The News staff report

Former Lamar baseball assistant Jim Ricklefsen didn’t have to go very far for his next coaching job.

The longtime associate head coach to Jim Gilligan returned to his alma mater McNeese State as an assistant coach, the Lake Charles university announced Monday. Ricklefsen graduated from McNeese in 1986, was a graduate assistant there in 1987 and spent the next seven years as a full-time assistant coach before taking over as the Cowboys’ head coach for the 1995 season, in which they went 41-16.

“I can’t express enough how grateful I am to coach [Justin] Hill for giving me this opportunity,” Ricklefsen said in a news release.

The announcement comes a month after Will Davis was hired as Gilligan’s successor for the 2017 season. Lamar officially announced Thursday that Davis would be an assistant for this season, which begins Friday at home against Southeast Missouri State.

Ricklefsen, who was a popular choice to become Lamar’s head coach, left shortly after Davis’ hire, although LU never announced the departure.

“Jimmy did a lot for this program,” Gilligan said before practice Jan. 30 at Vincent- Beck Stadium. “Look around this field and I look at the brick wall. He’s the guy who got that going. A lot of things around this ballpark, his hard work produced.”

Ricklefsen, a Houston native, joined the Lamar staff in 1997 and became associate head coach in 2010. He was a part of four Cardinals teams that made the NCAA Regionals, two Southland Conference regular-season championship teams and two Southland tournament title teams. The 2003 and 2004 Cardinals earned back-to-back 40-win seasons with his help.

“To have someone of coach Ricklefsen’s experience and character be part of our team is hard to put into words,” Hill said. “As a former coach and McNeese alumnus, he knows what it means to put on this uniform. He will be a tremendous asset to our program. I couldn’t be more excited to have him on our staff.”

Lamar visits McNeese State on March 22 and hosts a three-game set against the Cowboys April 15-17.