Will Wade fired as LSU men’s basketball coach after accusations of five Level I NCAA violations

LSU has fired embattled men’s basketball coach Will Wade after receiving a notice of allegations that details significant misconduct, the school announced Saturday.

The firing means that Wade, who was in his fifth season at LSU, will not coach in the upcoming NCAA tournament. The Tigers are projected as a No. 6 seed in the tournament, and assistant Kevin Nickelberry will serve as the interim coach.

This will mark the second time that Wade has been unable to coach a Tigers team he led to the NCAA tournament. In 2019, LSU won the SEC regular-season championship, but Wade was suspended for the conference and NCAA tournaments after reports revealed that a federal wiretap captured him discussing a “strong-ass offer” for a recruit.

Wade was 108-54 at LSU. He previously coached VCU to a pair of NCAA tournament appearances and had a strong two-year stint at Chattanooga before that.

Nearly the entirety of Wade’s tenure at LSU operated under the pall of the federal basketball investigation, which became public in September 2017.

According to an NCAA notice of allegations that was obtained by ESPN on Saturday through an open records request, there are eight Level I violation allegations in LSU’s notice. Seven are alleged to be tied to the men’s basketball program. One of those pertains specifically to football, and the two sports share an allegation that the “institution failed to exercise institutional control and monitor the conduct and administration of its football and men’s basketball programs.”

There are two Level II allegations — one football and one basketball — and one Level III for football.

Wade is accused of five Level I violations and one Level II violation. Associate men’s basketball head coach Bill Armstrong is accused of one Level I violation and one Level II violation. In a statement,…