SALT LAKE CITY — Will Wade is back, this time with McNeese State.
Following an FBI investigation, a firing from his job at LSU, a show-cause penalty from the NCAA and a 10-game suspension that he served earlier in the season, Wade and the Cowboys will face Gonzaga on Thursday evening in an opening-round NCAA Tournament matchup.
Advertisement
During Wednesday’s news conference, Wade was open and candid about his past issues. He spoke of his resiliency, the resiliency of the players on his roster and the fact that many who matriculated to McNeese were cast-offs on some level. His comments on the investigation that cost him his job at LSU were honest and raw. He spoke with a smile on Wednesday. But it was clear that he welcomed the questions.
“I think it ruined a lot of people’s lives,” Wade said. “I was able to recover. There were a lot of good people who were not able to recover. I think it ruined a lot of people’s lives for very little reason and I think it was extremely unfortunate.”
“I wish the NCAA would step in and say, look we need to let these other folks back in. We need to get rid of some of these punishments that they had. They need to wash it, start clear and let those guys back in. They need to let them get going and give them the opportunity to rebuild their careers.”
“They’ve been punished, I promise you. They’ve been punished enough.”
Wade has taken his third team to an NCAA Tournament. This one has won 30 games and has a 19-game improvement over last season, which ties for the biggest one-year turnaround in college basketball history. The Cowboys will face a Gonzaga team that went 25-7 during the season, finished second in the West Coast Conference and lost to Saint Mary’s in the WCC title game.
Required reading
(Photo: Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
