SHREVEPORT, La. — Former Rocky Mountain College basketball player and Montana Western associate head coach Matt Strickland has been named the fifth head coach of the LSU Shreveport women’s basketball team.
“Matt rose to the top of a very competitive women’s basketball candidate pool,” LSU Shreveport Director of Athletics Lucas Morgan said in a press release. “I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to watch Matt coach as a part of our program this year, and there is a sense of comfort knowing exactly what we are getting. He brings passion, energy, and a positive attitude every day. I look forward to watching him build on the tradition that has been established by our former student-athletes and coaches.”
Strickland spent the 2018-19 season as an assistant coach for the men’s team at LSU Shreveport. He began his coaching career in 2014 as the women’s assistant at Gillette College for two years. As the assistant, Strickland helped the Lady Pronghorns to their first Region IX championship and NJCAA DI Women’s National Tournament appearance. He coached one NJCAA DI all-American and four all-Region IX players. He also helped eight players receive full athletic scholarships to NCAA DI, DII and NAIA programs.
In 2016 Strickland assumed the associate head coach position for the Montana Western men’s basketball team where he was under the tutelage of Steve Keller. During his time at Western, the Bulldogs won the 2018 Frontier Conference championship and made two runs to the NAIA National Tournament Sweet 16, reaching the Elite Eight in 2018. He coached four NAIA all-Americans and five all-conference players.
In 2018 Stickland joined the coaching staff of the LSU Shreveport men’s basketball program as an assistant. He was instrumental in the run that ended in the Sweet 16 of the NAIA National Tournament. In his one season on the men’s side he helped coach three all-Americans, five all-conference players and the 2018-19 NAIA national player of the year Jeff Garrett. Garrett averaged just shy of 19 points per game and pulled down 14.1 rebounds per game, tops in the NAIA.
“I will work hard each and every day to ensure our women’s basketball team is highly competitive and successful on the basketball court, but also to develop our student-athletes to be successful in the classroom and in the community,” Strickland said in a university press release.
Strickland earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise Science from Rocky Mountain College and will finish his Master’s in Educational Leadership from LSU Shreveport this summer.
