“Removing Will Wade at the time would have been very difficult... There were a number of board members that were supportive of Will Wade.”
That was the assessment of former Louisiana State University President F. King Alexander, who spoke Monday with WRKF after LSU fired Wade, the school's head basketball coach, for allegations of improprieties that dated back three years.
Alexander said he and former athletic director Joe Alleva were both loudly criticized for their suspension of Wade in 2019, after reports surfaced about FBI allegations that Wade offered payment to recruits. That criticism eventually led to Alleva’s ouster and Wade’s reinstatement.
“Quite honestly, I thought Joe Alleva was mistreated,” Alexander said. “I ended up telling Joe that we're going in a new direction, and it wasn't because he did anything wrong with Will Wade. We did exactly the right thing by suspending Will Wade. And I think now people starting to figure that out.”
Exasperating the situation at the time was Wade’s refusal to meet with officials at the school to answer questions about the FBI investigation.
“There was an entire 'free Will Wade' movement that was under way,” Alexander said. “Free him from what? From his payment of players?”
At the time, Wade’s reinstatement came because he had the support of several LSU board members and because the FBI refused to turn over their evidence against Wade, hindering both LSU’s in-house investigation and the overall NCAA probe. Alexander didn’t feel that Wade could be fired without more evidence.
“People need to understand that presidents can only take responsibility when they have the board supporting them to do such,” Alexander said. “So removing Will Wade at the time would have been very difficult because there wasn’t any evidence that was provided. And at the same time, there were a number of board members that were supportive of Will Wade.”
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