LSU fired Matt McMahon on Thursday, ending his four-year run leading the school’s men’s basketball program, and rehired former Tigers coach Will Wade from North Carolina State, where he was in only the first of a six-year contract with the Wolfpack.
“This was not an easy decision,” Wade wrote in a social media post Thursday in which he thanked the Atlantic Coast Conference school for the opportunity to coach the Wolfpack. “But the opportunity to return to Louisiana State University is deeply personal. It’s a chance to go home — to a place that means a great deal to me and my family.”
The move by LSU’s recently reshuffled athletic department leadership brings back to the bayou a coach whose popularity with many college basketball fans in the state (including Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry) endured throughout — and long after — an NCAA investigation that dogged both Wade and LSU four years ago, resulting in sanctions for the Southeastern Conference program in Baton Rouge.
“As LSU fans know well, Will is a consistent winner, a diligent program-builder, and a charismatic leader with an incredible ability to connect with his student-athletes and the fan base,” LSU first-year athletic director Verge Ausberry said in a release. “Not only does he bring his postseason pedigree and an energetic presence, but he is innovative and strategic at a time in college athletics that requires both.”
The topic of Wade’s potential return to LSU had been churning for weeks, enough so that he was ready with a response when asked about it after the Wolfpack’s loss to Virginia in the ACC tournament. That included noting the job wasn’t open at the time, with McMahon — who replaced Wade — still in place.