By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
It’s all still on the verge of happening.
As Tiger Rag reported on March 13, there is still a strong chance that former LSU men’s basketball coach Will Wade will return to LSU as head coach and replace current coach Matt McMahon after McMahon’s second straight 3-15 season in the Southeastern Conference in four years on the job.
And the momentum for Wade’s return to LSU gained steam on Wednesday, particularly after a report by Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports that included the same information as Tiger Rag’s March 13 story.
The latest on Will Wade and LSU.https://t.co/c9JLel3odd (Apple)https://t.co/EsZxIkcHSA (Spotify)https://t.co/VZ94rDaxbN (YouTube) pic.twitter.com/3lABciO2J1
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 25, 2026
DEDAN THOMAS JR. PLANS TO ENTER TRANSFER PORTAL
Rothstein also reported Wednesday, as have others, that McMahon’s star player – junior point guard Dedan Thomas Jr. – plans to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal in the next window of April 7-21, according to Thomas’ father. Thomas could always exit the portal and stay at LSU if Wade recruits him to LSU or if McMahon ends up staying.
LSU's Dedan Thomas plans to enter the transfer portal, per his father.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 25, 2026
Averages 15.1 PPG and 6.4 APG prior to injury this season.
Wade, who just finished his first season as North Carolina State’s coach, met with NC State administration this week, according to a source close to LSU Basketball – the same source that told Tiger Rag for the March 13 story that LSU planned on hiring McNeese State athletic director Heath Schroyer as an associate athletic director for basketball. That Schroyer hiring was imminent on Wednesday.
“Everything is moving toward Wade returning to LSU,” the source said Wednesday. “LSU is working to hire Schroyer and Wade.”
Schroyer hired Wade at McNeese State on March 12, 2023 – one year after LSU fired Wade after five seasons for several major NCAA recruiting violations. Wade rejuvenated his career at McNeese State by taking the Cowboys to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments in 2023-24 and 2024-25 and getting the North Carolina State job last year. Wade has told LSU powers that be that he wants Schroyer at LSU if he is going to return.
Schroyer’s boss at McNeese was formerly president Wade Rousse, who became LSU’s president last November. Louisiana governor Jeff Landry and LSU Board of Supervisors member Lee Mallett, a Lake Charles business magnate and major contributor to Landry’s campaign, attempted to get LSU to hire Wade last year from McNeese State. But they were blocked by then-LSU athletic director Scott Woodward.
LSU fired Woodward last October after a recommendation by Landry and replaced him with deputy athletic director Verge Ausberry, whose hiring left a vacancy in the athletic department … likely for Schroyer.
Ausberry has refused comment on McMahon’s job status or any courting of Wade or Schroyer. McMahon has also not returned communication.
Landry, meanwhile, promoted Mallett to the chairman of LSU’s Board of Supervisors last month.
McMahon remains LSU’s coach and will remain LSU’s coach, unless Wade decides to take the LSU job, the source said.
If LSU hires Wade, Wade would owe North Carolina State a $5 million buyout. The school that hires a coach in such a scenario usually pays the buyout. That buyout decreases to $3 million after April 1 (next Wednesday), according to Wade’s contract.
The Wade-for-McMahon swap is expected to happen in a 48-hour period over the first days of April, and it will not be an April Fool’s Day gag, unless Wade gets cold feet in the 11th hour. Or it could happen as soon as Thursday or within the next few days.
If LSU fires McMahon before next season, it would owe him an $8 million buyout. McMahon has three years left on his seven-year contract. The Tigers went 14-18 and 3-15 in the SEC in the 2024-25 season and 15-17 and 3-15 this past season. McMahon’s only non-losing SEC season was in his second year when he went 17-16 and 9-9 in the league. He was 14-19 and 2-16 in his first season in 2022-23 after taking Murray State to three NCAA Tournaments.
Wade took LSU to three NCAA Tournaments in 2019, ’21 and 22, but he only coached in the ’21 tournament. He was suspended the last five games of the 2018-19 season by LSU for not cooperating with LSU or the NCAA in an investigation into his alleged recruiting violations. He was fired in 2022 before the NCAA Tournament. His 2018-19 team finished 25-5 overall and won the SEC with a 15-2 mark before reaching the Sweet 16 under interim coach Tony Benford.
Wade’s NCAA Tournament teams in 2021 and ’22 finished 19-10 and 11-6 in the SEC and 22-11 and 9-9 in the SEC respectively. He reached the second round in ’21. The ’22 team under interim coach Kevin Nickelberry lost in the first round.
FBI and NCAA investigations found Wade to be the kingpin of a major recruiting scandal at LSU for most of his time there from 2017-22. Wade was named directly for five major, Level 1 NCAA violations involving paying recruits before players began getting paid within NCAA rules via Name, Image & Likeness in 2021.
Wade later received a two-year show cause from the NCAA, which meant McNeese State received NCAA violations by hiring Wade. That included another five-game suspension for Wade and various recruiting limitations and safeguards, limited off-campus recruiting, limited official and unofficial recruiting visits and limited recruiting phone calls. An additional NCAA compliance officer also had to oversee Wade to make sure he followed NCAA rules, and Wade had to submit a weekly report on all his recruiting activities to the McNeese and Southland Conference compliance offices.
In its final analysis, the NCAA said Wade “obstructed the NCAA’s investigation (of LSU) by concealing evidence and lying to NCAA officials in interviews.” The NCAA charged him with “unethical conduct” that included Wade using his wife’s bank account to funnel money to a recruit.
Over the final weeks of the 2025-26 season, in which North Carolina State finished 20-13 and 10-8 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, Wade has sounded like he is staying at NC State.
“A lot of talk with you and the potential position at LSU,” a reporter said to Wade after his team was eliminated from the ACC Tournament. “I wanted to see if anybody from that campus reached out to you, and to give you an opportunity to speak on that.”
Wade said, “No,” in reference to anyone from LSU contacting him.
And he continued.
“Is the job open there? No,” Wade said in reference to McMahon. “Listen, let me be very clear. “I’m excited at North Carolina State. I was hired at NC State to do a job. This wasn’t going to take one year. I’ve already met with our administration about next year and some of the changes that we need to make and some of the things that we need to do to put this program where it deserves to be long term. Look, we’re going to win, and we’re going to win big at NC State. That’s what we’re going to do. That’s what we’re going to do moving forward. We have the resources we need.”
Wade signed a six-year, $17.2 million contract last year at North Carolina State. That’s $2.8 million a year, which is exactly what McMahon signed for over seven years in 2022. Wade seemingly would have to at least make that much at LSU with significantly more roster money than McMahon had at about $8 million last year.
Sources say Wade is not as interested in a salary raise for himself at LSU as he is in a larger roster budget with the Tigers. He really enjoyed his time at LSU and felt he left unfinished business when he was fired. In addition, if he makes LSU a winner again, LSU will be the top program in the state. Even when NC State wins big, it is basically always the No. 3 program in that state behind North Carolina and Duke.
With a revenue share cut of $3 million at 15 percent of the $20.5 million total for all sports and another $10 million from NIL collectives and donors, LSU plans to give Wade a roster budget of approximately $13 million, which would be $5 million more than what McMahon received for this past season’s roster. Wade’s roster budget at NC State this past season was believed to be in the $12 million range.
Ausberry was explaining just recently to Tiger Rag how it wasn’t “fiscally responsible” to keep firing and hiring coaches.
But apparently, LSU has found the money for Wade, regardless of how much debt it is in from the Brian Kelly $54 million buyout and the $91 million contract for new football coach Lane Kiffin.
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