Will Wade Transfer Portal Empty! Has LSU’s “New” Coach Changed His Name To Will Wait?

By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

All right, I know as soon as this is published, Will Wade will announce his first signee from the NCAA Transfer Portal as the new coach of LSU men’s basketball for the second time.

Checking again … still no portal additions as of Thursday morning.

And Thursday was day 10 since the portal window opened on Tuesday, April 7. And it’s getting very late. The portal closes this Tuesday. Wade can still sign the remaining players in the portal after that date, but no more players can enter after April 21.

“Haven’t heard anything,” legendary LSU basketball sports information director and portal news clearinghouse contact Kent Lowe repeated again on Thursday.

“In the next month, we’re going to see what kind of roster LSU has and go from there,” Lowe said on Tiger Rag Radio Tuesday night.

Tiger Rag Radio Podcast: LSU Baseball Back Up Against The Warning Track | Kent Lowe On Will Wade

The next month? How about this week?

“Just been a couple normal weeks at LSU,” Lowe said when asked about Wade being hired for a second time after previously coaching LSU from 2017-22 before LSU fired him amid an NCAA recruiting investigation that found several major violations.

Wade left North Carolina State after only one season to become probably the first coach in college basketball history to be hired back by the same school that fired him.

“It’s been fascinating, to say the least. It’s an interesting time,” Lowe said.

But still no portal players. And only one player remains on the LSU roster left by fired coach Matt McMahon after a rush to the portal. That is freshman point guard Jalen Reece.

The basketball portal has been open for over a week.

Here's where LSU currently stands…Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/1afyuUZVE9

— 104.5 ESPN (@1045espn) April 15, 2026

“We’re Wading,” proclaimed ESPN Radio 104.5 FM in Baton Rouge on Wednesday.

Will Wade Era Part II Springs Into Action Today With Portal Opening – Here Are 6 Possible Signees

“And he may sign multiple transfers immediately,” Tiger Rag reported of Wade in an April 7 story. Famous last words. … Tiger Rag regrets the anticipation.

Is it time to write the Will Wade version of LSU football coach Lane Kiffin’s slower than expected start in the NCAA Transfer Portal last January?

If you remember, Kiffin had no portal commitments or signees three days into that Jan. 2-16 window. It’s been more than three times that long with nothing for Wade.

I get that this was at the time, but why didn’t you give it time? Otherwise appreciate the content.

— ⚜️ Drew ⚜️ (@tygerfuel) January 13, 2026

Maybe this piece will do the trick as the much-criticized one above apparently did. Thank you, I’ll take full credit for the greatest portal signing class of all time as Kiffin went on to rack up 41 portal additions after his “slow” start.

Lane Kiffin finishes off his top portal class with a major flourish.https://t.co/eVTkdduQu1

— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) January 24, 2026

Can Wade recover and do something similar?

“He’s never had a problem landing players in the past,” a CBS Sports story just said. “But so far, it’s been quiet in terms of actual commitments. It will be interesting to see what Wade has up his sleeve in the weeks ahead.”

Well, we all know what he had “up his sleeve” the first time he was LSU’s coach – “strong-ass” offers. Sorry. Too easy. But everybody makes those offers now. Because, you know, it’s legal.

“We’re going to find 15 players who are willing to lay it on the line for us every night,” Wade said at his introductory press conference that was open to the public inside a rocking Pete Maravich Assembly Center on March 30.

If he finds 15 players, that means he has to get 14 from the portal to join Reece.

“We’re going to get in that portal, and we’re going to put together a winner,” Wade said back then. “Because everybody in here deserves a winner.”

Or at least some new players, right?

And several portal players believed to be Wade targets have committed and/or signed elsewhere. The following five players who recently chose other schools with 247sports overall and position rankings were believed to be LSU targets:

LSU Basketball Transfer Target PJ Haggerty Picks Aggies As Will Wade Misses 2nd Straight Time

-No. 6 overall and No. 1 point guard PJ Haggerty of Kansas State to Texas A&M on April 10.

-No. 31 overall and No. 5 combination guard Jeremiah Wilkinson of Georgia to Arkansas on April 14.

-No. 85 overall and No. 18 small forward KJ Lewis of Georgetown to USC on April 14.

-No. 115 overall and No. 17 shooting guard Devin Vanterpool of Florida Atlantic to Providence on April 14.

-No. 132 overall and No. 25 small forward Terrance Arceneaux of North Carolina State to George Washington on April 15.