The Will Wade era at LSU is now over. After the Notice of Allegations came down last week, the program felt its position with Wade was untenable, finally ending the saga.
Wade, who got his first head coaching job at Chattanooga, came to Baton Rouge after a stint at VCU. He was hired in 2017 by then-athletic director Joe Alleva.
During his time at LSU, Wade made the team a contender in the SEC, including winning the regular-season SEC championship in 2019. If COVID hadn’t led to the cancellation of the tournament in 2020, Wade would have led LSU to four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time since the 90s.
Despite successfully rebuilding LSU after the disappointing Johnny Jones era, Wade will not be remembered for that. There was just too much smoke for him to survive after getting wrapped up in the NCAA and FBI investigation. Everyone may have been doing it, but Wade got caught, and at least until he finds his way back onto a sideline, his name will be synonymous with how it ended for him with the Tigers.
To say the least, Wade left a mark on LSU in more ways than one. Here are five things that defined his tenure.