By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
Will Wade just got a chance to do something that human beings have fantasized about for centuries and Hollywood has made some of its most popular movies about – time travel.
Just as Huey Lewis sang, “Gotta get back in time” on the soundtrack of the 1985 film “Back To The Future,” Wade went back in time on Monday as he was introduced as LSU’s new men’s basketball coach in front of nearly 1,000 fans at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. This was almost nine years to the day that he was introduced as LSU’s new men’s basketball coach on March 20, 2017, at the Student Union.
BREAKING: Former LSU head coach Johnny Jones and ex-Mississippi State head coach Rick Stansbury to be on Will Wade’s staff at LSU.https://t.co/8arUVSwrT6
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) March 30, 2026
In between, LSU fired Wade on March 12, 2022, after the NCAA released six Level 1 recruiting violations directly aimed at Wade during his time as LSU’s coach from 2017-22 – the first time. Wade resurfaced a year later off Broadway as McNeese State’s coach for two seasons before landing a major job as North Carolina State’s coach, but he left after one season to return to his beloved LSU.
“To have the opportunity to come back and finish that off and to bring pride and joy to people that I care about and people that mean a lot to me, yeah, that’s a big reason I came back,” he said Monday near the end of the press conference at center court. “I feel a heavy burden towards that.”
The lights went out as Wade was introduced to tremendous applause and cheers. Then he came out to music befitting that of a head of state or a general, which is a popular nickname for him among LSU fans. There were also flames left over LSU halftime shows along with cheerleaders and as many LSU dignitaries as you may see in the suites for the Alabama-LSU football game in Tiger Stadium.
“I’ve never connected with a fan base and with people like I have with LSU and Louisiana,” Wade beamed. “I feel like we left the book open a little bit.”
Wade won LSU’s first Southeastern Conference regular season title in just his second season in 2018-19. That had not happened in a decade. His teams reached three NCAA Tournaments, though, he only coached in one of them. He was suspended before the 2019 NCAA Tournament for not cooperating with NCAA and LSU investigations of his recruiting. And he was fired in 2022 just before that NCAA Tournament started.
LSU’s record also dropped each season after the 28-7, 16-2 mark in 2019 when the Tigers won the SEC and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament under interim coach Tony Benford. LSU was 21-10 and 12-6 in the COVID year of 2019-20, then 19-10 and 11-6 in 2020-21 and 22-12 and 9-9 in 2021-22.
“We left some chapters out there,” he said. “And we left some chapters unfinished.”
Wade, the Thomas Wolfe of college basketball, can go home again and is returning to his favorite readers, so to speak.
The Prodigal Son/Serial Cheater – and coaching version of Thomas Wolfe to North Carolina – returns to LSU because he can go “home” again.https://t.co/Jdrk9kANJF
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) March 26, 2026
“A lot of my best friends are sitting in this room right now,” he said. “A lot of my best friends are down here in Louisiana. I feel like we have a greater purpose with this program than anywhere I’ve ever been.”
Wade coached at Tennessee-Chattanooga and Virginia Commonwealth, taking the latter to two NCAA Tournaments, before LSU.
“At the end of the day, that’s why I came back,” he said. “I came back to give back to LSU, and to hopefully put some joy and fun back into basketball, where we’re not just a stopgap between football and spring fotoball and baseball, and to make sure we build a program that’s excellent, just like everything else.”
And to leave his mark.
Will Wade delivers Quote of the Day. “We’re going to make history one way or the other. We’re either going to win a national championship, or I’ll be the first coach fired by the same school twice.”
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) March 30, 2026
-at introductory press conference.
“We’re coming back to make history,” he said. “We’re going to make history one way or the other. We’re coming back to try to hang a banner, win a national championship, or I’m going to be the first coach fired from the same school twice. It’s going to be a fun ride one way or the other, ain’t no doubt about that.”
And Wade said it will be a quick fix, just like it was back in the past.
“I want everybody to know with LSU basketball, our time is now,” he said. “I didn’t come here to reflect and talk about the past and any of that stuff. I came here to win, and we’re going to win immediately.”
And the crowd roared.
“LSU and Louisiana deserve a winner, and that’s what we’re going to deliver and we’re going to deliver that in short order,” he said.
As he said at his press conference at McNeese State in 2023 and his press conference at North Carolina State last year, Wade intimated he is not the same, at times, immature and arrogant man he was his first time at LSU.
“Look, these last four years, you’re not getting the same coach you had four years ago,” he said. “These last four years have humbled and changed me. You’re getting a better coach, a better leader this time around. I’ve got the same urgency. I’ve got the same fight, same feisty guy that you’ve always known. But we’re going to be better. And we’re going to win.”
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