yahoo - 6/10/2026 6:44:30 PM - GMT (+2 )
When matchups for the 2026 SEC/ACC Challenge were revealed last week, the LSU men’s basketball program was handed a home game against Wake Forest — meaning that, for at least one year, Tigers coach Will Wade was spared from having to square off against NC State, where he coached last season.
The mercurial coach’s battle with his former employer, though, is far from over.
Three months after Wade left the Wolfpack, NC State has launched an investigation into whether LSU violated North Carolina law by persuading Wade to return to the Tigers, according to letters between lawyers from the two universities that were obtained by WRAL in Raleigh, North Carolina.
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In one of the more notable moves in this year’s coaching carousel, Wade resigned from NC State on March 25 after only one season before being announced one day later as the head coach at LSU, where he had previously coached from 2017-22.
According to WRAL, NC State is refusing to release LSU from potential legal action as the university examines whether the Tigers violated North Carolina’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act. NC State said it has reason to believe LSU may have worked with Wade for the new coach to avoid a larger buyout when he left the Wolfpack.
Wade had agreed to pay NC State a $4 million buyout, which LSU passed along in early May. Wade’s buyout had been set to drop from $5 million to $3 million on April 1, but the two sides negotiated a figure in the middle so that Wade could leave and the Wolfpack could begin their search for a new coach.
“The timing and circumstances of Coach Wade’s departure from Raleigh and his resignation, along with the LSU term sheet, and the eventual (buyout) payment of $4 million to NC State raise questions about LSU’s potential liability in this matter,” NC State General Counsel Allison B. Newhart wrote in correspondence to LSU General Counsel Carlton Jones, which was obtained by WRAL.
In a June 4 letter, NC State wrote that it would not agree to a mutual release and settlement agreement LSU sent two weeks earlier. In the letter, Newhart wrote that the Tigers may have “influenced efforts to avoid or delay notice to NC State of LSU’s recruitment of Coach Wade and perhaps even the timing of Coach Wade’s employment with LSU in order to avoid larger buyout fees.”
Wade’s exit marked the end of months of speculation that linked him to LSU, which fired coach Matt McMahon the same day Wade was hired after the former Murray State coach went 60-70 in four seasons in Baton Rouge.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY Sports: NC State reportedly investigating Will Wade's departure to LSU basketball
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