No, Will Wade Isn't Going to LSU
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RALEIGH – In the final two weeks of NC State’s season, rumors swirled around the program’s leader, head coach Will Wade. As he wrapped up his first year with the Wolfpack, Wade caught wind of the smoke regarding a potential reunion with his last Power Four stop, LSU. Rather than let it turn into a more concerning fire, Wade shut it all down after his team’s ACC Tournament loss to Virginia.
Still, the whispers about Wade persisted, as Baton Rouge media members continued to speculate on the coach's willingness to return to the Bayou that gave him his start in power conference basketball. They will remain whispers, at least for the time being, even as the Wolfpack fell disappointingly in the First Four of the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
Shutting down the rumors
Gossip around social media and message boards reached a climax during the ACC Tournament. Matt McMahon, the current coach of LSU, and his team bowed out in the first round of the SEC Tournament, ending a dismal fourth season for the program, all without trips to the NCAA Tournament.
Wade knew his team needed at least one victory in the ACC Tournament in Charlotte to ensure it did enough to earn a bid to the Big Dance the next week. His sole focus was on beating Pittsburgh, a game in which he coached with a fervor and passion that went unseen for a few weeks as the Wolfpack struggled down the stretch. NC State got the job done, relieving the pressure of potentially missing the tournament in Wade’s first season.
The next matchup for the Pack was against Virginia, a team it had already lost to twice during the ACC schedule, in ugly fashion. NC State fought much harder in Charlotte, coming close to upsetting the Cavaliers. Rather than questions about the game and his NCAA Tournament hopes, the LSU inquisition leaked over into his season in Raleigh, as he was asked directly about the rumors. He answered as only he could: honestly.
“No. Is the job open there? No? Listen, let me be very clear: I'm excited at NC State. I was hired at NC State to do a job,” he said. “This wasn't going to take one year. I've already met with our administration about next year and some of the changes that we need to make and some of the things that we need to do to put this program where it deserves to be long-term."
As of Monday, McMahon is still LSU's men's basketball coach, with hot-seat rumors still just that: rumors. Wade moved on and tried to salvage what quickly became a disappointing and borderline-lost first season at NC State, but couldn't propel his team over the finish line in Dayton. However, he had a calm about him before the ball was tipped in the First Four.
A different Wade
A major reason NC State athletic director Boo Corrigan chose Wade over some of the other candidates was the fact that Wade truly believed he’d changed during his exile from the spotlight. The wiretap incident and NCAA investigation that tarnished his reputation at LSU and led to his firing were in the past. At the same time, the sport itself moved even further into the gray area Wade operated in during his past transgressions.
In November, before the Wolfpack took on VCU, a program that helped nurture Wade into the coach he’s become, he showed that growth. When he left the Rams to become the head coach of LSU in 2017, he did so in a hurry. He had an insatiable hunger to compete at the highest level and the Tigers presented him with the best possible opportunity to do that in that moment. He feels differently years later.
"At the time, I loved VCU. I loved my time there. I was too eager to leave like everybody else had left there," Wade said in November. "It's a great program, great place... It's an incredible basketball spot."
Wade often uses the term “we” when describing moves between programs and his approach to rebuilding NC State into a formidable ACC basketball team once again. That team-first vocabulary encapsulates his players, his support staff and the administration that has invested in him in Raleigh.
But it doesn’t stop there. Wade is a family man now, in a much different place as a human being than he was during his time at LSU. Wade’s daughter, Caroline, was born in the midst of the FBI investigation at LSU. His wife, Lauren, is from North Carolina and an alumnus of the Wolfpack’s rival school, North Carolina. Uprooting all of that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense at this point. Before the First Four game, Wade was asked about all of his transitions.
“All of them are different. This one at NC State has been pretty smooth,” Wade said. “For better or worse, I've done this five times now, so you get a little bit used to it. I'm tired of doing it, so we don't want to do it anymore.
“But you get a little bit used to it, and every time it gets a little bit easier. But it takes a minute to get into the rhythm of every school you go to and every place you go to. There's a different rhythm. So it takes some time to get used to that. We've gotten in rhythm here at NC State.”
Getting the Wolfpack fixed
After a shorter set of comments at the podium following NC State's two-point loss to Texas, now bound for the Sweet 16, in Dayton, Wade stood with members of the media outside his team's locker room at UD Arena. The vibes behind the door with his players were somber, as several senior members of the Wolfpack just had their collegiate careers ended. Wade had a different tone. He was a vengeful spirit.
"We're going to go back and when the wheels hit the ground, we're going to start preparing for next year," Wade said. "My eyes are wide-open. I understand what we need to do, but this is unacceptable, losing in Dayton. In some ways, we were fortunate to make the Tournament with this group, but we've got to do a much better job getting guys and making sure we get guys that fit us in the future."
In his lengthy tirade about his roster-construction shortcomings for the 2025-26 season, it became evident this was a coach who didn't want to suddenly quit on the program he promised so much to when he was hired. If anything, the Dayton loss woke up that same insatiable hunger to win that Wade possessed when he bolted from Richmond to Baton Rouge.
The difference now is that Wade is exactly where he needs to be.
Tucker Sennett graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Sports Journalism from the esteemed Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. A former basketball player, he has gained valuable experience working at Cronkite News and brings a deep passion for sports and reporting to his role as the NC State Wolfpack Beat Writer On SI.
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