Tag: Will Wade

Arkansas swings and misses at top two basketball coaching targets

Chris Beard chose to stay at Ole Miss. Jerome Tang was offered an extension at Kansas State. Now Mr. Show-Cause himself is the frontrunner.

Chris Beard was not just Arkansas fans’ top choice to replace Eric Musselman, but Arkansas brass’, too.

He chose to stay at Ole Miss.

Arkansas then moved on to Jerome Tang at Kansas State to be the next Razorbacks basketball coach. Tang was offered an extension to state in Manhattan.

Now, multiple reports have Arkansas going after McNeese State coach, and former LSU coach, Will Wade. Wade was suspended for the first 10 games of the 2023-24 season and was given a show-cause penalty for bribery and recruiting violations dating back from his time as Tigers coach.

McNeese State went 30-4 during the regular season this year and landed in the NCAA Tournament. Before that, Wade took LSU to the Big Dance three times in his five seasons. He was fired in March 2022 when the NCAA served the allegations to the school.

Arkansas lost coach Eric Musselman to USC earlier in the week after he spent five seasons with the Razorbacks. He led Arkansas to two Elite Eights and a Sweet 16, but the the Hogs suffered their worst season this year since 2008-09. Musselman is a California native.

Former LSU head coach Will Wade agrees to extension with McNeese State

Former LSU basketball coach Will Wade signed an extension with McNeese after a 20-3 start.

Former LSU basketball coach and current McNeese State coach [autotag]Will Wade[/autotag] will be remaining in Louisiana.

According to Jon Rothstein, Wade signed a five-year contract extension that will pay $700,000 per year.

If another program wants to hire Wade this cycle, it’ll have to pay McNeese a $1.25 million buyout. Next year, that number drops to $1 million.

Wade is finding success in his first season. McNeese is 20-3 and ranks 76th in KenPom. The Cowboys are a heavy favorite to win the Southland Conference, which would put Wade back in the NCAA Tournament.

Wade coached at LSU from 2017-22, but he was fired following LSU receiving a notice of allegations, largely surrounding the men’s basketball program under Wade.

At LSU, Wade went 105-51. His program appeared in the NCAA Tournament three times, though he only got the chance to coach in one of them.

Wade is well-connected in Louisiana and has recruited well at McNeese thus far, but McNeese is looking at a different level of prospect than LSU, so nothing has come at the Tigers’ expense.

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Former LSU coach Will Wade, McNeese stun Michigan

Will Wade is finding early success at his new gig.

Former LSU men’s basketball coach [autotag]Will Wade[/autotag] is finding early success at his newest stop.

Wade returned to the college coaching ranks this offseason as he accepted a job at McNeese, and despite serving a 10-game suspension as a result of the NCAA allegations against him, which ultimately resulted in his ouster from LSU, his team is 11-2, ranks 54th in the NET and pulled off its most impressive win of the season on Friday night.

The Cowboys stunned Big Ten foe Michigan in a buy game, giving them their second Quadrant 2 win of the season. They have the best record in the Southland Conference by a wide margin and are a likely NCAA Tournament team.

That’s obviously a tough pill to swallow for LSU, which has struggled quite a bit since Wade was fired. New coach [autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag] went just 2-16 in SEC play in Year 1, and his team sits at 8-5 heading into what will be a very difficult conference schedule.

Wade, meanwhile, could find himself back in a big-time job sooner rather than later.

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The Southland Conference trolled Michigan with Connor Stalions joke after McNeese upset

The Southland Conference didn’t pull any punches after McNeese’s upset win on Friday night.

We saw one of the biggest upsets of the college basketball season on Friday night as McNeese — led by former LSU coach Will Wade, who was fired as a result of NCAA allegations against the program — delivered a stunning upset against Juwan Howard and Michigan, which fell to 6-7 on the season with the loss.

The Southland Conference, home to the Cowboys, took to the opportunity to get a jab in at the Wolverines’ expense. The league posted an edited image on social media that featured Connor Stalions, the former Michigan football staffer at the center of the alleged sign-stealing scandal, with the caption “Not even Connor Stalions could save you.”

Wade was hit with a two-year show-cause for his involvement in the recruiting violations at LSU, and he was suspended for the first 10 games of the season. In spite of that, the Cowboys sit at 11-2 on the year with the best record in the Southland by a wide margin.

Losing a buy game at home is one thing. But having that team’s league absolutely clown you on Twitter after the fact?

That’s just brutal.

Former LSU coach Will Wade has strong words for NCAA

Former LSU basketball coach Will Wade had some strong words for the NCAA on Friday.

Former LSU basketball coach [autotag]Will Wade[/autotag] is back on the sideline, remaining in Louisiana and leading McNeese State.

Wade was fired by LSU in March of 2022 after LSU received its notice of allegations from the NCAA. That trouble led McNeese to suspend Wade the first nine games of this season, but it now looks to be in the rearview mirror for the polarizing coach.

At a press conference on Friday morning, Wade was candid on his feelings regarding the NCAA. Spoiler alert: He’s not a fan.

