Will Wade to Serve Suspension to Start McNeese State Tenure

The Cowboys hired the former LSU coach Sunday.

Days into his new job at McNeese State, former LSU coach Will Wade is already in hot water.

Wade will serve a five-game suspension to begin the 2024 season, according to a Tuesday afternoon report from the American Press in Lake Charles, La. The Cowboys hired Wade as their next coach on Sunday after going 11–23 in 2023.

Per Matthew Travis of KPLC in Lake Charles, the suspension was built into Wade’s contract, which also stipulates he cannot participate in “off-campus recruiting related activities through July 31.”

As the coach of the Tigers from 2017 to ’22, Wade was successful but ran into significant trouble with the NCAA. In March 2022, the NCAA charged LSU with six Level 1 recruiting violations, hastening his firing. According to Jim Gazzolo of the American Press, the NCAA is expected to make a ruling on Wade’s case and hand out any potential punishments this summer.

Wade is 199–98 lifetime in Division I, including five NCAA Tournament berths and two regular-season conference titles between Chattanooga, VCU and the Tigers.

“The university did its due diligence, and you never know what is going to happen, but we feel good moving forward,” Wade told reporters upon his hiring.