Where Does LSU Basketball Go From Here?

Will Wade is out, Kevin Nickelberry is the interim head coach and LSU basketball is about ready to undergo some major reconstruction.

The program was hit with seven Level I violations by the NCAA in the recently released document that has been over three years in the making. With some level of punishment likely coming in the future, there's a very important, uncertain question worth asking.

Where does this all leave LSU basketball moving forward? Well, there are two answers to that question in terms of the long term and immediate future of the program. As it pertains to the short term future, certainly the current roster of players will be affected by this decision.

For the last week the players and coaches have had to screw their heads on tight and narrow their focus for an NCAA tournament run, finding out where they land Sunday afternoon. This is obviously a very difficult situation for everyone to be in and why the timing of the decision was put into question.

Forward Darius Days knows what it's like to be playing in postseason basketball without Wade, having been a part of that Sweet Sixteen in 2019 when Wade was suspended. These are obviously all new teammates and different circumstances but Days' leadership will be counted on heavily for this tournament run.

LSU will learn more about its tournament status in the coming hours but the second part is what the long term future looks like for this program.

Athletic director Scott Woodward and LSU will certainly want to make a move on a new coach relatively quickly after the season but will need someone who is anticipating some level of punishment for the program in the wake of the Wade era. That could make it very tricky for a top notch coach to become available and with Woodward's "splashy hire" m.o., which coaches would want to come to the program is a big unanswered question.

The punishment handed down by the NCAA to the basketball program alone could leave it crippled for a number of years considering the severity of the claims. Unless Woodward can bring in a coach with the understanding it will be a slow rebuild, this is not a very attractive job in any form.

“We will immediately initiate a national search for a new head coach,” Tate’s and Woodward’s statement read. “We know that the LSU community will rally around our program and our student-athletes, none of whom are alleged to have been involved in any misconduct.”

Of course what the likely firing of Wade will mean is also the future of this roster is likely headed for complete reconstruction. Days and Xavier Pinson are seniors, Tari Eason is a projected first round pick and highly touted players under Wade like Adam Miller, Efton Reid, Brandon Murray, Eric Gaines, Alex Fudge, Justice Williams and Jerrell Colbert are all transfer candidates.

That's not even to mention the incoming freshmen Julian Phillips, Devin Ree and Yohan Traore, two of whom are signed, will likely start looking elsewhere depending on the coach brought in. So much of recruiting, particularly in basketball is about relationships and a program like LSU will have trouble hanging on to those prospects with the impending coaching change.

These are all decisions that will trickle down after the season but there's little doubt basketball will have to undergo some major reconstruction on all fronts. For a program that had finally found a consistent winner on the floor, it will be a bitter pill for many devoted fans to swallow.