Will Wade
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Frank William Wade (born November 26, 1982) is an American college basketball coach. He has served as the head coach at three institutions:
Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...
from 2013 to 2015, VCU from 2015 to 2017, and
LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...
from 2017 to 2022.


Assistant coach

Will Wade began his career as the student manager of the Clemson men's basketball team from 2002 to 2005. He worked under head coaches
Larry Shyatt Lawrence Alan Shyatt (born April 8, 1951) is an American basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shoot ...
and
Oliver Purnell Oliver Gordon Purnell Jr. (born May 19, 1953) is an American former college basketball coach. He served as the head men's basketball coach at Radford University from 1988 to 1991, Old Dominion University from 1991 to 1994, the University of Dayto ...
, who gave him further opportunities as a graduate assistant (2005–06) and Director of Basketball Operations (2006–07).
Tommy Amaker Harold Tommy Amaker Jr. (; born June 6, 1965) is an American college basketball coach and the head coach of the Harvard University men's basketball team. He has also coached for the University of Michigan and Seton Hall University. He played po ...
then brought him in as his first hire as Harvard men's basketball coach where he was responsible for helping to recruit a top 25 class for the program. He stayed at Harvard for the 2007–08 and 2008–09 seasons before leaving for VCU. Will Wade was brought in as an assistant to then-head coach
Shaka Smart Shaka Dingani Smart (born April 8, 1977) is an American men's college basketball coach. He is the current head men's basketball coach at Marquette University. Early life and playing career Smart grew up in Oregon, Wisconsin. In high school, Sm ...
at VCU (Wade was Smart's first hire like he had been Amaker's). He helped VCU to four consecutive postseason appearances, including a trip to the 2011 Final Four. VCU finished the 2012–13 season with a 27–9 overall mark and a No. 23 final national ranking. The VCU Rams were one of only five teams nationally to win 27 or more games in each season from 2009 to 2013 (the others being Duke, Kansas, Syracuse and Ohio State). In Wade's four years as an assistant coach, VCU was 111–37 (.750) with three straight trips to the NCAA Tournament.


Head coaching career


Chattanooga

In 2013, Wade left his assistant coaching position at VCU to lead the
Chattanooga Mocs basketball The Chattanooga Mocs men's basketball team represents the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in NCAA Division I men's competition. On March 30, 2022, Dan Earl was hired as the new head coach. The Mocs have appeared in 12 NCAA tournaments, ...
program. In his two seasons as head coach, he posted both winning overall and conference records, and gave the Mocs their first 20+ win season in 10 years. He was named the Southern Conference's 2014 Coach of the Year.


VCU

After two seasons at Chattanooga, Wade returned to VCU to take the head coaching position vacated by Shaka Smart. In his first season returning to VCU, Wade guided the team to its first Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season championship and to a 25–11 overall record. VCU made it to the championship game of the A10 conference tournament for the fourth straight season, falling to St. Joseph's. The Rams also made their sixth straight NCAA tournament, one of only eight teams in the country to do so. VCU made it to the round of 32 where it fell to Oklahoma 85–81. Wade finished second in voting for A10 coach of the year.


LSU

On March 21, 2017, Wade accepted an offer to become the head coach at
Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...
. On December 28, 2017, Wade earned his 100th career victory with a win over Memphis. During the 2018–19 season, Wade's Tigers won their first five SEC games in a row. It was the first LSU team to do this since the 2005–06 team. They also claimed two victories over top 5 opponents (Kentucky and Tennessee), the first LSU team to do so since 1980. Wade coached the 2018–19 team to the Southeastern Conference regular season championship. On March 7, 2019, it was reported that Wade discussed an 'offer' to a recruit, which was overheard on a
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
wiretap Telephone tapping (also wire tapping or wiretapping in American English) is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitorin ...
. The offer he made was reportedly a large one. In the transcripts he is quoted as saying that he was frustrated with the situation: “I’ll be honest with you, I’m xpletivetired of dealing with the thing. Like I’m just xpletivesick of dealing with the xpletive Like, this should not be that xpletivecomplicated.” The following day, LSU announced that he was indefinitely suspended amid the FBI's probe.
Tony Benford Tony L. Benford (born March 22, 1964) is an American basketball coach who is an assistant coach of the TCU Horned Frogs men's basketball team. Biography A native of Hobbs, New Mexico — and 1982 graduate of Hobbs High School — Benford played ...
was named interim head coach at LSU during Wade's suspension. On April 14, 2019, LSU lifted Wade's suspension. It was also reported on April 24, 2019, that Wade agreed to significant modifications to his contract, in order to be reinstated. Some of those changes include: 1) to forfeit $250,000.00 in bonuses he would have otherwise earned during the time of his suspension, 2) the contract also now allows LSU to fire Wade for cause if he commits a Level I or Level II NCAA violation, and 3) He can also be terminated if the NCAA infractions committee issues a formal notice to LSU that Wade was involved in a Level 1 or Level 2 violation. On August 25, 2020, reports surfaced that the investigation into the numerous, alleged, recruiting violations by Wade is ongoing, and headed to an independent panel. Two separate NCAA committees have referred LSU's case to the IARP (Independent Accountability Resolution Process, a system formed in response to a Condoleezza Rice-led commission on college basketball.) Should this panel issue a formal 'notice of allegations' to LSU as a result of this investigation, that would put an end to the 3 year, highly controversial, tenure of Wade, based on the renegotiated contract of 2019. Wade led his 2021 Tigers to the championship game of the SEC Tournament in Nashville, and an 8-seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. He was terminated as coach on March 12, 2022 after the NCAA formally served the Notice of Allegations based on the investigations into the above reports of recruiting violations. The case is still pending adjudication with the NCAA enforcement office.


Head coaching record


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wade, Will 1982 births Living people American men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Tennessee Chattanooga Mocs men's basketball coaches Clemson Tigers men's basketball coaches Clemson University alumni College men's basketball head coaches in the United States College basketball controversies in the United States Harvard Crimson men's basketball coaches LSU Tigers basketball coaches Sportspeople from Nashville, Tennessee VCU Rams men's basketball coaches