McNeese State’s Wade hit with penalties, 10-game suspension for LSU violations
Former LSU and current McNeese State men’s basketball coach Will Wade received a twoyear show-cause penalty and a 10game suspension Thursday for multiple rules violations, ending a slowmoving case originally rooted in a federal corruption investigation into the sport.
The ruling came from a panel of the Independent Accountability Resolution Process (IARP). It determined Wade failed to report potential violations, as well as making payments to the ex-fiancée of a former player — who he had coached before arriving at LSU in 2017 — to prevent the disclosure of potential violations.
Additionally, the panel found Wade failed to cooperate with the investigation running from December 2018 to August 2021, specifically by delaying full production of requested records and knowingly providing false or misleading information.
While Wade’s case grew from the federal corruption probe, chief panel member Bruce Meyerson said the majority of allegations brought in this case were unrelated — and ultimately no violation was determined from an oft-cited FBI wiretap involving Wade.
LSU fired Wade in March 2022 and he was hired by McNeese State earlier this year.
Wade’s show-cause penalty through June 2025 means Wade cannot perform any off-campus recruiting activities during April and summer evaluation periods. There are also additional recruiting restrictions against Wade, who was determined to have committed three Level I violations — considered a severe breach of conduct — that include the rule governing overall head-coach responsibility for conduct within a program.
The case also included violations tied to the Tigers’ football program and the school had selfimposed penalties for both sports, though the panel added three years of probation to begin this fall after the expiration of a school probation term already in place. Meyerson, a retired appeals court judge, said in a Zoom call with reporters that the panel sought to avoid imposing penalties hitting LSU athletes uninvolved in cases from years earlier.
The federal corruption investigation became public in September 2017. The cases that grew from that eventually entangled numerous schools, then notably touched Wade after 2019 reports about leaked wiretap excerpts that captured him speaking with someone convicted of funneling illegal payments to the families of recruits.
In transcripts of the phone call, Wade discussed presenting a “strong” offer to an apparent third party who represented then-LSU player Javonte Smart.
Meyerson said the panel didn’t find sufficient evidence beyond the excerpt alone to conclude a violation. NCAA vice president of hearing operations Derrick Crawford said investigators were unable to obtain a full version of the wiretap.
UConn’s Hurley rewarded
UConn men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley has cashed in on the Huskies national championship, agreeing to a new six-year, $32.1 million contract, the school announced Thursday.
The deal, which runs through 2029, will pay Hurley an average of $5.35 million per season and includes incentives that could push his compensation higher, the school said. The school originally said the deal was worth $31.5 million, but said later that it had miscalculated the value.
The contract replaces a package signed in 2018 when Hurley was hired that paid him about $3 million per season.
“I am thrilled to have Dan Hurley leading our men’s basketball program,” David Benedict, the school’s director of athletics, said.
Hurley, 50, is 104-55 at UConn, a program he took over in March 2018 following three losing seasons and the firing of former coach Kevin Ollie amid NCAA violations.