Michael Huger, who served the last eight seasons as the head men’s basketball coach at Bowling Green State University, has been named the associate head coach at Temple University. Huger becomes the first hire by new Temple head coach Adam Fisher. The two previously served together for two seasons on the University of Miami men’s basketball staff.
“Michael Huger is an unbelievable person and an amazing coach who we are fortunate to have join our staff,” said Fisher. “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.”
“I am really excited to be a part of the Temple Men’s Basketball staff,” said Huger. “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.”
Huger, a 1994 graduate of Bowling Green State, compiled a 126-125 overall record during his tenure. After overseeing a major rebuilding of the program, Huger guided his teams to consecutive 20-win seasons in 2018-19 (22-12) and 2019-20 (21-10). The team finished both of those seasons with identical 12-6 records in Mid-American Conference play, ranking second in the east division.
Under Huger’s direction, Bowling Green advanced to its first MAC Championship game in 17 years in 2019. It marked the program’s first 22-win season since 2001-02 and just the fourth time overall since 1950.
The following season, he guided BGSU to the second seed in the 2020 MAC Tournament before the season ended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Huger also is the second coach in BGSU history to have guided the Falcons to multiple MAC Tournament wins across multiple seasons.
In the covid-shortened 2020-21 campaign, Huger led BGSU to a 14-12 record, 10-8 in MAC play, and a postseason berth in the College Basketball Invitational.
The Falcons also achieved unprecedented success in the classroom under Huger. The men’s basketball program posted a perfect single-year rate in 2020 in terms of Academic Progress Rate scores. Bowling Green experienced its largest single-year increase in program history. Furthermore, the one-year improvement of 35 points in 2020 marked the largest jump amongst all Division I men’s basketball programs.
During his time at Bowling Green, Huger recruited and coached five 1,000-point scorers, including the program’s first 2,000-point scorer and all-time points leader, Justin Turner. Turner also became BGSU’s first back-to-back First Team All-MAC performer in 20 years.
Huger also recruited Dylan Frye, the program’s all-time leader in three-point field goals (238) and Trey Diggs who made 172 threes to end his career eighth on the list. Other star players that Huger brought to BGSU included Demajeo Wiggins and Daeqwon Plowden, two of the top rebounders in program history. Wiggins finished with 1,066 rebounds, third all-time, to become just the third player in program history to record 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. Plowden, who scored 1,618 points (8th all-time), ended his career ranked fourth in rebounds (935) and blocks (126) and became the first player in program history with at least 1,200 points, 800 rebounds and 100 blocks.
Prior to serving as BGSU’s head coach, Huger served four seasons (2011-15) as an assistant coach under Jim Larrañaga at Miami, helping the Canes to a total of 91 wins, including a program-record 29 victories in the 2012-13 season.
Serving as the program’s defensive coordinator, he helped Miami attain a No. 11 national ranking in scoring defense (59.6 ppg) and No. 39 in field goal defense (40.7 percent) in 2013-14, improving upon the previous season’s rankings of No. 39 in scoring defense (60.6) and No. 48 in field goal percentage defense (40.0).
In 2014-15, Huger was instrumental in helping Miami to the 2015 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) Championship Game and the second-most wins (25) in school history. The Canes defeated three nationally ranked teams, including snapping eventual NCAA Champion Duke’s 41-game home win streak. The Canes also ended Florida’s school-record streak of consecutive home wins at 33.
Prior to his stop at Miami, Huger spent four seasons at George Mason where he helped lead the Patriots to the postseason every year — including NCAA berths in 2008 and 2011. In 2011, the team defeated Villanova to advance to the third round of the NCAA Tournament, earned a regular-season CAA title and posted a school-record tying 27 wins.
Huger began his coaching career at Longwood University (Va.) under Mike Gillian, a former George Mason and BGSU assistant coach under Larrañaga, where he spent two seasons.
Before joining the coaching ranks, Huger played professional basketball in Europe, spending time in Finland (1992-94), Holland (1994-96) and Belgium (1996-2005). He was selected the Dutch League MVP in 1996 after averaging 25.3 points and 5.8 assists and went on to earn first team All-Belgium honors in 2000 and 2004 after leading his clubs to Belgium Cup championships in both seasons.
A native of New York City, Huger is a 1994 graduate of Bowling Green State University with a bachelor’s degree in education. He played for Larrañaga from 1989-93, helping the Falcons to a pair of NIT appearances. Tabbed the BGSU Team MVP in 1992-93, he earned All-Mid-American Conference honors in his final two seasons and was a Naismith Award nominee and the runner-up for MAC Player of the Year as a senior. As a prep player, he helped lead Stevenson High School (Bronx) to back-to-back PSAL City Championships in 1988 and 1989. He played AAU ball for the famous Riverside Church Hawks.
Huger and his wife, Tonya, have a son, Michael Anthony II.
https://owlsports.com/news/2023/4/14/mens-basketball-michael-huger-named-temple-mens-basketball-associate-head-coach
