Chattanooga into a winner and then led VCU into the NCAA tournament in consecutive years.
After coming to LSU in 2017, Will Wade lifted the Tigers to a 108-54 record (67% winning percentage) over his five seasons in Baton Rouge. More importantly, Wade’s teams played in three NCAA March Madness tournaments in five years.
That’s the good news.
An FBI wiretap captured coach Wade making (his words) a “strong @$$ offer” monetary enticement to an LSU basketball recruit which landed the coach in hot water. There were a few other similar accusations of improper financial inducements being made.
Unfortunately for Will Wade, these issues occurred prior to the adoption of the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) financial rewards and NCAA transfer portal options. Therefore, Will Wade’s recruiting violations at LSU were against the rules in effect during his time with the Tigers. He agreed to some significant contract changes with the school while his case was being reviewed for possible NCAA violations.
LSU eventually fired Will Wade just prior to the Tigers’ first round NCAA March Madness tournament game in 2022. He would surface again about one year later 130 miles to the west down I-10.
Almost exactly one year later in March, 2023, Southland Conference member McNeese State University surprised the college basketball world by hiring Will Wade to become their new men’s basketball coach.
McNeese Athletic Director Heath Schroyer was very excited about the hire. Here’s what he had to say:
“McNeese basketball is one of the best jobs in the nation in regards to one-bid leagues. We are funded at the top of the league, have the best facility, a passionate fan base and many other built-in advantages. I will not make excuses for why we can’t win and win big. Quite frankly, there is no excuse. The days of us celebrating making conference tournaments or accepting mediocrity in all of our sports, let alone in basketball, are over.”
Wow! Remember, McNeese was a men’s college basketball team which had not posted a winning record in 12 years prior to this season.
Step 4 – Give the new coach plenty of NIL monetary support to find some new transfer players
Will Wade quickly rounded-up a corral of new basketball players for the Cowboys. Utilizing the now-legal NIL financial incentives and aggressively reaching out to players via the NCAA transfer portal, the new men’s basketball coach at McNeese completely rebuilt the roster.
Of the 15 players on this year’s team, just three players are holdovers from last season. One of those returning players is junior forward Christian Shumate. He is the team’s second leading scorer this season at 12 points/game. Four McNeese players score in double figures and ten Cowboys average more than ten minutes played per game this season. Coach Wade is rotating a lot of players in and out of the line-up to keep the pressure on opposing teams.
The McNeese State Cowboys have been the biggest surprise in college basketball this year. The team’s current 28-3 record represents, by far, the biggest improvement in the nation. The Pokes have defeated established college basketball teams (on the road) like VCU and Michigan.
Step 5 – Get out of the way and cheer on the new coach and team
This incredible basketball resurrection at McNeese this season has produced several sell-out crowds, too. The new basketball arena on the campus in Lake Charles has seen average home attendance nearly double this season.
That makes the McNeese Athletic Director Heath Schroyer and other top school officials very pleased with this basketball season.
“Men’s basketball has always been a revenue generating sport for our department,” said Schroyer. “However, this year we have already generated more than five times the revenue from last year. We are simply reinvesting into this program which will in turn help our entire department continue to grow financially.”
That “reinvesting” included a new 5-year contract extension valued at $700,000 per year given to McNeese basketball coach Will Wade just a few weeks ago.
That’s a lot of money for any state school in Louisiana (not named LSU, of course) to pay their head basketball coach.
Putting it in perspective, the head football coach at FBS school UL-Monroe (Tommy Bowden – who was fired after the season) earned $435,000 last year. The head football coach at UL-Lafayette (Michael Desormeaux) pulled down $755,000 last season.
The new 5-year contract for McNeese basketball coach Will Wade also contains a $1.25 million buyout provision.
A potential suitor from a major basketball program with deep financial pockets will be required to write a $1.25 million check to McNeese if they desire to make the Cowboys’ current basketball coach an offer he can’t refuse.
You better believe they are coming!
Coach Will Wade was at the wrong place at the wrong time during his coaching years at LSU.
Since his departure, the landscape of college athletics has dramatically changed. Coach Will Wade has a unique talent in finding, signing, and (most importantly) coaching college basketball talent. This year’s epic turnaround story at McNeese will make Will Wade a very hot coaching commodity once his team’s basketball season ends.
McNeese State is having one heck of a dream season. Congratulations to the Cowboys and their fans in Lake Charles. It has been fun to watch.
For now, enjoy the ride, and Geaux Pokes!