LSU has fired men’s basketball coach Will Wade, and released the notice of allegations it received from the NCAA earlier this month. Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports broke the news, which was confirmed by Sports Illustrated ahead of LSU’s announcement.
Rothstein reports Kevin Nickelberry will be the interim head coach for the Tigers.
LSU president William F. Tate IV and director of athletics Scott Woodward confirmed the news in a letter to the fanbase published on Saturday.
“Today, we informed Will Wade that he has been terminated for cause, pursuant to the provisions of his amended employment agreement as the Men’s Basketball Head Coach at LSU,” Tate said. “Bill Armstrong has also been terminated as Associate Head Coach.
“For more than four years, the University has patiently allowed the NCAA investigative process to unfold, jointly working with the NCAA Enforcement Staff and, subsequently, with the Complex Case Unit (CCU), to ensure the evidence collected was as thorough and fair as possible. Throughout that time, the University and its men’s basketball program have operated under an exhausting shroud of negativity.”
Wade had a tumultuous tenure in Baton Rouge. He was hired in 2017 after three years leading VCU, and was on pace to make his third NCAA tournament in four chances this year. However, he was also investigated throughout his tenure, amid the FBI’s crack down of corruption in college basketball.
The FBI has a tape of Wade and former Adidas consultant Christian Dawkins discussing a financial offer to a recruit in 2017, which was reported on by Yahoo Sports in 2019.
Earlier this week, SI’s Pat Forde reported LSU received a notice of allegations for its role in the corruption case. LSU suspended Wade in March of 2019, but the school reinstated him the following month after agreeing to an amended contract.
According to Dellenger, part of those amendments give LSU the ability to fire Wade with cause if he was found to have committed multiple Level I or II violations.
Per Dellenger, Wade is cited for five level I violations in the notice of allegations.
According to Forde and Dellenger, the basketball investigation could continue for up to another year.
LSU’s football program was also the subject of the investigation. Between the two programs, the school has been cited for eight different Level I violations.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated as it develops.
