An independent infractions panel handed a two-year show-cause penalty and a 10-game suspension to former LSU and current McNeese State men’s basketball coach Will Wade on Thursday for multiple rules violations.
The ruling came from a panel of the Independent Accountability Resolution Process (IARP) and determined Wade failed to report potential violations, provided cash payments to prevent the disclosure of potential violations and failed to cooperate with the investigation. The case also included violations tied to the Tigers’ football program, leading to both programs being placed on three years of probation following previous self-imposed penalties.
The basketball case originally grew from the federal corruption investigation into college basketball, with LSU firing Wade in March 2022. He was hired by McNeese State earlier this year.
The show-cause penalty through June 2025 means Wade cannot perform any off-campus recruiting activities during April and summer evaluation periods. There are also additional recruiting restrictions against Wade, who was determined to have committed three Level I violations — considered a severe breach of conduct — that include the rule governing overall head-coach responsibility for conduct within a program.
The NCAA ruling leaves Kansas as the only school with a case pending in the IARP. The IARP took on six cases, five of which — Arizona, LSU, Louisville, Kansas and North Carolina State — had ties to the federal probe.
“We accept and respect today’s decision by the IARP in regards to Coach Wade,” McNeese athletics director Heath Schroyer said. “We are all happy this is finally behind us and we have clarity moving forward. We have been proactive from the beginning in respecting the NCAA’s process and in regards to protecting the integrity of our institution. That will not change moving forward.
“The enthusiasm around this program is at an all-time high and we are all excited about the future of McNeese Basketball with (Wade) leading the way.”
The IARP was created to handle complex cases and emerged out of proposals from the 2018 commission led by former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to reform the sport. It will be eliminated after completing its slate of referred cases, a move announced last summer as the NCAA attempts to modernize its infractions process and make it move more efficiently.
N.C. State was the first IARP case to push through the system and reach a ruling in December 2021.
Kansas’ case was the third to be initially sent to the IARP, back in July 2020, and now will be the last to conclude. It centers on whether Adidas representatives were considered boosters when they coordinated payments to KU men’s basketball recruits.
KU enacted suspensions on head coach Bill Self and assistant coach Kurtis Townsend as part of a set of self-imposed punishments last November intended to help conclude the IARP.
Sports Illustrated reported in mid-April that representatives of Kansas Athletics had just participated in an IARP hearing, after LSU had done so in February; as a result, the KU decision, if it holds to the same timeline, could come by the end of August. The IARP will cease to exist following its final resolution.
— Journal-World sports editor Henry Greenstein contributed to this report.
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