I’ve always said I love WW. You’re arguing with yourself. Against your point, though, LSU’s history of success on the hardwood isn’t very good. Might as well say he’s the best WNBA player.
incorrect, astute readers may note i was pointing out his performance relative to the SEC, which is arguably the best conference. he won it in his second year, going undefeated on the road, which is unheard of. since then he has missed the tourney zero times. no other program has been more consistent. please try to pay closer attention to what i say, so i dont need to repeat it. not listening properly can lead to foolish opinions. so try to listen when people speak with points based on objective data. good luck. kentucky is a program you may have heard of. they missed the tournament last year and were 8th in the league. wade does not miss the tournament like kentucky did last year. wade is consistent. his off year with a significant injury to a key player still goes to the dance.
“Wade was the best coach LSU ever had.” Also, several programs have advanced further than LSU under WW. Consistency is only 1 metric. Unfortunately, we’ll never see how high WW can fly now. If you could communicate without the bitchy arrogance I think this would be a better place.
Good summation from Brody miller at the athletic: https://t.co/xYNeyhPgoq BATON ROUGE, La. —…. LSU hopes the decision to fire Wade operates as a move of cooperation and an intention to change things. With the IARP attaching the football violations to the basketball violation, LSU is attempting to make every correct step possible to protect the football program in the coming decision by the NCAA. The charges against LSU, Wade The notice of allegations accuses LSU of eight Level I violations and two Level II violations, with the overwhelming majority of the violations being attached to Wade and assistant coach Bill Armstrong (who was also fired Saturday). The first violations against Wade are the ones reported in 2019, including cash payments to former LSU guard Javonte Smart and offering an assistant coaching job to a person associated with Smart. That offer was allegedly the “strong-ass offer” Wade was recorded in 2017 saying to Christian Dawkins in the FBI wiretap. Wade was then accused of providing cash payments to the former fiancee of an LSU student-athlete “in order to buy her silence” regarding payments to recruits. According to text message records, the woman reached out to Wade saying she would talk if not given money. Wade then said, “Call me.” The next day, she said, “I need 5 more to put a down payment on a car. Put it in the same account.” She then added, “you’ve done your part now I have to do mine and make sure this doesn’t get out.” When the woman went back to Wade a few days later, Wade responded, “Yes I did. I thought we were done.” When the woman again asked for more money, Wade said, “I’m sorry you are having money issues. You said we were done after the last transfer I sent, so in my mind we are done.” The notice of allegations also accused Wade and Armstrong of paying a prospective player and/or his family members or associates $300,000 in addition to a job offer, lodging, impermissible academic assistance, a scholarship, and assistance securing visas. Wade was then accused of paying the family friend of a recruit cash to work as an “impermissible recruiter” of the player. The same allegation says Wade directed payments to be made from a bank account in the name of Wade’s wife, Lauren, that they used as a joint account. Further allegations against the basketball program include Wade and Armstrong having impermissible contact with a recruit and generally not promoting a culture of compliance. The NCAA also accused Wade of not cooperating with the investigation. It said for 13 months Wade did not hand over digital records requested by the NCAA, and when he ultimately did he only provided 60,000 of 130,000 records that Wade’s counsel claimed had been imaged. Wade then did not comply with six further requests for the remaining documents. Wade also did not provide bank records related to the joint account allegedly used for payments. “Despite many communications between Wade and his spouse establishing Wade’s control over the joint account, Wade repeatedly made the claim that his spouse ‘handled the finances’ and generally claimed ignorance of or stated he did not recall the details of his financial affairs,” the report said. It then accuses Wade of knowingly providing false or misleading information in multiple interviews with the NCAA. On top of basketball, the notice of allegations includes the previously reported football violations of former Our Lady of the Lake hospital foundation head John Paul Funes proving $180,150 worth of impermissible benefits to the family of former LSU offensive lineman Vadal Alexander from 2012 to 2017, including providing jobs for his family. That happened under Les Miles, and LSU hoped to be nearing a conclusion to the investigation when in January 2020 — in the aftermath of LSU winning its 2019 national championship — former LSU star Odell Beckham Jr. handed out approximately $2,000 in cash to various players. That incident led to the football investigation continuing, and it was ultimately looped in with the basketball investigation, much to LSU’s dismay. LSU AD Scott Woodward has a history of impressive hires, but filling this men’s basketball vacancy will take considerable doing Why LSU fired Wade now Many have wondered why LSU only fired Wade now when reports and recordings have documented many of these accusations since the beginning. The quick answer is a combination of money, timing and a hope to resolve this situation with the NCAA. LSU has stood by Wade since Alleva originally suspended (and then reinstated) him in 2019 as the FBI wiretap surfaced, but it also has not publicly said anything