LSU board approves new contracts for basketball coaches
BATON ROUGE – The LSU Board of Supervisors on Friday approved two new contracts for members of its basketball staff, taking effect on July 1.
Bill Armstrong, who has served as assistant coach for the last three years for LSU, has a new agreement that will make him the Associate Head Coach for Head Coach Will Wade.
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Also, Kevin Nickelberry, who brings a long record as a Division I head coach and served as Assistant to Will Wade last season for the Tiger program, will return to on-floor coaching as an Assistant Coach for the 2020-21 season.
“Bill Armstrong has earned this promotion to Associate Head Coach,” said Coach Wade. “He is one of the longest tenured assistants in the Southeastern Conference and has been a tireless worker with our players and in recruiting.
“We are excited that Coach Nickelberry will be returning to on-floor coaching role this coming season,” Coach Wade said. “He is someone I have known for over 15 years and Coach Nick has the experience of over a decade as a head coach. He will be very valuable for our players and an elite recruiter.”
Armstrong, prior to his three years at LSU, served six years as an assistant coach for Ole Miss after five seasons as the Rebels’ Coordinator of Basketball Operations.
Besides scouting and coaching duties, Armstrong has been involved in LSU’s recruiting efforts and helped LSU come up with a No. 4 ranked national recruiting class for the 2018-19 season and the presently ranked No. 6 class for 2020-21.
The Tigers in Armstrong’s first three years at LSU has gone to post-season twice (with an expected bid in the 2020 NCAA Tournament wiped out by the event’s cancellation), including the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2019. The Tigers had 67 total wins in his first three seasons.
A Birmingham, Alabama native, Armstrong graduated from UAB in 2001 with a degree in justice sciences. He was also the recipient of the Barbara Hallerman Scholarship for Leadership.
Nickelberry previously served as the head coach at Howard University (2010-19), Hampton (2006-09) and the Columbia Union women’s team (1991-94). He also served as an assistant coach at Howard, Monmouth, Holy Cross, Charlotte and Clemson before being named head coach at Hampton.
In his time as head coach he has become known as a “program builder” both on and off the court. Through good recruiting efforts, he brought in players and coached them through seasons where players earned all-conference, rookie and player of the year honors.
Off the court, he stressed academic work, including having nearly 50 players named to league All-Academic teams. While head coach at Hampton, he was rated among the top 25 “Up-and-Coming” coaches by Sporting News and hoopscooponline.com in 2008.
Nickelberry was born in Washington, D.C., and played at Virginia Wesleyan University where he graduated in 1986 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications.
