When a high-ranking officer in the military walks into the room, the subordinates stand at attention. Will Wade, affectionately nicknamed “The General,” has the attention of LSU fans as he takes over the Tigers’ men’s basketball program for a second time.
Wade returns to LSU after a four-year hiatus that saw him sit out a season after he was fired by LSU in 2022. He returned in 2023 to coach the McNeese Cowboys, and his short tenure there resulted in two Southland Conference Championships and two NCAA Tournament appearances.
The General was then deployed to North Carolina State and led the Wolfpack to a 20-win season and a short-lived NCAA Tournament appearance
Wade is now back where he believes he belongs and a fan base that absolutely adores him for his love for the people of Louisiana and LSU.
“You won’t find anybody that’s more proud to wear that LSU and state of Louisiana than this guy right here; And we’re going to find 15 players that are willing to lay it on the line for us every night,” Wade said.
Wade takes over for Matt McMahon, who, despite his best efforts, tried to generate the same excitement for LSU men’s basketball as was the case for Wade during his first five seasons at LSU.
But for a variety of reasons, it never happened for McMahon, and all the losing led to apathy.
Purple and Gold Nation is buzzing again over his return, and he’s ready to produce.
“Our time is NOW, with LSU basketball. I didn’t come here to reflect and talk about the past and any of that stuff. I came here to WIN. And we’re going to win immediately,” Wade said.
Wade admits he’s more mature and wiser this time and knows what it takes to produce a winner at LSU.
It helps he has some of the same people by his side that were with him at McNeese, LSU system president Wade Rousse, and soon-to-be LSU Senior AD Heath Schroyer.
“The way I look at this is what we had at McNeese, we did it on a regional scale,” Wade said. “We can take that same formula with more resources and more support, just because of the financial aspect of it all, and we can take that formula that made McNeese a regional power and won a first NCAA Tournament game, and we can take that and move that to LSU, and we can make ourselves a regional force.”
Wade said he’s not been guaranteed a dollar figure for building his roster, and when asked if LSU will support its men’s basketball program, he said he wouldn’t be back if LSU didn’t.
While most LSU fans love Wade, he understands others who follow college basketball do not, but that’s okay with him.
He appreciates his time at North Carolina State, but provided this dig when asked about being a villain.
“I’m at peace with what we did and look, they’re pretty mad for a coach they didn’t think was very good,” Wade said.
Wade is a good coach. He’s never had a losing season in 12 years as a head coach and has led four different teams to regular-season conference championships.
It remains to be seen how successful he’ll be in his second go-around with LSU. Sometimes the sequel is not as good as the original.
But one thing is for certain, LSU men’s basketball will not be boring with Wade at the helm.
“The General” has everyone’s attention, and we wait to see how he leads a rejuvenated fan base eager to be back in the NCAA Tournament again.
