2025–26 McNeese Cowboys basketball team

2025–26 McNeese Cowboys basketball
2025–26 McNeese Cowboys basketball
Conference	Southland Conference
Record	9–2 (2–1 Southland)
Head coach	Bill Armstrong (1st season);
Assistant coaches	Robi Coker; LeBrent Walker; Jeffery Armstrong;
Home arena	Townsley Law Arena

2025–26 Southland Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Stephen F. Austin	2	–	0	1.000	8	–	2	.800
Nicholls	2	–	0	1.000	3	–	7	.300
McNeese	3	–	1	.750	10	–	2	.833
East Texas A&M	1	–	1	.500	6	–	5	.545
Texas A&M–Corpus Christi	1	–	1	.500	4	–	6	.400
UT Rio Grande Valley	1	–	1	.500	4	–	6	.400
New Orleans	1	–	1	.500	3	–	8	.273
Northwestern State	1	–	1	.500	2	–	8	.200
Incarnate Word	1	–	2	.333	5	–	6	.455
Southeastern Louisiana	1	–	2	.333	4	–	7	.364
Houston Christian	1	–	3	.250	5	–	7	.417
Lamar	0	–	2	.000	5	–	5	.500

† 2026 Southland tournament winner As of December 17, 2025

The 2025–26 McNeese Cowboys basketball team represents McNeese State University in the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cowboys, led by first-year head coach Bill Armstrong, play their home games on-campus at Townsley Law Arena in Lake Charles, Louisiana as members of the Southland Conference.

Previous season

The Cowboys finished the 2024–25 season 28–7, 19–1 in Southland play, to finish as Southland regular-season champions.^[1] They defeated Northwestern State^[2] and Lamar to win the Southland tournament title, earning their second-consecutive bid to the NCAA tournament.^[3] In the NCAA tournament, they received the #12 seed in the Midwest Region once again,^[4] where they defeated Clemson in the first round, giving them their first NCAA tournament win in program history.^[5] They advanced to the second round in the tournament, where they lost to Purdue.^[6]

Roster

2025–26 McNeese Cowboys men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
PG	0	T'Johnn Brown	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	164 lb (74 kg)	Jr	Kimball High School	Dallas, TX
SG	1	Javohn Garcia	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	Sr	College of the Sequoias	Columbus, OH
SG	2	DJ Richards Jr.	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sr	UTSA	Houston, TX
G	3	Garwey Dual	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Jr	Seton Hall	Houston, TX
G	6	Larry Johnson	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Fr	Creighton	Savannah, GA
F	7	Jerrell Colbert	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	RS Sr	SMU	Houston, TX
G	8	Tyshawn Archie	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Jr	Tulsa	Houston, TX
G	9	JJ Rembert	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	155 lb (70 kg)	Fr	Cincinnati	Queens, NY
G/F	10	Jacolb Fredson-Cole	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	RS So	Oklahoma	Bellaire, TX
G	11	Brewer Kaleb	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Fr	Link Prep	Waco, TX
F	13	Yanis Ndjonga	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	RS Jr	Baylor	Yaoundé, Cameroon
G	14	Erik Villarreal	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Fr	Clear Lake High School	Houston, TX
F	13	Peitok Machar	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	So	Triton College	Sydney, Australia
G	23	Carl Cherenfant	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Jr	New Mexico State	Pompano Beach, FL

Head coach

Bill Armstrong (Baylor)

Assistant coach(es)

Robi Coker (Fort Payne)
LeBrent Walker (Florida A&M)
Jeffery Armstrong (Southern Miss)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: November 28, 2025

