Will Wade, Bill Armstrong fired from LSU

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - LSU has fired head basketball coach Will Wade and associate head coach Bill Armstrong on Saturday, March 12, university officials said.

This comes after LSU confirmed on Wednesday, March 9, that it had received the NCAA notice of allegations. Those NCAA violations have reportedly occurred since 2017, and are related to an FBI wire-tapping scandal involving Wade and were later combined with allegations targeting the football program, which led to a self-imposed bowl ban in 2020.

University president William Tate confirmed the news in a statement. Tate said, “The Notice contains serious allegations, including multiple charges alleging Coach Wade’s personal involvement in—or awareness of—Level I misconduct. After receiving the Notice earlier this week, we took several days to fully evaluate it and engage in deliberate and thoughtful discussions about our next steps. We can no longer subject our University, Department of Athletics, and—most importantly—our student-athletes, to this taxing and already-lengthy process without taking action. Our responsibility to protect and promote the integrity and well-being of our entire institution and our student-athletes will always be paramount.”

LSU leadership confirmed it will “immediately initiate a national search for a new head coach.”

University leaders said, “assistant coach Kevin Nickelberry will lead our team for the remainder of the season.”

The university was unable to provide additional details “per NCAA rules and procedures, we are unable to provide further comment on the IARP process, the contents of the Notice of Allegations, or today’s decision.”

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