Will Wade Says He'll Be 1st Coach to Be Fired By Same School Twice or LSU Will Win CBB Title

Will Wade knows his return to LSU will likely end in one of two extremes.

"We're going to make history, one way or the other," the coach said during Monday's introductory press conference. "We're coming back ... to try to hang a banner, win a national championship, or I'm going to be the first coach fired from the same school twice. But one way or another, we're gonna make history."

Wade coached LSU for five seasons before the Tigers fired him in March 2022 amid the wider fallout from the FBI's investigation into corruption in college basketball. The NCAA ultimately hit him with a two-year show-cause penalty and a 10-game suspension.

Wade returned to coaching at McNeese State in 2023 and parlayed his two years there into the North Carolina State job. After only one season in Raleigh, he found his way to LSU again.

Feelings are understandably a bit raw. Wade pushed back Monday and said that "some of the things have been mischaracterized on how I left." He also quipped that Wolfpack fans are "pretty mad for a coach they didn't think was very good."

LSU had a .673 winning percentage with Wade at the helm. The team made the NCAA tournament on three occasions, reaching the Sweet 16 in 2019.

Setting the tone for his second stint, Wade said that "LSU is not meant to be average, mediocre or pretty good."

The men's team is bound to be measured against what Kim Mulkey as done with the women's program as well. The Tigers were national champions in Mulkey's second year and then reached the Elite Eight in successive seasons.

The administration probably isn't expecting Wade to deliver that quickly, but he won't have a long grace period before he needs to start showing results.

As Wade acknowledged, failing to achieve that will cause him to experience a familiar feeling.