Schroyer named head coach at McNeese State

PROVO, Utah – BYU associate head men’s basketball coach Heath Schroyer has accepted the head men’s basketball coaching job at McNeese State. Bruce Hemphill, director of athletics at McNeese State, announced the hiring on Thursday.

“I’ve always been a Cougar and always will,” Schroyer said. “I love the people, the administration, the university and obviously the players and coaches. Coach Rose and I have been dear friends for a long time. This year has been special on so many levels and I really appreciate the opportunity Coach Rose gave me to be a part of the program again. Going to McNeese State is a great opportunity for me and my family. I’m very excited to go build a program. I will always be part of Cougar nation."

“I’m so happy for Heath and his family,” BYU coach Dave Rose said. “He has been successful at so many places and I’m excited for him that he has the opportunity to go build a program again. McNeese hired the right guy for the job. Heath was a great addition to our staff this past season. I’m grateful for all of his contributions and everything he brought to our team. We all wish him the very best.

Schroyer was the associate head coach at BYU for the 2017-18 season and had a previous four-year stint with the Cougars from 1997-2001. This season, Schroyer helped BYU finish 24-11 overall and 11-7 in the West Coast Conference. The Cougars advanced to the West Coast Conference title game, earned a bid to the NIT and saw Elijah Bryant and Yoeli Childs earn All-WCC First Team honors.

In his previous stop at BYU, Schroyer helped then-head coach Steve Cleveland rebuild the program that had won just one game in 1996-97. In the 2000-01 season, Schroyer helped the Cougars win the Mountain West Conference regular season and tournament championships and return to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1995.

This will be Schroyer’s fourth head coaching job, with the first being at Portland State from 2002-05. In his final season with the Vikings, he led Portland State to 19 wins and the Big Sky Conference title, the school’s first league title in any men’s sport.

Schroyer was also the head coach at Wyoming from 2007-11 and then at UT-Martin from 2014-16. In two seasons at UT-Martin, he led the Skyhawks to back-to-back 20-win seasons and back-to-back CIT appearances.

In addition to his head coaching experience, Schroyer has served as an assistant at Wyoming (2001-02), associate head coach at Fresno State (2005-07), assistant coach at UNLV (2011-14) and assistant head coach at N.C. State. In 2002, he helped Wyoming reach the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1988. At UNLV, Schroyer helped bring four McDonald's All-Americans and two top-10 recruiting classes to Las Vegas in three seasons.