either way regarding the investigation. Woodward, who replaced Alleva months later, waited to see how this would play out before making any major moves for or against Wade. But don’t forget the amendment Alleva negotiated into Wade’s contract post-suspension. Among other things, it said LSU could fire Wade with cause if the NCAA accuses him of Level I or Level II violations. So for the past three years, LSU didn’t have that document in hand yet, and proving cause can involve lengthy and very messy legal battles. So once LSU finally received its notice of allegations, it had the ammunition to swiftly fire him for free if it so chose. It’s also worth noting LSU quietly thought during earlier stretches of this investigation that it could survive this. Sources say certain people in power around LSU around 2020 weren’t convinced the NCAA would ultimately get the evidence needed to bring major sanctions against Wade. The other major factor in actually firing Wade now has to do with trying to build as much goodwill as possible with the NCAA. Once the charges were this vast and extreme, it was clear this would end poorly. So LSU wanted to communicate cooperation with the committee. And it cannot be understated how much LSU also wants to protect the football program as much as possible. Dragging this out further could have led to a harsher response. The other question is why LSU waited to fire Wade until Saturday when it received the NOA at the start of the week. Sources say there is validity to Tate and Woodard’s statement that “we took several days to fully evaluate it and engage in deliberate and thoughtful discussions about our next steps,” but there’s also a sense LSU didn’t want to fire Wade right as LSU was beginning its SEC tournament run. LSU lost to Arkansas on Friday, clearing the way for Saturday’s announcement. What comes next While LSU’s relationship with Wade may be over, LSU’s journey with the NCAA still has a long way to go. LSU has 90 days to respond to the notice of allegations. Then the NCAA’s Complex Case Unit has another 60 days to respond to that. Add in more time for an actual hearing, and this is still months away from being resolved. LSU plans to still defend the university, and the Woodward/Tate statement made sure to say, “our decision to terminate Coach Wade and Coach Armstrong is not an acknowledgement of agreement with any of the allegations.” But it will also try to cooperate however necessary to bring a reasonable resolution. This set of allegations is large and damning, with sources expecting anywhere from a three-year postseason ban to a severe reduction of scholarships, at least. That in turn makes LSU a difficult job to sell to the supposed next coach. Woodward has a history of prying away the biggest fish in sports. He’s the man who got Chris Petersen to leave Boise State for Washington. He got Jimbo Fisher and Buzz Williams to come to Texas A&M. And he got Kim Mulkey and Brian Kelly to leave for LSU in unprecedented fashion. But this hire will be different. It’s difficult to envision a major sitting coach leaving a good job for several years of sanctions. LSU may have to look for a less proven coach who is prepared to work through struggles. As for Wade, with him separated from the program it will be interesting to see what strategy he takes. As he said before, he “looks forward to commenting.” It is possible he receives a lengthy show-cause penalty, meaning he is limited from recruiting for potentially years. With football, there’s optimism around LSU that the NOA was not too hard on the program and that the actions LSU has taken could be enough to leave things in stable shape. There are multiple acknowledgments in the report that the football program cooperated, accepted responsibility and implemented actions. LSU already self-imposed a bowl ban in 2020 and reduced its available scholarships.
consistent winning and making the tournament is the most important metric for a college basketball program. the more chances you have in the tournament the greater the odds you have some big runs. thats the point of college basketball, to win, and do it consistently. wade never missed the tournament since after his first year. unfortunately during his 4 years one tournament was cancelled, and another his idiot AD didnt let him coach. circumstances beyond his control and caused by idiots restricted his success. they were really good during the virus year. single game elimination tournaments are a crapshoot, and random shit will happen. upsets and buzzer beating cinderellas etc. thats why they are so exciting. so you make the tournament every year and roll the dice, and eventually your team will be the one going on a run. thats the goal, thats a successful program, make the tournament every year consistently. control what you can control. dont reply if your feelings are hurt
the SEC tournament meant almost nothing to the selection committee. thats why tennessee only got a 3. they dont care about these tournaments. lsu would have needed to win the SEC tourney to get a better seed and even then who knows.
you guys resort to sarcasm as a way to construct straw men. nobody said that, and you dont mean it. do you think Tennessee earned a 2 with the tournament win? they didnt get it. remember last year when LSU made it to the finals and it didnt move their seed up, if anything it appeared to go down? and will wade explicity said he doesnt think they look much at the tournaments? no counterpoint? think A&M made progress by making the final? they got shunned. yunno why? selection comittee doesnt seem to care much about the tournaments. do you have data showing making a run in the tournament correlates with a better seed in the tournament? no data ever? no argument? snark? i see. you guys dont want to talk basketball so much as be snarky and avoid data based points at all costs.
