Will Wade fired as LSU men's basketball coach, following accusations of five Level I NCAA violations
LSU has fired embattled men's basketball coach Will Wade after receiving a notice of allegations that details significant misconduct, the school announced Saturday.
The firing means that Wade, who was in his fifth season at LSU, will not coach in the upcoming NCAA tournament. The Tigers are projected as a No. 6 seed in the tournament, and assistant Kevin Nickelberry will serve as the interim coach, a source said.
This will mark the second time that Wade has been unable coach a Tigers team he led to the NCAA tournament. In 2019, LSU won the SEC regular-season championship but Wade was suspended for the SEC and NCAA tournaments after reports revealed that a federal wiretap captured him making a "strong-ass offer" for a recruit.
Wade was 108-54 at LSU. He previously coached VCU to a pair of NCAA tournament appearances and had a strong two-year stint at Chattanooga before that.
Nearly the entirety of Wade's tenure at LSU operated under the pall of the federal basketball investigation, which became public in September 2017.
According to an NCAA notice of allegations that was obtained by ESPN on Saturday through an open records request, there are eight Level I violation allegations in LSU's notice. Seven of those are alleged to be tied to the men's basketball program. One of those is specifically football, and the two sports share an allegation that at the "institution failed to exercise institutional control and monitor the conduct and administration of its football and men's basketball programs."
There are two Level II allegations -- one football and basketball -- and one Level III, which is football.
Wade is accused of five Level I violations and one Level II violation. Associate men's basketball head coach Bill Armstrong is also accused of one Level I violation and one Level II violation. In a statement, LSU said it also terminated Armstrong's contract.
LSU's football program is also accused of three violations, including a Level I charge that involved a Tigers booster embezzling more than $500,000 from a hospital foundation and giving some of the stolen money to the parents of two former LSU football players.
The Tigers are charged with a Level II violation involving Los Angeles Rams receiver Odell Beckham Jr., a former LSU star, who gave $2,000 in cash to four Tigers football players on the field after the team's 42-25 victory over Clemson in the CFP National Championship in January 2020.
There is also a Level III charge involving football; former Tigers coach Ed Orgeron is accused of having improper contact with a recruit in January 2019.
In October 2020, LSU self-imposed the loss of eight scholarships over two years, reduced recruiting visits, evaluations and communication, and banned Beckham from its football facilities for two years. LSU later self-imposed a bowl ban in December of 2020 when they were 3-5 with two games remaining in the season.
According to documents obtained by ESPN in August 2020, the NCAA's enforcement staff received information that Wade "arranged for, offered and/or provided impermissible payments, including cash payments, to at least 11 men's basketball prospective student-athletes, their family members, individuals associated with the prospects and/or nonscholastic coaches in exchange for the prospects' enrollment at LSU."
The allegations were included in the NCAA enforcement staff's request that its infractions case involving the LSU men's basketball program be adjudicated through the Independent Accountability Resolution Process, which was created to handle complex cases.
As part of Wade's reinstatement in 2019, he agreed to an amended contract that included a stipulation allowing the university to fire him with cause if he was found to have committed Level I or Level II violations. Under the terms of the amended contract, Wade agreed to forfeit a $250,000 performance bonus for the 2018-19 season. He also agreed not to sue the university if he was fired with cause.
LSU is not expected to pay Wade any of the money remaining on his contract because of those amendments. The scope of what is alleged in the notice of allegations is expected to reach those thresholds.
Wade's final game at LSU was a loss to Arkansas in the SEC tournament in which he received a technical foul for arguing with officials in the first half.
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