LSU Basketball coach Will Wade kicked out for school announced Saturday. The development comes in the same week that the Tigers received notification of allegations from the NCAA about alleged rule violations committed during Wade’s five-year tenure. Associate Director Bill Armstrong has also been fired.
The school has appointed assistant coach Kevin Nickelberry as interim coach. Nickelberry is a former Head Coach at Hampton And the Howard. The Tigers are the predicted No. 6 seed for the NCAA Championship, according to CBS Sports Archeology Expert Jerry Palm.
LSU Athletic Director Scott Woodward and President William Tate IV said at a permit. “We can no longer subject our university, the athletics department, and most importantly, our student-athletes, to this already tax and lengthy process without taking any action. Our responsibility to protect and promote the integrity and well-being of all members of the institution and our student-athletes will remain extremely important.”
The school’s case is handled through the IARP process, an independent body designed to handle complex NCAA abuse cases. valley It was suspended in March 2019 From his position as LSU coach after reports from a eavesdropping conversation detected Discuss a “strong ass” display of a recruit later identified as Jafont Smart.
The Allegations Notice He claims that Wade’s “behavior was deliberate and committed after great planning” and details how he provided financial incentives to secure commitments from players. As it relates to Armstrong, the NOA that “Wade condoned, participated in, or negligently ignored Armstrong’s conduct in the recruitment of a potential student-athlete.”
LSU went 105-51 (55-33 SEC) under Wade’s direction in five seasons. 39 years old Chattanooga And the Virginia Commonwealth University The coach was suspended in 2019 when the Tigers reached Sweet 16, which was the deepest post-season during his tenure. However, he was reinstated shortly after the season after he “answered all questions and denied any wrongdoing in relation to recently reported allegations of wrongdoing in college basketball recruitment,” according to a newspaper. LSU statement at the time.
Wade’s dismissal comes after four and a half years of the FBI’s crackdown on corruption in college basketball that entrapped programs across the country. Most of the coaches involved kept their jobs even during the turmoil, even with some of their assistants being sanctioned by the NCAA.
But Wade’s voice in the 2017 FBI wiretapping discussing a “strong-ass show” — a conversation later overheard nationally in the HBO documentary “The Scheme” — made him the face of the federal government’s sting. His subsequent continuation as an LSU coach led to concern within the sport on the slow wheels of justice within the NCAA and made him a source of derision on road places.
At the November 2019 game at Virginia Commonwealth University, for example, several fans seated near the LSU bench wore fake FBI clothing.
In a scathing 2020 letter to the NCAA, US Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner Greg Sankey criticized the NCAA over its enforcement process, reportedly writing that “current timelines should be viewed as unacceptable, and rapid change is needed so that implementation The right accountability at the right time.”
“Typical food guru. Problem solver. Devoted beer practitioner. Professional reader. Baconaholic.”