Michael Huger has found a new destination in his coaching career.
The former Bowling Green State University men’s basketball coach was named an associate head coach at Temple. Huger, who was fired as BGSU’s mentor in early March after spending the past eight seasons coaching at his alma mater, is the first hire by new Temple head coach Adam Fisher, according to a news release from Temple on Friday.
The duo previously spent two seasons together on Jim Larranaga’s staff at Miami (Fla.) in the mid-2010s.
“I am really excited to be a part of the Temple men's basketball staff," Huger said in the release. "I have worked alongside Adam during our time at Miami and know what an amazing coach and man he truly is.
“We share the same vision and values not just for basketball, but life. I am thankful to be on the ground floor as we work to return the program back to perennial postseason greatness.”
Fisher was hired as Temple’s coach on March 29 after spending the past two seasons as an assistant at Penn State. He also spent time as an assistant at Miami from 2015-21 and as the director of basketball operations the two years prior. Huger was an assistant at Miami from 2011-15.
“Michael Huger is an unbelievable person and an amazing coach who we are fortunate to have join our staff," Fisher said in the release. "We worked extremely well together at the University of Miami and share the same basketball vision. He is also an incredible husband to his wife Tonya, an incredible father to his son Michael Anthony II, and we are fortunate to have someone of his character for our student-athletes to look up to."
Huger was let go in Bowling Green after a second consecutive losing season. The Falcons went 24-38 the past two years, including 11-20 this past season when BGSU lost 13 of its final 16 games.
A 1994 BGSU graduate and former standout on the hardwood, Huger guided the Falcons to a 126-125 overall record in eight seasons. BGSU posted three winning seasons, including back-to-back 20-plus win campaigns from 2018-20.
He also coached and developed some of the best players in BGSU history, including Justin Turner (program-record 2,077 points from 2016-2021), Toledo native and Springfield graduate Demajeo Wiggins (1,316 points and 1,066 rebounds from 2015-19), and Daeqwon Plowden (1,618 points, 935 rebounds, 126 blocks in a program-record 154 games from 2017-22).
First Published April 14, 2023, 10:28 p.m.
