McNeese State took a chance two years ago, hiring Will Wade as the program’s new men’s basketball coach. Wade rewarded the Cowboys for their trust, twice taking them to the NCAA Tournament and winning a game in the Big Dance this season before leaving for NC State and the ACC.
As McNeese State searches for a new head coach they appear to be focusing on a number of coaches with shady pasts. One of the potential targets is former Tennessee head coach Donnie Tyndall. Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman listed seven names to watch for the job including Tyndall.
Other coaches included former West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins and former NBA head coach Sam Mitchell.
The NCAA was investigating Tyndall before he coached a single game in Knoxville. Tennessee hired Tyndall to replace Cuonzo Martin following the 2013-14 season. By the fall of 2014, the NCAA had launched an investigation into the Southern Miss program that Tyndall had just left.
The investigation revealed that Tyndall orchestrated academic fraud in his two seasons in Hattiesburg. Tennessee fired Tyndall following his first season as the Vols’ head coach before hiring recently fired Texas head coach Rick Barnes to lead their program.
More From RTI: What Happened In Tennessee Basketball’s Regular Season Losses Against Kentucky?
Tennessee’s move was unquestionably a great one. Barnes has been highly successful in his 10 years as head coach including four trips to the Sweet 16, three SEC titles and the program’s second ever trip to the Elite Eight.
The NCAA hammered Tyndall with a 10-year show-cause over the infractions. At the time, it was the longest show-cause penalty that the governing body had ever handed out.
McNeese State hiring Tyndall this year seems unlikely because the coach’s show-cause doesn’t run out until the conclusion of the 2025-26 season according to AP reporting at the time. If the Bayou Bandits did hire Tyndall, they would face restrictions in his first season as head coach.
Tyndall spent six seasons as they head coach at his alma mater Morehead State, twice taking the Eagles to the NCAA Tournament. The Michigan native led Southern Miss to the NIT in both his seasons as head coach before coming to Tennessee.
The Vols went 16-16 in Tyndall’s lone season as head coach, missing both the NCAA Tournament and the NIT.
