Woodward, LSU make the right move in firing Wade now

The saga finally concluded this past weekend. The Will Wade era at LSU is over.

The 39-year old Wade put a consistently good product on the floor. He may still have a future, perhaps even a good one, in the sport.

At Chattanooga, Wade was 27-7 in two seasons. At VCU, Wade posted a 51-20 mark in two seasons, taking the Hokies to the NCAA tournament in both seasons.

At LSU, finished 105-51, taking the Tigers to the NIT in his first season and the NCAA in his last three seasons, including this season. The 2019-20 postseason was canceled.

Wade has produced a host of players to log playing time in the NBA, including Josh Gray, Skylar Mays, Naz Reid, Brandon Sampson, Ja’Vonte Smart, Cam Thomas, Tremont Waters and Trendon Watford.

So often in life, you watch the excuse game adopted as the comparison game is played.

Being part of the herd is a common alibi.

Yes, it is true that others, perhaps many others, have engaged in illegal recruiting at the stage of paying players to attend their respective schools.

I have read and listened to all of the justification, which others have provided frequently, that the NCAA is selective in who they go after and eventually prosecute.

Bill Self is still coaching Kansas and has his program at an elite level despite five Level I violation accusations. Self has the Jayhawks as a No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA tournament one of the favorites to win the national championship.

Roy Williams coached North Carolina until he retired despite academic fraud allegations.

Both had accusations thrown at them but both coaches survived.

Both are clear blue-blood NCAA basketball programs.

Perhaps that has factored in the lack of prosecution.

One would certainly hope not but the lack of trust in the process from LSU fans is completely understandable.

With regard to Wade, he is a unique category, caught via an FBI wiretap with the transgression which led to the widespread investigation.

The initial report came on March 7, 2019, when it was reported that Wade discussed an offer to a recruit, who turned out to be Smart.

The transcript was damning enough but the audio was overpowering evidence and put Wade in a position of being unable to state denial.

It took just a day for LSU to suspend Wade indefinitely with Tony Benford taking over as interim coach.

The suspension was lifted just over a month later, on April 14.

In the interim, Wade, who initially denied the request by his employer to speak with them, further distanced himself from the university with clear insubordination.

To many observers, based on the audio tape and with the insubordination, it was a surprise that Wade was not dismissed then.

Eventually, Wade cooperated, leading to the reinstatement but with significant modifications to his contract with the school.

The stringent new language eventually led to Wade’s dismissal Saturday.

Wade had been asked to produce various records over a period of a couple of years. He refused to do so until August of 2021.

The changes included Wade having to forfeit $250,000 in bonuses he would have earned in the midst of the suspension.

Most important were the new policies implemented which allowed LSU to fire Wade for cause in the event he was determined to have committed a Level I or Level II NCAA violation and that Wade could be terminated if the NCAA issued a formal notice to LSU that Wade was being accused of a Level I or Level II violation.

The bonuses were forfeited.

Now, Wade has forfeited his job in the midst of the alleged high level violations.

For those who defend Wade, I get it.

He is mercurial, energetic, animated.

Wade is the kind of guy that if he is on your side, you love him and if he is the opponent, you hate him.

He brought consistent success with consistently good players to the program.

His team this season raised its level of defense significantly.

His offenses featured excellent individual players but sometimes struggled in the half court with sets, execution and consistency. You can add shooting to this year’s squad.

For those who defend Wade, it is hard to defend being charged with seven Level I violations, as well as a Level III violation. Six of the violations are directly tied to Wade with one tied to his associate head coach.

As is the case with all in our republic, you are innocent until proven guilty. Let us hope that is the case here and with all such situations but the charges are plentiful, painful and the alleged cover-up, in an instance or two, is poor, even pathetic.

The Complex Case Unit, which handled the case for the NCAA, alleges that Wade offered a job to an assistant coach to close the deal on signing Smart.

