So this is where we are to prevent further embarrassment of the LSU basketball program.
It’s a $5 million decision.
It’s one thing to fire Matt McMahon, whose awful tenure at LSU has been surpassed only by the depth of apathy among a once loud and engaged fan base, and pay him $10 million to not coach.
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It’s quite another, apparently, to shell out $5 million to get Will Wade — hang on, we’ll get to that stupidity — out of his contract at NC State.
If you’re willing to spend $10 million to change the fortunes of your basketball program, which has lost 30 SEC games in the past two seasons, how could you not be willing to peel off more Benjamins for the guy you want?
Now, to the guy LSU apparently wants: Will flippin’ Wade.
That’s right, Mr. Strong Ass Offer is the coach the passionate and persistent LSU fan base wants returning to the fold. The last time Wade was in Baton Rouge, he left after back-to-back NCAAA Tournament appearances.
And, you know, after leaving a three-year NCAA probation in his wake for allegedly paying players before it was now hip to do so (see: “strong ass offer” to a recruit caught on FBI wiretaps).
He was also given a two-year show cause order from the NCAA, which is essentially an order that publicly outs you as a next-level cheater.
But Wade got players to LSU. Wade won big. Wade got to the tournament.
And besides, we’re paying players now, baby!
A quick reminder to the good folks at LSU: Wade is a cheater. A next-level cheater.
If you don’t think he’ll find a way to cheat again to gain an advantage, you’re the same person who thinks Brian Kelly is going to willingly reduce his massive buyout to get back in football somewhere else.
Wade is a helluva coach, and the obvious temptation is there. He was happy at LSU, he knew whom to schmooze and how to keep everyone happy in a football-mad state.
McNeese took a chance on Wade a year after his removal from LSU — with his show cause order intact — and after sitting 10 games as part of an NCAA suspension, he led the Cowboys to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances.
Wade then left this season for NC State, which also wasn’t concerned about Wade’s checkered past, and — I know this is going to shock you — has the Wolfpack a near-lock for the NCAA Tournament.
That’s five NCAA tournaments over the past five seasons he has coached. And if we forget the pandemic season (how could we not?), it’s six NCAAs in six seasons — and eight in 11 non-pandemic seasons (two at VCU).
Bottom line: Dude can coach.
So it’s easy to see why LSU wants Wade back in the fold, easy to understand after the Maravich Assembly Center has looked like a cavernous hole the past two seasons.
They want to win, and they want the P-Mac rocking again.
All it’s going to cost is $15 million.
Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Will Wade back to LSU? That’s the rumor. Here’s what it will cost
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