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 26, 2025* 3:00 p.m.	Grambling State	W 62–56		14 – Tied	11 – Johnson	2 – Tied	Townsley Law Arena Lake Charles, LA
Regular season
November 3, 2025* 6:30 p.m.	Champion Christian	W 127–65	1–0	30 – Johnson	11 – Ndjonga	6 – Fredson-Cole	Townsley Law Arena (2,587) Lake Charles, LA
November 7, 2025* 9:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Santa Clara	L 67–79	1–1	18 – Johnson	9 – Fredson-Cole	4 – Fredson-Cole	Leavey Center (1,205) Santa Clara, CA
November 10, 2025* 6:30 p.m., ESPN+	Biblical Studies	W 132–50	2–1	25 – Johnson	9 – Fredson-Cole	11 – Dual	Townsley Law Arena (2,736) Lake Charles, LA
November 14, 2025* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+	Louisiana	W 88–62	3–1	24 – Johnson	6 – Fredson-Cole	7 – Dual	Townsley Law Arena (4,333) Lake Charles, LA
November 23, 2025* 4:00 p.m., FloCollege	vs. George Washington Cayman Islands Classic	W 92–86	4–1	18 – Garcia	14 – Machar	7 – Dual	John Gray Gymnasium (500) George Town, Cayman Islands
November 24, 2025* 6:30 p.m., FloCollege	vs. Murray State Cayman Islands Classic	W 73–60	5–1	17 – Archie	7 – Machar	6 – Garcia	John Gray Gymnasium George Town, Cayman Islands
November 25, 2025* 4:00 p.m., FloCollege	vs. Middle Tennessee Cayman Islands Classic	W 72–62	6–1	26 – Garcia	10 – Cherenfant	2 – Tied	John Gray Gymnasium George Town, Cayman Islands
December 1, 2025 6:30 p.m., ESPN+	at Incarnate Word	L 67–71	6–2 (0–1)	18 – Dual	5 – Dual	1 – Tied	McDermott Center (1,003) San Antonio, TX
December 5, 2025 6:30 p.m., ESPN+	Northwestern State	W 92–54	7–2 (1–1)	14 – Tied	8 – Johnson	6 – Johnson	Townsley Law Arena (3,255) Lake Charles, LA
December 9, 2025* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Rhode Island	W 66–64	8–2	18 – Archie	6 – Tied	4 – Dual	Ryan Center (3,419) Kingston, RI
December 12, 2025 7:30 p.m., ESPN+	East Texas A&M	W 102–66	9–2 (2–1)	24 – Archie	8 – Johnson	6 – Tied	Townsley Law Arena (3,179) Lake Charles, LA
December 15, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Houston Christian	W 78-68	10–2 (3–1)	22 – Johnson	7 – Colbert	5 – Dual	Sharp Gymnasium (803) Houston, TX
December 29, 2025* 6:00 p.m., B1G+	at Michigan						Crisler Center Ann Arbor, MI
January 2, 2026 6:00 p.m., CBSSN	Lamar Battle of the Border						Townsley Law Arena Lake Charles, LA
January 5, 2026 6:30 p.m., ESPN+	Stephen F. Austin						Townsley Law Arena Lake Charles, LA
January 10, 2026 4:00 p.m., ESPN+	Southeastern Louisiana						Townsley Law Arena Lake Charles, LA
January 12, 2026 6:30 p.m., ESPN+	Nicholls						Townsley Law Arena Lake Charles, LA
January 17, 2026 4:30 p.m., ESPN+	at UT Rio Grande Valley						UTRGV Fieldhouse Edinburg, TX
January 19, 2026 3:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Texas A&M–Corpus Christi						Dugan Wellness Center Corpus Christi, TX
January 24, 2026 4:00 p.m., ESPN+	New Orleans						Townsley Law Arena Lake Charles, LA
January 26, 2026 6:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Southeastern Louisiana						University Center Hammond, LA
January 31, 2026 6:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Lamar Battle of the Border						Neches Arena Beaumont, TX
February 2, 2026 6:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Stephen F. Austin						William R. Johnson Coliseum Nacogdoches, TX
February 4, 2026 4:00 p.m., ESPN+	Incarnate Word						Townsley Law Arena Lake Charles, LA
February 9, 2026 6:30 p.m., ESPN+	Houston Christian						Townsley Law Arena Lake Charles, LA
February 14, 2026 5:00 p.m., ESPN+	at East Texas A&M						The Field House Commerce, TX
February 16, 2026 6:30 p.m., ESPN+	at Northwestern State						Prather Coliseum Natchitoches, LA
February 21, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPNU	Texas A&M–Corpus Christi						Townsley Law Arena Lake Charles, LA
February 23, 2026 6:30 p.m., ESPN+	UT Rio Grande Valley						Townsley Law Arena Lake Charles, LA
February 28, 2026 5:00 p.m., ESPN+	at New Orleans						Lakefront Arena New Orleans, LA
March 2, 2026 6:30 p.m., ESPN+	at Nicholls						Stopher Gymnasium Thibodaux, LA
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Central.

Source:^[7]^[8]

References

^ "2024-25 Men's Basketball Standings". Southland Conference. Retrieved November 28, 2025.
^ Pugh, Jason (March 11, 2025). "Demons' comeback falls short in semifinal loss to McNeese". Northwestern State University Athletics. Retrieved November 28, 2025.
^ Bonnette, Matthew (March 12, 2025). "MISSION COMPLETE!!! Bandits capture 2nd straight SLC Tournament Title; New Mission Begins". McNeese State University Athletics. Retrieved November 28, 2025.
^ "Latest bracket, schedule and scores for 2025 NCAA men's tournament". NCAA.com. April 8, 2025. Retrieved November 28, 2025.
^ Bonnette, Matthew (March 20, 2025). "Cowboys down Tigers to claim first-ever March Madness win". McNeese State University Athletics. Retrieved November 28, 2025.
^ "Purdue Topples McNeese to Advance to Sixth Sweet 16 In Last Eight Tournaments". Purdue University Athletics. March 22, 2025. Retrieved November 28, 2025.
^ "2025-26 Men's Basketball Schedule". McNeese State University Athletics. Retrieved November 28, 2025.
^ "McNeese Cowboys Schedule 2025-26". ESPN. Retrieved November 28, 2025.

[1] "2024-25 Men's Basketball Standings". Southland Conference. Retrieved November 28, 2025.

[2] Pugh, Jason (March 11, 2025). "Demons' comeback falls short in semifinal loss to McNeese". Northwestern State University Athletics. Retrieved November 28, 2025.

[3] Bonnette, Matthew (March 12, 2025). "MISSION COMPLETE!!! Bandits capture 2nd straight SLC Tournament Title; New Mission Begins". McNeese State University Athletics. Retrieved November 28, 2025.

[4] "Latest bracket, schedule and scores for 2025 NCAA men's tournament". NCAA.com. April 8, 2025. Retrieved November 28, 2025.

[5] Bonnette, Matthew (March 20, 2025). "Cowboys down Tigers to claim first-ever March Madness win". McNeese State University Athletics. Retrieved November 28, 2025.

[6] "Purdue Topples McNeese to Advance to Sixth Sweet 16 In Last Eight Tournaments". Purdue University Athletics. March 22, 2025. Retrieved November 28, 2025.

[7] "2025-26 Men's Basketball Schedule". McNeese State University Athletics. Retrieved November 28, 2025.

[8] "McNeese Cowboys Schedule 2025-26". ESPN. Retrieved November 28, 2025.

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McNeese Cowboys basketball
Venues	Memorial Gymnasium (1945–1956) McNeese Arena (1956–1972) Lake Charles Civic Center (1972–1986) Burton Coliseum (1986–2018) Townsley Law Arena (2018–present)
Rivalries	Lamar
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
NAIA national championship in bold