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03/26/26 06:15:00
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03/26 18:13 CDT Will Wade leaves NC State for a second shot to coach LSU after
Matt McMahon's firing
Will Wade leaves NC State for a second shot to coach LSU after Matt McMahon's
firing
By BRETT MARTEL
AP Sports Writer
LSU fired fourth-year coach Matt McMahon on Thursday and rehired former Tigers
coach Will Wade from N.C. State, where Wade was in only the first of a six-year
contract with the Wolfpack.
"This was not an easy decision," Wade wrote in a social media post Thursday in
which he thanked N.C. State for the opportunity to coach the Wolfpack. "But the
opportunity to return to Louisiana State University is deeply personal. It's a
chance to go home --- to a place that means a great deal to me and my family."
The move by LSU's recently reshuffled athletic department leadership brings
back to the bayou a coach whose popularity with many Louisiana college
basketball fans --- including Gov. Jeff Landry --- endured throughout, and long
after, an NCAA investigation that dogged both Wade and LSU four years ago,
resulting in sanctions for the program.
"As LSU fans know well, Will is a consistent winner, a diligent
program-builder, and a charismatic leader with an incredible ability to connect
with his student-athletes and the fan base," LSU first-year athletic director
Verge Ausberry said. "Not only does he bring his postseason pedigree and an
energetic presence, but he is innovative and strategic at a time in college
athletics that requires both."
The topic of Wade's potential return to LSU had been churning for weeks, enough
so that Wade was ready with a response when asked about it after the Wolfpack's
loss to Virginia in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. That included
noting that the job at the time wasn't open, with McMahon --- the permanent
successor after Wade's ouster --- still in place.
"I was hired at N.C. State to do a job. This wasn't going to take one year,"
Wade said, then motioned toward Wolfpack athletic director Boo Corrigan at the
back of the news-conference room. "I've already met with our administration
about next year and some of the changes that we need to make and some of the
things that we need to do to put this program where it deserves long term."
Exactly two weeks later, Wade was gone. The buyout in the 43-year-old Wade's
contract with N.C. State was for $5 million, but was scheduled to drop to $3
million after April 1. Corrigan said the university agreed to lower the buyout
to $4 million, preferring to let Wade leave as soon as possible so as not to
delay the search for his successor.
"As far as the resignation letter, it was an email that we received from his
agent," Corrigan said. "I'm disappointed in how it went down. I really am."
However, Corrigan said he did not regret hiring Wade, and credited the coach
with reinvigorating the program. Corrigan said he intended to "commiserate"
with financial supporters of the Wolfpack who are "feeling lied to," and seek
to reassure them he's going to find a coach who "wants to be at N.C. State for
a long time."
Wade's return to LSU comes four years after his firing there over allegations
of money-fueled recruiting violations, which came amid a federal corruption
investigation into the sport. Wade rebuilt his career with a two-year stint at
McNeese that included 50 wins and two trips to March Madness.
Wade's lone season in Raleigh started with the coach confidently predicting a
"reckoning" for the ACC and college basketball at his introductory news
conference, coming a year ago Wednesday. He promised the Wolfpack would be in
the top part of the ACC standings and reach the NCAA Tournament.
The Wolfpack accomplished the latter in a season that started with promise but
faded badly. Notably, N.C. State stood at 18-6 overall and 9-2 in the ACC as of
Feb. 7 before losing six of seven to close the regular season, including a
41-point loss at Louisville, a 29-point loss at Virginia and another 29-point
loss at home to Duke.
Along the way, Wade's postgame comments could range from a defiant and
expletive-dotted defense on top transfer addition Darrion Williams to
frustrated analyses of the performances and shortcomings of the overhauled
roster he put together.
N.C. State, which finished seventh in the 18-team league, ended up in the First
Four and lost to Texas on a last-second shot for its eighth loss in 10 games.
McMahon was hired at LSU in 2022 by then-athletic director Scott Woodward, who
resigned under pressure from Gov. Jeff Landry in October in the wake of the
firing of former Tigers football coach Brian Kelly.
Soon after, the LSU Board of Supervisors hired former McNeese State President
Wade Rousse as LSU system president. This week, LSU lured McNeese State
athletic director Heath Schroyer to a senior role as deputy athletics director
overseeing men's basketball. Schroyer, a former college basketball coach
himself, was the first to hire Wade as the coach's one-year suspension by the
NCAA was about to end.
The Louisiana governor appoints 15 of the 16 members of the LSU Board of
Supervisors to staggered six-year terms. Landry has appointed seven so far and
the terms of four other board members expire in June, giving the governor
considerable influence over the leadership in LSU's athletic department.
Landry applauded Wade's hiring on social media Thursday afternoon, writing,
"Where there is a WILL there is a WA(y)DE! Excited to welcome Coach Wade back
where he belongs --- home in Louisiana. It's time to BOOT UP!"
Wade, who often used the term "Boot up" as an allusion to Louisiana's
geographic shape, was exceedingly popular with LSU's fan base. Packed crowds at
the Pete Maravich Assembly Center offered raucous support of him during pregame
introductions --- even after allegations of his NCAA violations became public
in 2019.
Wade went 105-51 at LSU. He led LSU to NCAA Tournament appearances in 2019,
2021 and 2022. His 2020 team appeared to be a virtual lock for March Madness
before the tournament was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
When LSU fired Wade, then-university President William F. Tate and Woodward
said Wade's tenure and the allegations that followed him placed the men's
basketball program "under an exhausting shroud of negativity."
LSU received a formal notice of allegations from the NCAA's Complex Case unit
in March 2022, including multiple charges alleging Wade's personal involvement
in --- or awareness of --- Level I misconduct.
Level I violations at that time could include a head coach's lack of oversight
on compliance matters; failure to cooperate in an NCAA investigation; unethical
or dishonest conduct; or prohibited cash or similar benefits provided to
recruits.
However, much of what Wade was accused is now not only legal, but widely seen
as critical to success during a new era of college sports in which player
payments --- both from endorsements and directly from university athletic
departments --- are permitted.
LSU has not been to March Madness since Wade left.
McMahon --- saddled during his first two seasons by NCAA-approved, self-imposed
scholarship reductions stemming from the Wade allegations --- went 60-70 at
LSU. This season, LSU went 15-17, posting a last-place 3-15 record in the SEC.
McMahon is still owed around $8 million by LSU, which also has had to buy out
the remaining $54 million on Kelly's football contract since firing him.
___
AP Basketball Writer Aaron Beard in Raleigh, North Carolina, contributed to
this report.
___
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and
coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
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