Will Wade was all smiles when he landed in Baton Rouge on Thursday following news he was leaving NC State to take LSU’s head coaching job. Wade is set to return to LSU just a year after taking the helm of the Wolfpack’s basketball program, and four years since he was fired by the Tigers in a rather messy and unceremonious unfolding of events that ended his first head-coaching stint there.
In his first public appearance since accepting the Tigers’ position, Wade was seen leaving the airport in a car, but he did take the time to briefly speak to some reporters who were on the scene.
“They’re gonna kill me if I start answering questions. I’m trying to follow more rules this time,” Wade joked.
NEW: Will Wade on his return to LSU:
— On3 (@On3) March 27, 2026
“I'm trying to follow more rules this time.”💀
(via @WBRZ) https://t.co/eSYOk3HyGd https://t.co/E08sf5jtMF pic.twitter.com/A8hXCnKF9r
And with that, he zoomed off. We can expect the newly minted LSU coach to have more to say during his official press conference in the coming days.
Wade may have burned some bridges in his departure from NC State as he reportedly didn’t tell Wolfpack athletic director Boo Corrigan he was leaving until Wednesday, a day before the news was announced. "I would commiserate with [the fans] about being lied to,” Corrigan said in his press conference Thursday, one of many pointed comments he made toward Wade.
Wade likely doesn’t have many fans remaining in NC State, and he probably has some wary ones left in Baton Rouge based on how his last LSU coaching stint played out. Here’s a look back at how that turned sour.
Why Will Wade was fired by LSU in first head-coaching stint
Wade was first hired by LSU in 2017 following two-year stints at Chattanooga and VCU. Wade led the Tigers to three NCAA tournaments, including LSU’s first SEC regular-season title in a decade in ‘19 and went 105-51 overall. There is, however, an ugly mark on his Tigers resume: his unceremonious firing in ‘22.
On the eve of the ‘22 NCAA tournament in Wade’s final season at LSU, the school received a notice from the NCAA detailing multiple allegations of infractions involving Wade. The allegations were related to paying recruits (this was in the pre-NIL era)—Wade was infamously caught on an FBI wiretap in which he spoke on a call about a “strong-ass offer” he made in the recruitment of a prospect.
“Dude,” Wade said in the 2017 phone call, “I went to him with a [expletive] strong-ass offer about a month ago. [Expletive] strong.
“The problem was, I know why he didn’t take it now, it was [expletive] tilted toward the family a little bit,” Wade continued. “It was tilted toward taking care of the mom, taking care of the kid. Like it was tilted towards that. Now I know for a fact he didn’t explain everything to the mom. I know now, he didn’t get enough of the piece of the pie in the deal.”
Wade was fired by LSU as a result of his NCAA violations and received a two-year show-cause penalty and 10-game suspension in June 2023, which he served during his first year with McNeese State.
With all that drama hopefully now behind him, Wade will hope to start anew at LSU for his second go-around, one in which—as he wasted no time telling the media—he plans to follow all the rules.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Will Wade’s Very First Line As LSU Coach Was a Fitting Joke About His Firing.