“Legally, a lot of what the NCAA does it just flat illegal, I’ve learned that,” Wade said.

“There’s a reason they’re trying to get anti-trust exemption from Congress. They just need to blow the whole thing up and come back with a new model.”

Wade added the NCAA needs to engage in collective bargaining with the players and said until that happens, the NCAA will continue to get “smacked in court.”

This is a strong statement from Wade, who’s no stranger to NCAA controversy. At LSU, seven Level I allegations were levied against Wade’s program.

Despite leading LSU to three NCAA tournament appearances, he was only able to coach in one of them due to his suspension in 2019 and his firing in 2022.

Despite all that, Wade seems to be on to something with the NCAA as this remains an era of radical change for the sport.

McNeese is 9-2 and ranked in the KenPom top 100.

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What’s next for Matt McMahon and LSU men’s basketball?

LSU dropped a buy-game to Nicholls last Friday night. What’s next for the program?

After opening the year with a 106-60 win over Mississippi Valley State, LSU’s year took a turn last Friday, dropping a home buy-game to Nicholls State.

Head coach [autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag] wasn’t shy about expressing his frustration. He began his press conference by saying he was out-coached for 40 minutes.

“For whatever reason, I didn’t have our team ready to play in the first half,” he said. “They just spaced us out, whipped us off the dribble. We struggled to communicate defensively and credit to Nicholls State, they made us pay every time.”

McMahon didn’t stop there. Growing animated, McMahon described getting to play at LSU the opportunity of a lifetime.

“The price of admission for that is you come out and play your tail off every second you’re on the floor, and you compete, and you show some passion and some heart. And I didn’t get it done. I didn’t have them ready to play that way,” McMahon said.

McMahon is in Year 2 with the Tigers. He took over a program in turmoil after nearly the entire team transferred following the firing of [autotag]Will Wade[/autotag]. McMahon’s had to rely on transfers the last two cycles to fill a roster.

He’s an accomplished coach who won 25+ games on three occasions in his seven years at Murray State. But so far at LSU, the Tigers have yet to turn the corner.

LSU tipped off conference play last year with a win over a good Arkansas team, putting the cherry on top of an 11-1 start. But that was followed by a 14-game losing streak, and LSU finished last in the conference.

This team is supposed to be improved. Even after the loss to Nicholls State, LSU ranks top 70 in KenPom and BPI. It ranked outside the top 150 in both when last year ended.

The Nichols loss shouldn’t necessarily change anyone’s outlook on the program or McMahon’s capability to lead it. I remain a believer in what McMahon has done over the course of his career and acknowledge the challenges of his current position.

It was a tale of two halves on Friday night. LSU was outscored 44-25 in the first half before flipping the script in the second and outscoring Nicholls 41-24. LSU led by three with under a minute to go, but Nicholls got the final word with a late three to reclaim the lead.

LSU was 3-19 from behind the arch while Nicholls was 12-30. The Colonels also shot over 90% from the free-throw line. Efficiency from deep and at the line is a recipe for an upset and LSU caught Nicholls on a good night.

The pressure’s now on. This is a team with an outsider’s chance at making the NCAA Tournament. In that position, every single game matters. LSU needs to play like it.

McMahon’s passion after the loss was promising. He took accountability and acknowledged his team’s shortcomings. The players probably noticed it too.

LSU faces its toughest opponent yet on Thursday when it faces Dayton in Charleston. The Flyers rank 67th in KenPom and will serve as a measuring stick for LSU.

A win and the Tigers are trending up again.

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Matt McMahon sets expectations in Year 2 at LSU after inheriting ‘dumpster fire’

Matt McMahon didn’t shy away from difficulties with the roster situation when he arrived at LSU.

There’s no denying that LSU men’s basketball must take a massive step forward in 2023-24.

Coach Matt McMahon’s first season in replacement of [autotag]Will Wade[/autotag], who was fired for NCAA violations, began with quite a bit of promise after he brought some of his top playmakers from Murray State.

The Tigers began the year 12-1, but they went just 2-16 in SEC play in large part thanks to a 14-game losing streak as the team finished just 13-18 overall.

After largely overhauling the roster once again, LSU is expected to take a leap forward this season. McMahon isn’t shying away from those expectations or last season’s disappointment after he inherited what he called a “dumpster fire.”

“There’s a long answer that involves reality and perspective,” McMahon said per On3. “I’m right where I’m supposed to be. It’s an incredible honor to be here coaching at LSU. I understood the challenge that was ahead when I got here. I love the group of people we’ve been able to put together to move our program forward.

“The reality, No. 1 we didn’t win at the level I expect to win at nor the level our fans deserve. The second reality is coach Wade did a good job here at LSU and won a lot of games during his time. Reality three, when I got here in April, all of that was gone. No players, no foundation, no culture, no nothing. It was essentially a dumpster fire and we have to go about a methodical process of rebuilding it. We were able to do that by signing a top ten portal class in the spring with six guys, then there’s an asterisk depending on what happens with [autotag]Jalen Cook[/autotag], We’ll end up signing a top 15 recruiting class in 2024. The other reality is there was an NCAA investigation hanging over the program that was a black cloud and made it very challenging to start a program over from scratch. That’s now complete and that’s now over.”

