Recruiting Violations Unearthed: Will Wade Suspended
LAKE CHARLES, Louisiana – For the second time in two days, a well-known men’s college basketball coach has been suspended for recruiting violations.
McNeese State’s Will Wade has been suspended for the first ten games of the 2023-24 season, after the Independent Accountability Resolution Process (IARP) concluded that Wade committed three Level-I violations while at LSU.
Controversial History Resurfaces
Wade served as the LSU head coach from 2017-22; he was fired in March 2022. When McNeese State made the controversial hire of Wade on March 13, 2023, the school self-imposed a five-game ban for Wade – which has now been trumped by today’s IARP decision.
Per the IARP’s decision, Wade “committed multiple violations, including failing to report potential NCAA violations, providing impermissible cash payments to impede disclosure of information of potential NCAA violations in contradiction to NCAA unethical conduct legislation, and failing to cooperate with the infractions investigation”. Basketball fans may remember when Wade was caught on tape discussing the “strong-ass offer” that was made to then-recruit Javonte Smart in 2017.
Wade was also found to have “violated the head coach responsibility rules by failing to promote an atmosphere of compliance”; the head coach responsibility rule was also referenced yesterday when Memphis coach Penny Hardaway received his three-game suspension.
Detailed Sanctions Imposed
In addition to the ten-game suspension to begin the season, Wade was also given a two-year show-cause order. Specifics of the show-cause order include:
– No off-campus recruiting related activities during any applicable April or summer evaluation and/or contact period
– Reduction in official visits by four each during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 academic years
– No recruiting conversations between Sept. 1, 2023, and Oct. 15, 2023, and Sept. 1, 2024, and Oct. 15, 2024
– No unofficial visits from Sept. 1, 2023, through Oct. 15, 2023, and Sept. 1, 2024, and Oct. 15, 2024
– Suspension from the first 10 contests of the first season of any Division I employment. Those contests shall not include exhibitions or practice scrimmages