LSU men's basketball coach Matt McMahon has been dismissed after four seasons at the school.
Former Tigers coach Will Wade, who preceded McMahon in the job, is returning to the school after his tumultuous tenure that saw the program found guilty of recruiting violations. Wade received a show-cause penalty as part of the NCAA punishment, but return to coaching at McNeese State in 2023 and led North Carolina State to the NCAA Tournament this season in his one year at the school.
Wade will owe North Carolina State a buyout of $5 million.
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The loss of Wade disappointing development for the Wolfpack, who thought they had found their next long-term coach in Wade after moving on from Kevin Keatts.
For LSU, it's the second time in five months it has hired a coach who tanked his reputation before rehabilitating it. The football program, of course, hired Lane Kiffin away from Mississippi in a year where the rebels made the playoffs. Now it's poaching a coach it was strong-armed into moving on from in the first place.
For McMahon, it ends a four-year era in which he went 60-70 and a lowly 17-55 against the SEC with no Men's NCAA Tournament appearances.
Matt McMahon buyout
McMahon's buyout figure figures to be just more than $8 million, according to his contract obtained by USA TODAY Sports. He spent eight seasons with Murray State before joining the Tigers, going 154-67 with three NCAA appearances.
Matt McMahon LSU record
McMahon struggled to recruit to LSU, and the team's record reflected it. The Tigers went 60-70 (17-55 SEC) in his four seasons with them, and they didn't make the NCAA Tournament during his tenure.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Matt McMahon fired by LSU basketball, Will Wade to return to Tigers

