When Will Wade ditched Lake Charles for the North Carolina State job in March 2025, the college basketball world collectively held its breath. McNeese State had just finished a Cinderella-adjacent run, bagging its first-ever NCAA Tournament win over Clemson before falling to Purdue. The program was hot.
The question wasn't just who would take the job, but how crazy the hire would be. You see, McNeese AD Heath Schroyer has a thing for "reclamation projects." He proved it when he hired Wade while the guy was still radioactive from the LSU FBI wiretap scandal. So, when rumors started swirling that Bob Huggins McNeese State coaching candidate was a real thing, people didn't laugh it off. They leaned in.
Honestly, it made a weird kind of sense. Huggins—a Hall of Famer with 935 career wins—was sitting at home, presumably itching to get back on a sideline after his ugly 2023 exit from West Virginia. The man is a legend, albeit a deeply flawed one.
Why the Huggins Rumors Had Legs
Jeff Goodman of The Field of 68 dropped the bomb on March 24, 2025. He listed "Huggy Bear" as a legitimate candidate alongside guys like Bill Armstrong and Sam Mitchell. The logic was simple: McNeese wanted to keep the "bad boy" energy going. They didn't want a safe, boring hire. They wanted someone who could recruit the portal like a shark and win games immediately.
Huggins had spent months campaigning for a second chance. He’d gone on various podcasts and radio shows, basically telling anyone with a microphone, "I'm pretty good at what I do." He wasn't lying. Before the DUI and the radio slur incident that ended his tenure in Morgantown, he’d taken West Virginia to a Final Four and 11 NCAA Tournaments.
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For a mid-major like McNeese, hiring a guy who had just been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2022 was a total "swing for the fences" move. If it worked, they’d be the most talked-about mid-major in the country. If it blew up? Well, they were already used to the spotlight.
The Reality Check: What Most People Get Wrong
People think Huggins was just a phone call away from moving to Louisiana. But there were massive hurdles. For starters, Huggins was 71. While he claimed he could coach for another 10 or 15 years, the physical toll of a D1 season is no joke.
Then there’s the baggage. We aren't just talking about a couple of mistakes; we’re talking about a pattern that athletic directors have to answer for. The West Virginia exit was messy—lawsuits, claims he never actually resigned, and a very public falling out with university brass.
And let’s be real about the Southland Conference. It’s a grind. Could a 70-plus-year-old legend really find the energy to recruit the backroads of East Texas and Louisiana in August? Maybe. But the McNeese administration had to ask if they were hiring the coach Bob Huggins or the celebrity Bob Huggins.
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How Bill Armstrong Beat Out the Legend
In the end, McNeese went with Bill Armstrong. He was the "safe-ish" version of Will Wade. Armstrong had been the associate head coach under Wade at LSU and was most recently an assistant at Baylor. He knew the system, he knew the region, and he didn't come with a mountain of PR headaches.
By the time the 2025-26 season tipped off, the "Huggins to McNeese" talk had evaporated. Armstrong took over a roster that was still talented but needed a steady hand. As of January 2026, McNeese is sitting near the top of the Southland again, sporting a 13-3 record. They didn't need the circus; they just needed to keep winning.
Is Bob Huggins Still Looking to Coach?
Short answer: Yes. Long answer: It's complicated.
Huggins has been seen around various programs—he even popped up in a Pitt Panthers documentary recently, which really ticked off the WVU faithful. He’s clearly staying close to the game. But as the 2026 coaching cycle approaches, his window is closing fast.
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Most ADs are looking for the next "young genius" rather than a legend looking for a redemption arc. If a job like McNeese—which is literally built on giving second chances—didn't pull the trigger, you have to wonder who will.
What This Means for You (Actionable Insights)
If you're a college hoops fan or a bettor following coaching carousels, here is how you should read the current landscape:
- Watch the "Wade Tree": Bill Armstrong’s success at McNeese proves that programs value continuity over big names. If you're looking for the next breakout mid-major, look for assistants who worked under successful, albeit controversial, head coaches.
- The Huggins Factor: Don't bet on Huggins getting a high-major job again. If he returns, it will be at a school desperate for ticket sales and local relevance.
- McNeese is the New Blueprint: Heath Schroyer has shown that "damaged goods" coaches can be gold mines for mid-majors. Keep an eye on schools like DePaul or Louisville in the future; they might start looking at the McNeese model of hiring "proven winners with problems."
The saga of Bob Huggins McNeese State coaching candidate serves as a reminder of how quickly the coaching world moves. One day you're the hottest rumor in the sport, and the next, you're a "what if" while someone else is cutting down the nets in Lake Charles.
To stay ahead of the next coaching cycle, you should monitor the Southland Conference standings closely. If Bill Armstrong continues this trajectory, he’ll be the next McNeese coach to jump to a Power 4 school, opening the door for the "Huggins to McNeese" rumors to start all over again in 2027.