LSU basketball is set to part ways with Matt McMahon after he has coached the team for the last four seasons. Will Wade just spent the 2025-26 season with NC State, and Wade had previously denied rumors that he was going to take the LSU job.
Now, it is being reported that the denial was not the truth, according to Pete Nakos and Joe Tipton of On3.
Wade will be leaving NC State after just one season to become the LSU head coach. This is pending the firing of McMahon from the position.
This would be the second stint for Wade at LSU. After spending time as the head coach of Chattanooga and VCU, Wade became the Tigers' coach for the 2017-18 season. He led LSU to the NIT in that first year, but over the next four seasons, he would lead the team to the NCAA Tournament three times, only missing in 2020 because of the tournament being cancelled due to COVID-19.
Still, Wade was fired in 2022 after an FBI wiretap revealed evidence of payments to players, resulting in multiple Level I NCAA violations and sanctions being placed on both the program and Wade. The coach would spend one year working in the NBA before taking the job at McNeese. He led McNeeses to the tournament both seasons there, including getting a win over Clemson in the first round in 2025. This led him to his lone season at NC State, where the team was eliminated in the First Four.
McMahon has not found success at LSU. He is just 60-70 in his four years with the Tigers, and has not made it to the NCAA Tournament. Now, it seems McMahon will be fired and will be replaced by the man whom he once replaced.
