Will Wade Returns … Again! LSU Basketball Coach Will Do 1st Press Conference Since His Hiring In March Today

By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

Welcome back, Will Wade … again.

Wade, who was introduced as LSU’s men’s basketball coach on March 30 on the main floor of the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, will hold his first press conference since that day at 1 p.m. today at the Courtside Club in the Assembly Center to discuss his new team.

The Tigers still have only four players listed on their roster on the LSU website – Kansas State senior transfer guard Abdi Bashir Jr., Kentucky senior transfer forward Mouhamed Dioubate, Texas-San Antonio senior transfer guard Austin Nunez and Michigan State junior transfer guard Divine Ugochukwu.

But Wade gathered a bevy of signees over the summer that LSU has not announced yet. LSU may release Wade’s complete roster for the 2026-27 season before the press conference.

The Tigers had their first day of practice on Tuesday.

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“We’re coming back to make history,” Wade said on March 30 before a raucous crowd at the Assembly Center. “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.”

Wade was LSU’s coach the first time from 2017-22 and won the program’s first Southeastern Conference title since 2009 in the 2018-19 season at 25-5 and 15-2. The NCAA investigated Wade him throughout his tenure, however, amid a suspension by LSU before the NCAA announced its notice of allegations concerning LSU on March 8, 2022.

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LSU fired Wade on March 12, 2022, amid voluminous major violations. Wade resurfaced as McNeese State’s coach for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons. He then coached at North Carolina State in the 2025-26 season before LSU hired him back after this past season.

“I want everybody to know with LSU basketball, our time is now,” he said on March 30. “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. This not something that’s going to take long. We’re going to get in that portal when it opens next Monday and we’re going to put together a winner because everybody in here deserves a winner.”

Wade did struggle in the portal as it opened and had to resort to more overseas players than he originally planned. But he closed extremely well in August with commitments from a pair of highly ranked, fifth-year senior transfers from UCLA – guard Skyy Clark and guard Donovan Dent.

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Wade had said in interviews that he would have his roster announced by August, but that didn’t happen.

Maybe it will happen today.

It needs to happen soon.

LSU opens its exhibition season on Oct. 8 at McNeese State. It opens the regular season against LSU-New Orleans on Nov. 3 at the Pte Maravich Assembly Center.

TIGER RAG PROJECTED LSU MEN’S BASKETBALL 2026-27 ROSTER (12)

NAME, HT., WT., POS. CLASS, PREVIOUS COLLEGE OR PRO TEAM, HIGH SCHOOL, AGE

-ABDI BASHIR JR., 6-5, 170, Guard, Senior, Kansas State, Phoenix Prep, Phoenix, Arizona, Age: 22

-JORDAN BENDER, 6-8, 200, Forward, Freshman, Northside Christian School, St. Petersburg, Florida, Age: 18

-SKYY CLARK, 6-3, 210, Guard, Senior, UCLA, Montverde Academy, Montverde, Florida, Age: 23

-DONOVAN DENT, 6-2, 185, Guard, Senior, UCLA, Centennial High, Corona, California, Age: 22

-BRICE DESSERT, 6-11, 247, Center, Freshman, Andalou Efes pro team, Istanbul, Turkey, Age: 23  

-MOUHAMED DIOUBATE, 6-8, 235, Forward, Senior, Kentucky, Putnam Science Academy, Queens, New York, Age: 22

*-RJ LUIS, 6-7, 215, Guard/Forward, Senior, St. John’s, Christopher Columbus High, Miami, Age: 23

-SALIOU NIANG, 6-6, 190, Forward, Freshman, Virtus pro team, Bologna, Italy, Age: 22

-AUSTIN NUNEZ, 6-2, 175, Guard, Senior, Texas-San Antonio, Wagner High, San Antonio, Texas, Age: 23

-MICHAEL RUZIC, 7-0, 160, Forward, Freshman, Joventut pro team, Catalonia, Spain, Age: 19

-MARCIO SANTOS, 6-8, 250, Center, Freshman, Maccabi pro team, Tel Aviv, Israel, Age 23

-DIVINE UGOCHUKWU, 6-3, 200, Guard, Junior, Michigan State, Clements High, Sugar Land, Texas, Age: 20

*RJ Luis received a temporary restraining order from a Baton Rouge judge against the NCAA on Aug. 24 that has allowed him to practice and potentially play for LSU this season, which begins on Nov. 3 against LSU-New Orleans. That was even though he signed contracts with two NBA teams after going undrafted in 2025 following his junior season at St. John’s. Luis will soon have to clear other legal hurdles, however. Alabama’s Charles Bediako also received a temporary restraining order from a Tuscaloosa judge, allowing him to play last season, despite previously playing in the NBA developmental league. But the same judge later sided with the NCAA and reversed the ruling after Bediako playe