<p class="p1">The entirety of the McNeese State basketball coaching staff stood together in a room with the media for the first time Monday afternoon as head coach Heath Schroyer formally announced his staff along with two recruits that signed last week.
<p class="p1">In addition to assistant coaches John Aiken and Michael Dubose hired earlier in Schroyer’s short tenure, in the last week the new head coach also added another assistant coach in Jalen Courtney, a former LSU basketball player who most recently spent three years at Mississippi State as a grad assistant and video coordinator, as well as a director of operations in Kyle Drennan.
<p class="p1">“I’ve done this before, so I know how important the staff is,” Schroyer said. “To be honest with you, it’s everything. I talked to our staff and our players about the culture of our program and the culture of our staff. These guys fit the culture.”
{{tncms-inline alignment="center" content="&lt;p class=&quot;p1&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;s1&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;lsquo;This place is unbelievable. I think any kid would be dying to be in a place like this. I know I would … I had a great experience in Louisiana, and now I&amp;rsquo;m back. This is home for me.&amp;rsquo;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class=&quot;p2&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Jalen Courtney&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class=&quot;p3&quot;&gt;Former LSU player &lt;br /&gt; and new McNeese assistant&lt;/p&gt;" id="b530e835-2423-4b9e-9f85-47c4ab6e2169" style-type="quote" title="Pull Quote" type="relcontent" width="full"}}
<p class="p1">Courtney played three seasons with the Tigers before transferring to Morehead State where he played his senior year.
<p class="p1">He then went to Mississippi State to join Ben Howland’s staff in the 2015-16 season before being promoted to his video coordinator position prior to the 2017-18 season.
<p class="p1">“Coach Schroyer’s vision really drew me in,” Courtney said. “We talked about his vision for McNeese and making it a powerhouse and I believed it.”
<p class="p1">In addition to Schroyer’s message, Courtney, along with the rest of the staff, praised Lake Charles as a city they could get recruits and players excited to play in.
<p class="p1">“This place is unbelievable,” Courtney said. “I think any kid would be dying to be in a place like this. I know I would. … I had a great experience in Louisiana, and now I’m back. This is home for me.”
<p class="p1">Schroyer also introduced Drennan to the media, who brings nearly a decade of experience in a capcity as marketing specialist and film analyst in the sports field.
<p class="p1">He began his career in marketing for the Fenway Sports Group and the Salem Red Sox within the Boston Red Sox organization before venturing off into college basketball.
<p class="p1">Drennan said the sky is the limit from a marketing standpoint, as a new coaching staff along with a wealth of new recruits and a new arena being build provides a clean slate for him to work with.
<p class="p1">“We get to rewrite everything,” Drennan said. “That’s a cool thing for me in terms of marketing because we can sit down and say ‘OK, how do we want to do this.’ There is nothing in that aspect that we can’t do. We can do anything that we want to do.”
<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>‘This place is unbelievable. I think any kid would be dying to be in a place like this. I know I would … I had a great experience in Louisiana, and now I’m back. This is home for me.’</strong></span>
<p class="p2"><strong>Jalen Courtney</strong>
<p class="p3">Former LSU player
<p class="p3">and new McNeese assistant
