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Update March 14 — Wade has been suspended by McNeese State for the first five games of his tenure already. McNeese also added some unprecedented stipulations to his contract:
McNeese will hire an additional NCAA compliance officer to work with Wade.
Wade will submit a weekly report on all recruiting activities, which will include phone calls and texts, which will be submitted to Deputy Athletic Director Bridget Martin. The report will also be forwarded to the Southland Conference league office.
Wade and his staff will participate in mandatory weekly NCAA compliance education classes conducted by Martin
Wade is not to have any off-campus recruiting-related activities through July 31, 2023.
Wade must reduce official visits by four during the 2023/2024 academic years.
Wade is banned from all recruiting conversations between Sept. 1, 2023, through Oct. 15, 2023.
Wade is banned from having any unofficial visits from Sept. 1, 2023, through Oct. 15, 2023.
Update — Wade and McNeese State have reached an agreement on a deal to make him new head coach, per reports.
BREAKING: Former LSU head coach Will Wade has agreed to a deal to become the McNeese State head coach, AD Heath Schroyer told @Stadium.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 12, 2023
There were multiple other schools that were also interested in Wade, but Schroyer, a former college coach, made Wade the priority.
McNeese State has is targeting former LSU men’s basketball head coach Will Wade to fill its coaching vacancy, per Seth Davis of The Athletic. The news comes after the school parted ways with former head coach John Aiken this week following an 11-23 season.
Wade was fired by LSU nearly one year ago to the day after the program received a notice of allegations by the NCAA for alleged recruiting violations committed by the head coach. If you remember, he was suspended in 2019 after an FBI wiretap reportedly revealed him discussing an offer for a prospective recruit. He would be reinstated with modifications to his contract stipulating that the school could fire him if the NCAA were to issue a notice that he committed a Level I or II violation. That came to fruition in March of 2022, resulting in his ouster.
On the court, Wade enjoyed tremendous success through his stints at Chattanooga, VCU, and LSU. He posted a 196-96 record through nine seasons as a head coach, a run that included five NCAA Tournament appearances and two regular season conference championships. Now heading west to Lake Charles, LA, he will try to jumpstart a McNeese State program that has not made the NCAA Tournament since 2002.