LSU New Board Of Supervisors Chairman Is Friendly With Former LSU Basketball Coach Will Wade

By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

Southwest Louisiana businessman Lee Mallett of Lake Charles is the new chairman of the LSU Board of Supervisors as appointed by Governor Jeff Landry, replacing Scott Ballard after Mallett served on the Board for the last 14 years.

Mallett, who does not have a college degree, owns several businesses and has made millions in the construction industry.

He also became fast friends with former LSU basketball coach Will Wade, who took McNeese State in Lake Charles to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments in 2024 and ’25 and upset Clemson in the first round last season.

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Before Wade became the new coach at North Carolina State after last season, Mallett and Landry pushed for Wade to become LSU’s basketball coach and replace Matt McMahon. But then-LSU athletic director Scott Woodward and deputy athletic director Verge Ausberry decided to keep McMahon, who is having his third losing Southeastern Conference season in four years this season.

The Board change has not altered the viewpoint on McMahon by Ausberry, who replaced the fired Woodward as LSU athletic director last November.

“We will discuss that with the whole Board,” Ausberry told Tiger Rag. “I have a solid relationship with Mr. Mallett and the entire Board – an excellent relationship. We have a basketball coach.”

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Wade won LSU’s first Southeastern Conference regular season since 2006 in his second season in 2018-19 with a 25-5 mark and 15-2 in the league. His LSU teams went to three NCAA Tournaments in 2019, ’21 and ’22. But he didn’t coach in the last two as he he was under suspension in ’21 during an NCAA investigation for alleged recruiting violations and was fired just before the ’22 NCAA Tournament for several of the most serious Level 1 NCAA violations.

Wade is doing very well in his first season at North Carolina State, which is 18-8 overall and 9-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. McMahon, meanwhile, is 14-11 this season and 2-10 in the SEC going into a game at Texas (16-9, 7-5 SEC) on Tuesday (8 p.m., SEC Network).

Landry has the legal authority to appoint the Board chairman, such as Mallet, who has been a major donor to Landry.

There are no term limits for LSU’s board chairman.

(Louisiana Radio Network.com writer Joe Gallinaro contributed to this report.)