Mike Woodson will step down as IU basketball coach after the 2024-25 season. Athletic director Scott Dolson is at the moment looking for this system’s thirty first head coach.
Contained in the Corridor will look at most of the candidates being mentioned for the job over the approaching days and weeks. Our eleventh profile takes a have a look at McNeese State coach Will Wade.
Beforehand: Dusty Might, Scott Drew, Mick Cronin, Greg McDermott, Buzz Williams, T.J. Otzelberger, Ben McCollum, Tommy Lloyd, Brad Brownell, Chris Beard
McNeese State’s Will Wade could be the greatest wild card of potential head teaching candidates this cycle.
From a purely successful perspective, Wade has succeeded in any respect 4 stops throughout his younger profession. The 42-year-old boasts a 241-104 total document between his time at Chattanooga, VCU, LSU and McNeese.
He’s appeared in six NCAA tournaments in 10 seasons of teaching. Wade was seemingly on his option to a high-profile job earlier than being fired from LSU in March of 2022 — simply earlier than the NCAA event — resulting from a collection of recruiting violations. He was quickly suspended in 2019 as soon as experiences surfaced of him partaking in conversations to pay recruits illegally.
Further allegations date again to 2017, Wade’s first season in Baton Rouge. ESPN reported in August 2020 that Wade had been concerned in “impermissible funds” to upwards of 11 recruits, together with their members of the family and carefully related people. Wade remained at LSU as an investigation continued, however the faculty shortly took motion after receiving a Discover of Allegations on March 8, 2022.
Along with the recruiting violations, Wade was accused of failing to cooperate with the NCAA’s investigation. He was fired 4 days later, lower than per week earlier than the Tigers squared off in opposition to Iowa State within the first spherical of the NCAA event.
Wade took the McNeese job precisely one 12 months after he was fired, however the NCAA penalized him a number of instances previous to his first season. Along with a 10-game suspension, Wade was given a two-year show-cause penalty that restricted recruiting visits and associated actions.
Nonetheless, Wade guided the Cowboys to their first NCAA event in 22 years final season. McNeese went 22-2, successful each the Southland Convention common season and event titles. Wade was named the Southland Convention coach of the 12 months.
A local of Nashville, Tennessee, Wade was a scholar supervisor at Clemson. He then served as a graduate assistant and Director of Basketball Operations for 2 seasons earlier than accepting a job at Harvard in a recruiting position.
After two years, Wade moved to VCU in 2009 to function an assistant below Shaka Sensible. Throughout Wade’s 4 years, the Rams made the NCAA event three consecutive seasons, together with a Last 4 look in 2011.
In 2013, Wade took his first head teaching job at Chattanooga. He completed second within the Southern Convention twice and was named the 2014 SoCon coach of the 12 months. Wade shortly rose by way of the ranks and returned to VCU as head coach as soon as Sensible left for Texas in 2015.
The Rams completed tied for first within the Atlantic 10 throughout Wade’s first season, advancing to the second spherical of the NCAA event. They positioned second within the convention the next season and have been a first-round exit in March. However after compiling a 51-20 document and 28-8 mark in convention play in two years, Wade — then simply 34 years outdated — turned a beautiful high-major candidate.
He was named LSU’s twenty second head coach in 2017 and the Tigers received the SEC regular-season title in simply his second season. LSU superior to the Candy Sixteen for the primary time since 2006 as a No. 3 seed, in the end falling to Michigan State.
The Tigers completed second within the convention the next 12 months, although postseasons have been canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Wade guided LSU to event appearances in each 2020-21 and 2021-22, however didn’t advance previous the spherical of 32.
Now, Wade is probably going on his option to teaching again into a serious position. McNeese, 25-6 and 19-1 within the Southland Convention, locked up a second consecutive common season title and seems primed for one more NCAA event look. The Cowboys examine in at No. 59 in KenPom, rating 62nd in adjusted offensive effectivity and 67th in adjusted defensive effectivity.
It’s unlikely Indiana can have important curiosity in Wade and he might have one other 12 months at McNeese earlier than applications really feel comfy overlooking his violations at LSU. IU could also be particularly queasy about Wade’s previous because of the similarities with Kelvin Sampson, who resigned in 2008 and obtained a show-cause penalty resulting from recruiting violations stemming from a collection of impermissible cellphone calls.
Wade’s show-cause runs by way of June 21, 2025, and whereas he’s able to turning applications round and training at a excessive stage, Indiana will seemingly select a safer candidate.
(Photograph credit score: McNeese State Athletics)
Class: Teaching search
Filed to: Will Wade
