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LSU fires men's basketball coach Will Wade after NCAA charges program with multiple major violations
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- LSU fires men's basketball coach Will Wade after NCAA charges program with multiple major violations
Will Wade is out as LSU basketball coach, the university announced Saturday.
LSU President William Tate and athletics director Scott Woodward said that Wade was fired for cause in a statement posted on the school's athletics website, as was associate head coach Bill Armstrong, after the NCAA sent a Notice of Allegations to the university Wednesday following an investigation into possible violations by the men's basketball program.
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"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," the statement titled to the "LSU Community" read. "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."
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According to the Notice of Allegations released publicly by Sports Illustrated on Saturday, the NCAA's Independent Accountability Resolution Process charged Wade with at least six Level 1 violations and charged the university in total with eight Level 1 and two Level 2 violations. That includes a "lack of institutional control" charge.
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In Wade's amended contract from 2019 after he was reinstated from suspension when the initial investigation began, LSU could fire Wade with cause if a Notice of Allegations contained any Level 1 or Level 2 violations with his involvement.
Tate and Woodward, in the letter, said that Wade's firing for cause is not an "acknowledgement of agreement with any of the allegations" by the university.
"The University will determine its positions on the allegations after an exhaustive and objective examination of the relevant facts and applicable NCAA regulations," Tate and Woodward said in the statement.
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Assistant Kevin Nickelberry will be LSU's interim coach .
Wade went 108-51 as the Tigers' coach with two NCAA Tournament appearances. The expectation is that LSU would be in this year's bracket. LSU's final game before the NCAA Tournament was an SEC Tournament quarterfinals loss to Arkansas.
"I can't comment on any of that stuff," Wade said Thursday at the SEC Tournament . "We haven't been able to comment on it since everything started. I certainly look forward to commenting on it when it is all over. Until then, they won't allow us to comment."
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Will Wade: LSU fires men's basketball coach as NCAA lists violations
