The two-week wait for the new men’s head basketball coach ended Thursday morning, as the University announced it will hire former Falcon Michael Huger.
Huger signed a six-year, $365,000 yearly contract and will be introduced at Friday’s noon press
conference.
Huger was the assistant coach and defensive coordinator at the University of Miami, under head coach Jim Larranga. Huger played for Larranga at BG from 1989-1993, helping the Falcons to a pair of National Invitational Tournament appearances.
Including his four years at Miami, Huger brings 10 seasons of collegiate coaching experience to a Falcon team that finished 21-12 this past season and is losing four seniors and three of their four
leading scorers.
During his time at Miami he helped them win 91 games, including a program record 29 wins in the 2012-2013 season. In that season the Hurricanes finished 29-7 earning a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and a Sweet 16 berth.
While he was the team’s defensive coordinator, Miami was ranked within the top 50 nationally in scoring defense [11] and field goal defense [39] in the
2013-2014 season.
Prior to his time at Miami, Huger spent four seasons at George Mason, where helped lead the Patriots to the postseason every year, including NCAA berths in 2008 and 2011.
He began his coaching career at Longwood University for two
seasons.
“I couldn’t be more excited about bringing Michael and Tonya back to Bowling Green,” Athletic Director Chris Kingston said in the press release. “Michael led this program as a player and team captain and is the best prepared coach to lead this program to new heights. This team, this University and this community just got better.”
As a player Huger played professional basketball in Europe for 13 years, spending two in Finland, two in Holland and nine in Belgium. He also earned All-Mid-American Conference honors his final two seasons at BG, was a Naismith Award nominee and runner-up for the MAC Player of the Year award as a senior.
“It is a privilege and honor to be welcomed back home, building on the legacy at Bowling Green which began for me as a student-athlete and now as the head coach,” Huger said. “Bowling Green has always been a very special place for me and my family, as this is where I met my wife, Tonya. We are going to play a fun and exciting style of basketball.”
Huger’s press conference will be held Friday at noon in the Stroh. Follow along at @bgnewssports for
live updates.
