John Aiken was announced as the 11th head coach in McNeese Cowboy basketball history on March 11, 2021.
Aiken, who has been the Cowboys' associate head coach the last three years, was named head coach last week by athletics director Heath Schroyer, who announced in early March he was stepping down as head coach and focusing fully on being the AD.
"It's an absolute pleasure and an honor to formally introduce John Aiken as the 11th head coach in McNeese State University basketball history," said Schroyer. "We've been together for five years at two different universities. I've known John and his family for a long time. I've watched him grow and mature, and in my opinion, one of the best young basketball coaches in the country."
Aiken has 13 years of coaching experience at the Division I level and 19 overall. This will be his first head coaching stint in the country's highest ranks. He was head coach at Belhaven University, an NAIA school, for two seasons and helped guide those teams to the NAIA Division I National Tournament.
"I'm extremely thankful and honored to be the head coach at McNeese State University," said Aiken. "I want to thank Coach Schroyer. I was the head coach at Belhaven University seven years ago and he trusted me to be his assistant coach.
"I want to thank (McNeese President) Dr. (Daryl) Bruckel and just speak to how much I admire him for his leadership to this university. Not just with COVID but through the two hurricanes. He's an unwavering man of faith.
"I want to thank my family, (son) Macrae and (daughter) Gracie and my wife Michelle. They've been on this journey with me for a long time. Coming from Portland, Maine to Jackson, Mississippi, and now to Lake Charles, my wife has trusted me and has sacrificed so much.
"It's a dream come true for me to become a Division I head basketball coach."
When Aiken arrived on campus three years ago, the new H&HP Arena was still under construction. Three years later, Aiken will be going through another rebuilding process due to the damage left by hurricanes Laura and Delta, but is up to the challenge, especially when it comes to recruiting.
"It is a different sell," said Aiken. "I'm not going to call it a tougher sell, and the reason I say that is because of my life story. Being able to overcome some things I've had to in my life, some of the adversity I was built from. I'm really excited about selling the opportunity to have restoration and I'm excited to bring kids in here that are going to sign up to be a part of the restoration process."
Aiken talks about the process of rebuilding after the team's momentum came to a halt after the 2019-20 season that saw sell-outs in the H&HP and the Cowboys' first trip to the postseason conference tournament in four years. COVID and two hurricanes put a quick halt to the momentum that was building.
"The first step for me is getting the right people on the bus," said Aiken. "And that will be through a different variety of ways – through our staff, through our roster. There's a lot of people in this program that didn't necessarily sign-up to not being able to play in our home arena in their senior year. It was really hard for some of those guys to go through COVID and not playing in our arena. So I want to sit down with some of those guys who are able to return and get some determination on where they are. How they're doing mentally and emotionally and make a decision on our roster.
"This is a long-term play for me. This is a dream job. This is something I want to build. I want to make sure we have the right people on the bus. If there are some guys that make a decision that they want to go and explore their senior year at another place, I think there are some guys that have earned that opportunity. We'll walk down that road and at that point, we'll recruit a great class to what we lose.
"Sure it's been hard," said Aiken about obstacles that have faced McNeese for nearly seven months now. "But the longer you live in the hard and the past, it's harder to move forward into a brighter tomorrow. I'm rejuvenated, energetic and excited to take that blueprint we had the first two years, and get that momentum back rolling."
Aiken began his coaching journey while gaining valuable experience working prestigious summer camps at the University of Louisville, Xavier University, University of Connecticut, Wake Forest, Florida State and the University of Miami.
Prior to joining Schroyer at McNeese, Aiken spent two seasons as the top assistant at Nicholls where he helped lead the Colonels to a share of the Southland Conference regular season title in 2017-18. In his two years with the Colonels, he was responsible for recruiting three SLC All-Conference selections, two SLC All-Defensive Team players, and the '17-'18 Newcomer of the Year. He was instrumental in turning around a Colonels' team that posted a 14-17 record his first season to a 21-11 mark in his second year with his recruiting and teaching skills.
Before Nicholls, Aiken spent two seasons as Schroyer's assistant at UT Martin where he helped the Skyhawks to 21 victories during the 2015-16 season, one win shy of the school's single season record.
While at UT Martin, not only did he help build a program, the Skyhawks tallied the program's first three postseason victories since becoming a Division I member in 1992. He was part of UT Martin's 13-win increase in 2014-15 from the previous year, which ranked as the fourth-best turnaround in Division I basketball.
Before joining UT Martin, Aiken totaled seven seasons of collegiate coaching experience, including two years as head coach of Belhaven University, an NAIA school in Jackson, Miss. Aiken posted 30 overall wins and a 22-16 Southern States Athletic Conference record as head coach at Belhaven. In 2013-14, he helped guide the Blazers to an 18-15 record (14-6 SSAC) and a spot in the NAIA Division I National Tournament. He spent the previous four seasons as the top assistant at Belhaven, which included two more trips to the NAIA national tournament (2010 and 2012). The Blazers went 24-10 during the 2009-10 season, earning a spot in the national tournament for the first time since 1972.
All in all, Aiken coached four honorable mention All-Americans, six all-division honorees and nine all-conference selections during his tenure at Belhaven.
Prior to his stint with the Blazers, Aiken was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of New England, an NCAA Division-III school located in Biddeford, Maine. He helped the Nor'easters reach the 2008 ECAC New England Regional Championship game after New England posted a 17-12 overall record.
Aiken also served as an assistant coach at Cheverus High School in Portland, Maine and Greater Portland Christian School in South Portland, Maine before entering the collegiate coaching ranks.
A native of Portland, Maine, Aiken earned his bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Southern Maine in 2008. He also completed his Master's degree in sports administration at Belhaven in 2013.
He and his wife Michelle spent a summer working with Athletes in Action in South Africa and Mozambique where they volunteered at orphanages, coached against several professional and club teams and visited with various schools and governmental organizations.
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING ABOUT COACH AIKEN
"John has worked his way from the NAIA level as an assistant to now becoming a head coach at McNeese. He is thoroughly prepared for the task of building the McNeese program. Our state just got better in the world of college basketball. Great day for McNeese Basketball!"
Will Wade, LSU head coach
"John is as prepared to be a head coach as I've been around. He's a recruiter, incredible teacher of the game, and probably most importantly, relationship oriented. When he was my top assistant at Nicholls, his attention to detail was the best I've seen. There is no question in my mind that he will take Cowboy Basketball to a championship level."
Richie Riley, South Alabama head coach and former Nicholls head coach.
Aiken comes to McNeese after spending the previous two seasons as the top assistant at Nicholls where he helped lead the Colonels to a share of the Southland Conference regular season title this past year.