Another significant allegation is that Wade paid off the former fiancée of an LSU athlete after she texted him that she knew of Wade paying recruits. In exchange, Wade allegedly paid the woman to be silent on the matter.

Wade is also accused of directing payments to an unnamed person in exchange for influence with a recruit’s decision in 2018 and that Wade failed to cooperate in the investigation, tried to conceal violations and even obstructed the investigation.

Associate head coach Bill Armstrong, who was also fired Saturday, is alleged to have offered a prospect $300,000 , with Wade’s knowledge, to attend LSU. Armstrong was also accused of offering the same recruit many favors.

Armstrong and Wade are also alleged to have had illegal in-person contact with the parents of a prospect playing in a basketball state final. There is a photograph of the coaches with the parents which was posted via Instagram.

The level of trying to circumvent rules and to hide improper behavior, Wade is alleged to have made payments to someone in 2018 for his services to act as an impermissible recruiter for an unnamed player with the money allegedly coming out of a bank account in the name of Wade’s wife, another Level I violation.

In support of Wade, some have put forth the argument that Wade is the panacea for LSU basketball, the only one to lead LSU to large success and to maintain it.

In five years on the job, Wade did post a level of consistency second only to Dale Brown in terms on winning at a high level but there were others to have success at LSU.

LSU reached the Final Four with Hall of Fame performer Bob Petit leading the way in 1953 under Harry Rabenhorst.

Brown led LSU to 13 NCAA tournaments and two NIT appearances.

The Tigers reached the Final Four twice under Brown, in 1981 and in 1986. Brown also guided LSU to the Elite Eight once and the Sweet 16 once.

In his tenure, John Brady led LSU to four NCAA tournaments, including a Sweet 16 appearance and a Final Four appearance in the 2005-06 season. Brady also led the Tigers to a pair of NIT appearances but he was dismissed in 2008 after two subpar seasons following the Final Four team.

Trent Johnson led LSU to the NCAA tournament in his first season (2008-09) and to the NIT in his fourth and final season.

Now, Scott Woodward is back in the marketplace for a head coach for a significant program and he may be hampered by the damage done by Wade and the carnage for the next coach to clean up with NCAA sanctions looming on the horizon which could deter or give cause for pause to any prospective candidate looking at the LSU job.

Already, Woodward had to replace a legendary gymnastics coach in D-D Breaux and, by all accounts, made an excellent hire in Jay Clark.

Woodward had to replace a highly successful, national championship baseball coach in Paul Mainieri and brought in Jay Johnson, perceived to be a very good hire by virtually all observers.

Woodward had to make the tough decision to fire a national championship football coach in Ed Orgeron and hired a highly successful, proven coach in Brian Kelly.

Woodward made a change in women’s basketball with Nikki Fargas resigning to become President of the WNBA Las Vegas Aces. What followed was a slam dunk hire of Louisiana legend and national championship coach Kim Mulkey.

Based on the track record, the two things that stick out are that we should trust Woodward to make a sound, solid decision and that he will spare no expenses to get the coach he wants.

With a show-cause order looming on the horizon, Wade may not coach again for a few years, if not several years, but he is young. Bruce Pearl overcame a similar order after sanctions levied when he was at Tennessee and now he is back in the SEC at Auburn with a team that is a threat to win the national championship.

Perhaps Wade will learn from the experience.

Was the winning over five years worth it for the university, given the damage done and what is to come?

Sean Miller had great success at Arizona but eventually was let go for violations in 2021. He may well surface again, at some point.

Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of the Wade and LSU situation is the painstaking amount of time it took the NCAA and its investigative team to render judgment. Three years is a long time to linger in limbo, in purgatory.

The bar has been knocked down. The contest is over. The coach has been purged.

Were the accusations against Wade limited to one or two, there would be a valid argument to fight for the coach, based on his record of success on the floor.

Based on the numerous violations, the clear intent to conceal and the initial insubordination toward his employer, Woodward and LSU made the only move it could make.