Prior to being named Head Basketball Coach at Jacksonville State, LaPlante served as an assistant coach to Cliff Ellis at Auburn University from 1996 - 2000. While at Auburn the program set new records for most wins in a season (29), most wins in a two-year period (54), and captured the school's first SEC Basketball Championship in over 40 years. LaPlante quickly established himself as one of the top recruiters in the country by helping Auburn to four Top 20 recruiting classes.