Rick Stansbury And Johnny Jones Still May Be Headed To LSU As Assistant Coaches

By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

Additional sources have confirmed what Tiger Rag reported on Monday – that former Mississippi State and Western Kentucky head coach Rick Stansbury and former LSU head coach Johnny Jones may soon be assistant coaches under new LSU men’s basketball coach Will Wade.

Stansbury, who last was a coach in the 2024-25 season at Memphis as an assistant, was headed to LSU a week ago, then that wavered slightly, but most recenly is LSU bound, sources told Tiger Rag. Jones, who has been the head coach at Texas Southern since the 2018-19 season, at first denied Tiger Rag’s report, but has since said he has been in talks with LSU.

“Done,” a Tiger Rag source said Friday morning of Stansbury becoming a top Wade assistant, but added that the Jones hire may not be quite done.

Will Wade May Hire 2 SEC Head Coaching Veterans – LSU’s Johnny Jones And State’s Rick Stansbury

Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports reported Friday morning that “Stansbury has officially signed an agreement to be the associate head coach at LSU under Will Wade” on his Twitter.

Source: Rick Stansbury — the all-time winningest head coach in Mississippi State history — has officially signed an agreement to be the Associate Head Coach at LSU under Will Wade.

A seismic recruiting addition in the SEC landscape.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) April 3, 2026

It was Rothstein who reported on Wednesday, March 25, that LSU was about to hire McNeese State athletic director Heath Schroyer after Tiger Rag first reported that on March 13. On March 26, McNeese State and LSU confirmed the hiring of Schroyer on the same day LSU confirmed the hiring of Wade from North Carolina State.

Done! Will Wade Exiting NC State To Return To LSU As Basketball Coach, Replacing Matt McMahon

An LSU spokesman on Friday did not confirm or deny the pending hiring of Stansbury, 66, or Jones, 65, or that Stansbury signed anything. LSU confirmation could happen soon, though.

Wade said at his introductory press conference last Monday that he would have some of his staff in place by early next week.

As LSU head coach in 2015, Jones signed one of the highest ranked recruits in LSU history in overall No. 1 ranked guard/forward Ben Simmons from Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida. Simmons played one season and became the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft in 2016, though he was largely a bust and is no longer in the NBA.

Jones was fired after the 2016-17 season and replaced by Wade, who was fired in 2022 after four seasons.

The Marty McFly of college basketball – Will Wade – has gone “BACK In Time.”https://t.co/f4uEDyQDBz

— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) March 30, 2026

Stansbury is expected to bring top European players to LSU.

“Hopefully, by the first of next week, I would think we’ll have two to three assistants,” Wade said during the Monday press conference. “And we’ll leave a couple spots open and work through that as we move forward. But we’ll have two or three folks in here. We’ll have two or three assistants in here to help me, and then six weeks after that, we’ll p;ick up the rest of the guys. But we’re not in any rush on that.”

Tiger Rag asked Wade after the press conference about Stansbury and Jones joining his staff.

Obviously surprised at the question, Wade said, “I can’t say anything at this point. And that’s not completely accurate.”