McMahon certainly has a point as when he arrived at LSU, the roster featured zero players. Through convincing a couple players in the portal to stay, adding a number of transfers and some quick work on the high school recruiting trail, he was able to build a roster, but things were far from ideal.

With a new group in place, the Tigers will hope for a bounce-back this season in Year 2 under McMahon.

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Paul Finebaum on LSU’s NCAA ruling: Schools should ‘cheat like crazy’

Paul Finebaum thinks the NCAA is sending a message that the rules don’t matter anymore.

Last week, the NCAA closed the book on a multi-year investigation into LSU athletics.

The results of the investigation were announced in the report from the NCAA’s Independent Accountability Resolution Process, and the Tigers ultimately received three years of probation for both the football and men’s basketball programs.

However, when it comes to penalties, the NCAA stuck with what the LSU athletics department ultimately self-imposed. Among the self-imposed penalties that hadn’t been previously disclosed, LSU football vacated all 37 wins from 2012-15 as offensive lineman [autotag]Vadal Alexander[/autotag] was deemed ineligible for that entire period.

Still, not everyone thought these penalties were sufficient. In an appearance on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning, Finebaum said the message the NCAA ruling sends is clear: Go ahead and cheat, because the consequences will be minimal.

“I don’t like saying this because I was one who always believed in the rules and who spent the early part of my career looking into transgressions and thinking those who did it should be kicked out of the industry. It just simply doesn’t matter anymore. …The message is clear. Cheat like crazy and don’t stop until you win. I never thought I would say that, but it’s the truth. It simply doesn’t matter anymore. …I am long past getting outraged and upset that someone like [autotag]Will Wade[/autotag] gets away with whatever he got away with, or someone else.

“Because if it doesn’t matter to the people who govern the sport, and by the way, that includes everyone who sits in on these meetings and on these management councils, then it’s certainly not going to bother me anymore.”

While it’s hard to argue too much with Finebaum’s point generally — the NCAA has always been fairly ill-equipped to punish wrongdoing, with the cloud of lengthy investigations over a program often being the biggest punishment — it’s worth pointing out that Wade did face harsher consequences than LSU at-large.

Now the head coach at McNeese, Wade will be suspended for the first 10 games of the 2023-24 season. He will also be saddled with recruiting limitations that will make life at a mid-major even tougher.

Still, after a long investigation yielded little in the way of actual punishment, it’s easy to see why the NCAA is viewed as so ineffectual in policing violations of its own rules.

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BREAKING: LSU football, basketball programs receive 3 years probation from NCAA’s IARP

The Tigers will face only minor penalties after self-imposing several during the investigative process.

The LSU football and basketball programs will receive three years of probation each, the NCAA’s Independent Accountability Resolution Process announced in its report on Thursday.

The probation period will include only minor penalties for the two programs. Both the football and basketball teams self-imposed penalties earlier in the investigative process, which included temporary unofficial visit bans, scholarship reductions and football postseason ineligibility during the 2020 season.

Among the self-imposed penalties was the vacating of all 37 wins from 2012-15 after it was ruled that former offensive lineman [autotag]Vadal Alexander[/autotag] competed while ineligible during his entire LSU career. Though this was previously self-imposed, it remained confidential prior to the release of the report.

The penalties were harsher for former men’s basketball coach [autotag]Will Wade[/autotag], who was fired in March 2022 for his role in the college basketball corruption scandal after he was caught in the middle of a probe from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Wade, who was hired this offseason by McNeese State, will face a two-year show-cause penalty. The show cause will impose fairly steep recruiting penalties, and Wade will be suspended for the first 10 games of the 2023-24 season.

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LSU basketball tabbed a winner in transfer portal

Matt McMahon did some good work in the transfer portal this offseason.

LSU got active in the transfer portal yet again this year.

[autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag], who’s entering the second year of his rebuild, didn’t really have a choice. LSU lost a lot itself, and the Tigers need to add more talent as McMahon looks to mold the team in his image.

On3 named LSU a winner of the transfer period. The Tigers added [autotag]Jalen Cook[/autotag], [autotag]Will Baker[/autotag], [autotag]Carlos Stewart[/autotag], [autotag]Jordan Wright[/autotag] and [autotag]Hunter Dean[/autotag].

Four of those five averaged double-digit scoring at their previous stop last season. Dean, the lone player below that mark, still averaged 8.7 points and 6.1 rebounds.

LSU’s getting much-needed production across the board.

On3 mentions that much of McMahon’s new talent is native to Louisiana. That could help LSU establish an identity within the state.

The most intriguing player in this class is the point guard, Cook.

The guard began his career at LSU under [autotag]Will Wade[/autotag] before flourishing at Tulane last year, where he averaged 19.9 points and 4.9 assists.

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