Will Wade (basketball)

Frank Williams Wade (born November 26, 1982) is the current head coach for the Louisiana State University (LSU) men's basketball team.

Will Wade
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamLSU
ConferenceSEC
Record64–30 (.681)
Annual salary$2.5 million
Biographical details
Born (1982-11-26) November 26, 1982
Nashville, Tennessee
Alma materClemson
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2005–2007Clemson (GA)
2007–2009Harvard (assistant)
2009–2013VCU (assistant)
2013–2015Chattanooga
2015–2017VCU
2017–presentLSU
Head coaching record
Overall155–75 (.674)
Tournaments1–2 (NCAA Division I)
1–1 (NIT)
0–1 (CIT)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Atlantic 10 regular season (2016), SEC regular season (2019)
Awards
SoCon Coach of the Year (2014)

Assistant coach

Will Wade began his career as the student manager of the Clemson men's basketball team from 2002 to 2005. He worked under Larry Shyatt and Oliver Purnell, who gave him further opportunities as a graduate assistant (2005–06) and Director of Basketball Operations (2006–07). Tommy Amaker then brought him in as his first hire as Harvard men's basketball coach where he was responsible for helping to recruit a top 25 class for the program. He stayed at Harvard for the 2007–08 and 2008–09 seasons before leaving for VCU.

Will Wade was brought in as an assistant to then-head coach Shaka Smart at VCU (he was Smart's first hire like he had been Amaker's). He helped VCU to four consecutive postseason appearances, including a trip to the 2011 Final Four. VCU finished the 2012–13 season with a 27–9 overall mark and a No. 23 final national ranking. The VCU Rams were one of only five teams nationally to win 27 or more games in each season from 2009–2013 (the others being Duke, Kansas, Syracuse and Ohio State). In Wade's four years as an assistant coach, VCU was 111–37 (.750) with three straight trips to the NCAA Tournament.

Head coaching career

Chattanooga

In 2013, Wade left his assistant coaching position at VCU to lead the Chattanooga Mocs basketball program.[1] In his two seasons as head coach, he posted both winning overall and conference records, and gave the Mocs their first 20+ win season in 10 years. He was named the Southern Conference's 2014 Coach of the Year.[1]

VCU

After two seasons at Chattanooga, Wade returned to VCU to take the head coaching position vacated by Shaka Smart.[2] In his first season returning to VCU, Wade guided the team to their first ever Atlantic 10 Conference regular season championship and a 25–11 overall record. VCU made it to the championship game of the A10 conference tournament for the 4th straight season, falling to St. Joseph's. The Rams also made their 6th straight NCAA tournament, one of only 8 teams in the country to do so. VCU made it to the round of 32 where they fell to Oklahoma 85–81. Wade finished second in voting for A10 coach of the year.

LSU

On March 21, 2017, Wade accepted an offer to become the head coach at Louisiana State University.[3] On December 28, 2017, Wade earned his 100th career victory with a win over Memphis.

During the 2018–19 season, Wade's Tigers won their first five SEC games in a row. It was the first LSU team to do this since the 2005–06 team. They also claimed two victories over top 5 opponents (Kentucky and Tennessee), the first LSU team to do so since 1980. Wade coached the 2018–19 team to the Southeastern Conference regular season championship.

On March 7, 2019 it was reported that Wade discussed an 'offer' to a recruit, which was overheard on a Federal Bureau of Investigation wiretap.[4] The offer he made was reportedly a large one. In the transcripts he is quoted as saying that he was frustrated with the situation: “I’ll be honest with you, I’m [expletive] tired of dealing with the thing. Like I’m just [expletive] sick of dealing with the [expletive]. Like, this should not be that [expletive] complicated.”[4] The following day, LSU announced that he was indefinitely suspended amid the FBI's probe.[5][6] Tony Benford was named interim head coach at LSU during Wade's suspension.[7] On April 14, 2019, LSU lifted Wade's suspension.[8]

It was also reported on April 24, 2019 that Wade agreed to significant modifications to his contract, in order to be reinstated. Some of those changes include: 1) to forfeit $250,000.00 in bonuses he would have otherwise earned during the time of his suspension, 2) the contract also now allows LSU to fire Wade for cause if he commits a Level I or Level II NCAA violation, and 3) He can also be terminated if the NCAA infractions committee issues a formal notice to LSU that Wade was involved in a Level 1 or Level 2 violation.[9]

Head coaching record
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Chattanooga Mocs (Southern Conference) (2013–2015)
2013–14 Chattanooga 18–1512–42ndCIT First Round
2014–15 Chattanooga 22–1015–32nd
Chattanooga: 40–25 (.615)27–7 (.794)
VCU Rams (Atlantic 10 Conference) (2015–2017)
2015–16 VCU 25–1114–4T–1stNCAA Division I Second Round
2016–17 VCU 26–914–42ndNCAA Division I First Round
VCU: 51–20 (.718)28–8 (.778)
LSU Tigers (Southeastern Conference) (2017–present)
2017–18 LSU 18–158–10T–9thNIT Second Round
2018–19 LSU 25–5*15–2*1stNCAA Division I Sweet Sixteen*
2019–20 LSU 21–1012–6T–2ndAll postseason cancelled
LSU: 64–30 (.681)35–18 (.660)
Total:155–75 (.674)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

*Wade was suspended the final five games of the 2018–19 season. Tony Benford coached the team and was credited with the win's and losses.

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References
  1. "Will Wade named UTC Men's basketball coach". wrcbtv.com. May 13, 2013. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
  2. "Will Wade hired as new VCU coach, replacing Shaka Smart". Richmond Times-Dispatch. April 7, 2015. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
  3. "VCU's Will Wade hired as next coach at LSU". espn.com. March 20, 2017. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
  4. "Exclusive: Wiretap reveals LSU coach Will Wade discussed recruiting 'offer' with hoops scandal middleman". sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
  5. "LSU suspends Wade indefinitely amid FBI probe". ESPN.com. March 8, 2019. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
  6. "LSU responds to Will Wade's request to be reinstated: Until he talks, he'll remain suspended". theadvocate.com. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  7. "LSU basketball coach Will Wade suspended 'indefinitely' in wake of wiretap revelations". theadvocate.com. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
  8. "LSU reinstates head coach Will Wade after meeting with school and NCAA officials". CBSSports.com. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  9. "LSU coach Will Wade gave up bonuses, made contract concessions amid reinstatement". theadvocate.com. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
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