Will Wade back to LSU: Ex-Tigers coach returning after one season at NC State

NC State coach Will Wade is leaving the Wolfpack after one season for a return to LSU on a seven-year deal, Wade confirmed via social media on Thursday. Wade returns to Baton Rouge on a seven-year deal, sources confirmed to CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander. LSU is expected to part with current coach Matt McMahon on Thursday. 

Inside Will Wade’s LSU return: The late-night approach, NIL gap and what’s next for NC State

Matt Norlander

Wade was set to board a flight for Baton Rouge Thursday afternoon and will soon be introduced as the Tigers’ next coach, according to 247Sports. Wade reportedly met with NC State officials on Wednesday night to hear the Wolfpack’s final contract enhancement offer.

“First, I want to thank Chancellor Woodson, Boo Corrigan, and the entire NC State community for the opportunity to lead this historic program over the past year,” Wade said. “My family and I have felt nothing but warmth from the Wolfpack family, and for that, we are eternally grateful.

I took this job with every intention of building a long-term ‘reckoning’ in Raleigh. However, sometimes life and leadership call you back to where your heart never truly left. The opportunity to return to Baton Rouge and lead the LSU Tigers once again is one I simply could not turn down. LSU is a place where we have unfinished business, and the chance to reunite with this administration and fanbase was a calling I had to answer.

To the players: I am so proud of the grit you showed this season. You fought through adversity and returned this program to the NCAA Tournament. To the fans: Your passion is second to none, and I know the foundation we laid this year will lead to great things for the future of NC State basketball.

Geaux Tigers.”

With several years left on his deal at NC State, Wade’s buyout with the Wolfpack is $5 million, a figure that drops to $3 million after April 1. College basketball’s transfer portal opens the following week.

LSU is expected to hire McNeese’s Heath Schroyer as a senior administrator, which is significant considering Schroyer and LSU president Wade Rousse previously hired Wade to lead at McNeese. Southwest Louisiana businessman Lee Mallett, who’s close with Wade, works as LSU’s chairman of the Board of Supervisors. He was another integral piece of this puzzle for the Tigers in pursuit of Wade as their next coach. 

LSU is reportedly pushing additional NIL resources toward the center of the table to assist Wade with roster building. During his previous stint with the Tigers, Wade led LSU to the NCAA Tournament in three of his five seasons. College basketball’s postseason was canceled one of those years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wade was fired at LSU in 2022 after the Tigers received a notice of allegations from the NCAA stemming from alleged rules violations committed during his five-year tenure that were discovered through a wiretap.

Wade landed at McNeese a year later and served a 10-game suspension with a two-year show-cause penalty for the recruiting and bribery violations at LSU. He went 50-9 over two years at McNeese with two trips to the NCAA Tournament, including a first-round victory over Clemson in 2025 that helped him land the NC State vacancy.

Prior to NC State’s loss to Texas in the First Four last week, Wade dismissed LSU rumors.

“No, is the job open there? Huh? No? So why would I …,” Wade said. “Listen, to be very clear I’m excited at NC State. I was hired at NC State to do a job and this wasn’t going to take one year. I’ve already met with our administration about next year and some of the changes we need to make and some of the things we need to do to put this program where it deserves to be long-term.

“I’m not on social media. I’m not into gossip or any of that sort of stuff. Look, we’re going to win and we’re going to win big at NC State. That’s what we’re going to do moving forward. We have the resources we need to get the job done. We’re going to rally, work hard and have a team next year that’s ready to roll.”

During his final postgame at NC State, Wade didn’t sound like a coach who was eyeing a one-and-done in Raleigh.

“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.”

Wade’s upcoming roster decisions at LSU

With the portal opening in early April, Wade’s first item on the agenda will be assessing the Tigers’ returning players and determining who he wants to keep or send on their way ahead of the 2026-27 season.

Michael Nwoko, Jalen Reed, Robert Miller, Jalen Reece, Mazi Mosely, Matt Gilhool and Ron Zipper are all eligible to return, along with point guard Dedan Thomas, who was averaging 15.3 points and 6.5 assists per game as a junior this season before suffering an injury in late January that kept him out for the remainder of the campaign.

LSU’s current freshman class includes Marcus Vaughns, Owen Foxwell, Herly Brutus, and Kevin Thomas, but they’re all eligible to enter the transfer portal due to the expected coaching change. Contributors who have exhausted their eligibility and will not play for Wade include Max Mckinnon, Marquel Sutton, Pablo Tamba, Rashad King and PJ Carter.

That’s a significant chunk of this season’s production. Wade’s roster will look entirely different once he decides on which players he’ll try to retain in Baton Rouge. NC State’s roster is also free to transfer given the coaching change, and there are a couple of impact players that could follow Wade to his next stop, including sophomore guard Paul McNeil Jr., who averaged 13.8 points per game this season.

During Wade’s only campaign in Raleigh, he signed eight transfers last cycle, many of which became NC State’s most important pieces of an NCAA Tournament team.