Wade Still a Cowboy

On a cold spring evening in the lobby of a Providence hotel, as the celebration raged around him, Will Wade stood alone by the elevators, tears filling his eyes.

It was March 20, 2025, and Wade had just completed one of the greatest turnarounds in college basketball history – both for himself and the program that had gambled on him.

Wade was just a few hours away from having led McNeese, hardly a bump on the road to the Final Four at the time, to its biggest victory in school history.

Just two years after McNeese won only seven games, and three years after Wade himself was fired from his dream job at LSU over a recruiting scandal, his Cowboys upset Clemson to win their only NCAA Tournament game to date.

He was also only hours away from leaving the folks who had embraced him in his lowest moment.

“It’s really tough to leave,” said Wade. “This place means so much to me and has done so much for me. I can never repay them.”

Since that moment, he has truly tried.

Two days after the Clemson win, Wade’s team lost to Purdue, and he accepted the head coaching job at North Carolina State. He didn’t just run off to his new job, though; Wade flew back with the team to Lake Charles, delaying his Wolfpack press conference by 24 hours.

He wanted to make sure his McNeese family was O.K.

“It was a two-year magic carpet ride,” said Wade. “It just worked. I can’t really explain it. You had to be there and go through it.”

After an interesting year with the Wolfpack, Wade returned to LSU, which is where he always wanted to be.

Through it all, he has held to his promise to do everything he could to help McNeese keep winning. That included setting up his former assistant and good friend, Bill Armstrong, as his replacement. 

Now, he is set to make his first coaching stop on his Tiger return tour in the very court that gave him the second chance, Townsley Law Arena.

“I would not be sitting here (at LSU) if it wasn’t for them,” Wade said. “If they had not taken a chance on me, I would not be sitting here today.

“I can never repay what those people did for me and my family. I have some of my best friends in the world in Lake Charles. I probably needed them much more than they needed me.”

Wade’s Tigers will travel to McNeese for the exhibition opener on Thursday, Oct. 8, in front of a sellout crowd. All the proceeds will go to the Cowboys NIL fund to help keep the team rolling. 

“This is a way to give back to the people who mean so much to not just me but my family as well,” Wade said. “They embraced us and made us feel a part of the community. Giving back allows me to tap into those relationships again.”

In the national media, Wade is often portrayed very differently from how the people of Lake Charles remember him. To locals, he is more than a basketball coach; he is a guy who gave them something to cheer about when they were struggling to put their lives back together.

After two hurricanes, Lake Charles felt unwanted, alone, abandoned. Then Wade came here and gave them hope, embracing them just as he felt embraced. 

On the court, Wade became the lightning rod for the McNeese turnaround that has gone 86-17 the last three seasons and 55-5 in the Southland Conference. The Pokes are 49-1 at home in that stretch. 

Then he handed the reins to Armstrong, who might have the best roster ever at McNeese. And he is thankful for what Wade has done and is doing for him and the program.

“It is special,” said Armstrong. “For him to bring his team over here to help us and play in front of our fans, it is really something else. We are so close, and that just shows what kind of a guy Will is and what McNeese and Lake Charles mean to him. 

“The community support there is unparalleled,” Wade said. “Whenever we are not playing, I watch McNeese. I love everybody there.” 

It made for a perfect match that did more than win some basketball games. It gave a coach and an area a second chance.

And both found a friend for life through their tears.