In one of the biggest college basketball stories of March so far, Will Wade decided to leave NC State and return with LSU to helm the men’s basketball program, four years after he was fired by the school.
Wade’s longstanding dalliance with LSU was hardly a well-kept secret, as rumors of his potential reunion were swirling before LSU officially parted ways with Matt McMahon on Thursday. The Tigers had, after all, already brought former McNeese president Wade Rousse as well as former McNeese athletic director Health Schroyer—two of Wade’s close associates—into the building. With the trilogy now complete, Wade will look to usher in more success in his second stint as LSU’s head coach, while NC State will be hunting for Wade’s replacement exactly a year since he was hired in March 2025.
In the wake of Wade leaving to take the LSU job, NC State athletic director Boo Corrigan made some telling comments about how the ex-Wolfpack coach came to his decision.
Corrigan spoke about Wade’s exit in a Thursday press conference and relayed that he was “surprised” at the coach’s choice to return to LSU, via On3’s Noah Fleischmann. According to Corrigan, Wade told him as recently as Tuesday that he wanted to remain at NC State.
“Over the course of the last year, we developed a relationship I believed was on trust and accountability,” added Corrigan.
NC State AD Boo Corrigan isn't pulling any punches about Will Wade: "Over the course of the last year we developed a relationship that I believed was on trust and accountability."
— Noah Fleischman (@fleischman_noah) March 26, 2026
He said Wade told him on Tuesday: "I want to be at NC State." Corrigan said he was surprised with…
Wade also publicly maintained his loyalty to the Wolfpack just two weeks ago during the ACC tournament:
“To be very clear, I'm excited at NC State,” Wade told reporters. “I was hired at NC State to do a job. This wasn't going to take one year. 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.”
Everything NC State AD Boo Corrigan Said About Will Wade’s Departure to LSU
So when exactly did Wade change his mind? Corrigan seemed to suggest things rather quickly fell into place for the newly minted LSU coach.
“I know the number of times we had conversations about the job, including one time of, ‘Do we need to talk about this?’ The answer was no,” Corrigan said of his recent conversations with Wade. He added that he received multiple confirmations from Wade that he wasn’t interested in joining LSU, including after the NCAA tournament.
CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander reported that Wade was “seriously approached” by LSU brass on Tuesday night, which was the point his rumored reunion became real. Wade reportedly asked NC State for an increase in pay and a significant bump in NIL, but the school wouldn’t budge. That’s likely when things started to go south for Wade and the Wolfpack.
Corrigan said Wade no-showed a scheduled meeting between the two of them on Wednesday. Corrigan then said he found out about Wade’s decision to leave NC State from his agent, who sent an email detailing Wade’s intention to resign; Wade did not choose to directly contact the Wolfpack AD about his new job.
“I'm a handshake guy. ... Yeah, I would have,” Corrigan said, when asked if he would have wanted Wade to resign in person. “It would have meant more to me, but I'm kind of a dinosaur.”
"I would commiserate with [the fans] about being lied to,” Corrigan added.
Based on Corrigan’s presser comments, it seems like Wade vocalized his intention (through his agent) to leave NC State for LSU on Wednesday—just one day after Wade allegedly told Corrigan he wanted to stay at NC State. Things certainly appear to move at a rapid pace in the college basketball coaching realm.
While Wade joins the likes of Kim Mulkey and Lane Kiffin at LSU, Corrigan will shift his focus to finding NC State’s next head coach, one who preferably actually wants to be at the school.
“Today is going to be the end of Coach Wade,” Corrigan said. “We're going to go find a coach and then we're going to celebrate the new coach and move forward. ... We don't want to be a stepping stone on the way to another job. Again, we thought we had that [with Wade].”
For NC State fans who might be feeling a little disillusioned and resentful following Wade’s less-than-gracious exit, Corrigan shared this inspiring message:
“I think Philip Rivers said it ... the Wolfpack ain't for soft people. We're going to go find a coach that understands who we are.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as NC State AD Boo Corrigan Gives Telling Timeline on Will Wade’s Decision to Take LSU Job.
