It almost always seemed like this day was inevitable. Will Wade is no longer the head coach of the LSU men’s basketball team. LSU President William Tate and Athletics Director Scott Woodward dismissed Wade on Saturday after the team returned from the SEC Tournament. The firing comes four days after it was reported that the school received a Notice of Allegations from the NCAA.
Associate Head Coach Bill Armstrong has also been let go.
Kevin Nickelberry will serve as the team’s interim coach as the Tigers will be playing in the NCAA Tournament.
Wade and the LSU men’s basketball program has been under investigation by the NCAA since an FBI wiretap was released that purportedly had Wade discussing financial payments being offered to a recruit.
Here’s a portion of the letter sent by Tate and Woodward:
For more than four years, the University has patiently allowed the NCAA investigative process to unfold, jointly working with the NCAA Enforcement Staff and, subsequently, with the Complex Case Unit (CCU), to ensure the evidence collected was as thorough and fair as possible. Throughout that time, the University and its men’s basketball program have operated under an exhausting shroud of negativity.
As requested, and as required by state law, the University is releasing a redacted copy of the Notice of Allegations received from the CCU of the Independent Accountability Resolution Process (IARP). The Notice contains serious allegations, including multiple charges alleging Coach Wade’s personal involvement in—or awareness of—Level I misconduct. After receiving the Notice earlier this week, we took several days to fully evaluate it and engage in deliberate and thoughtful discussions about our next steps. We can no longer subject our University, Department of Athletics, and—most importantly—our student-athletes, to this taxing and already-lengthy process without taking action. Our responsibility to protect and promote the integrity and well-being of our entire institution and our student-athletes will always be paramount.
Notably, our decision to terminate Coach Wade and Coach Armstrong is not an acknowledgement of agreement with any of the allegations. The University will determine its positions on the allegations after an exhaustive and objective examination of the relevant facts and applicable NCAA regulations.
The Notice of Allegations from the NCAA alleges LSU has committed eleven violations, eight of those are concerned Level I the most serious kind. Seven are tied to the men’s basketball program and one to the football program.
In the Notice of Allegations, NCAA investigators accuse the university of the dreaded lack of institutional control from February 2012 to June 2020.
Here’s more from Tigerrag.com.
LSU was 105-54 during a tenure in which Wade first became a subject of the NCAA in 2017 when Yahoo Sports detailed a conversation Wade had with now convicted street agent Christian Dawkins that was ensnared on an FBI wiretap. He openly spoke about having made a “strong-ass offer” to a prospective player who was later identified as former guard JaVonte Smart, a recruit from Scotlandville High who signed and played three years for the Tigers.
Wade was suspended March 7, 2019 following the release of the transcript of the phone conversation but was reinstated in April when his contract was restructured under then athletic director Joe Alleva, providing the school the autonomy to fire him with cause in the event he was subject of either Level I or Level II allegations.
He also forfeited $250,000 of incentive pay for the 2018-19 campaign followed by the school adding the additional teeth to its contract with Wade should allegations from the NCAA ever rise to the Level I or II level.
In addition to the FBI wiretap involving Dawkins, which was part of the HBO documentary “The Scheme” in March 2020, the NCAA retrieved several emails from the cellphone of Wade that, “violated the principles of ethical conduct/offered impermissible recruiting inducements and job offers to secure prospective student-athlete’s commitment.”
The emails, which were heavily redacted, accused Wade of allegedly offering cash or a job to an assistant coach who was closely associated with a recruit, agreeing to send money to the former fiancée’ of a player in exchange for her silence regarding such payments and allegedly making payments from his wife’s bank account.
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