Will Wade fired as LSU men's basketball coach, sources confirm
LSU has fired embattled men's basketball coach Will Wade after receiving a notice of allegations that details significant misconduct, sources confirmed to ESPN on 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.
Sources told ESPN that the claims in the notice of allegations are significant, which is part of the reason LSU moved on from Wade before the NCAA tournament.
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.
CBS Sports first reported that Wade would no longer be LSU coach.
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