McNeese State fired basketball coach John Aiken on Wednesday after two seasons.
The Cowboys were 22-45 (10-22 Southland Conference) under Aiken, who joined McNeese State as an assistant coach in 2018. When then-head coach Heath Schroyer was promoted to athletic director, Aiken took the reins of the team.
Aiken had one year left on his contract.
McNeese State was 11-23 overall in 2022-23, which is the most losses in program history. The Cowboys’ season ended with an 80-63 loss to No. 1 seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the semifinals of the Southland Conference tournament on Tuesday.
“This is a really hard day for me personally,” said Schroyer, who also coached with Aiken at Tennessee-Martin.
“John is a dear friend and a damn good basketball coach. I know John extremely well and I have no doubt he will bounce back, get another opportunity and be successful as a head coach in the future.
The school said it would launch a national search, but Stadium said former LSU coach Will Wade is among the names being mentioned in connection with the McNeese job.
–Field Level Media