NCAA Basketball: 10 best head coaching hires of 2023 offseason

6. Will Wade (McNeese State)

It’s been more than two decades since McNeese State has made the NCAA Tournament, though that road is somewhat easier these days considering the changes in the Southland Conference in recent years. Still, it’s been more than a decade since the Cowboys were over .500 overall or in conference play and needed a spark after recent coaches like Heath Schroyer and John Aiken haven’t propelled the program forward.

Wade could certainly be the guy to propel the program forward considering what he’s accomplished in his career. He was an assistant at Harvard under Tommy Amaker and helped lead VCU to the Final Four as Shaka Smart’s assistant. He had briefly, but successful stints as head coach at Chattanooga and VCU before a controversial run at LSU, one that ended in his firing because of NCAA violations just over a year ago.

No matter how that tenure with the Tigers ended, it’s clear that a program like McNeese State is lucky to have someone like him leading the program. Former SEC head coaches with NCAA Tournament experience don’t just drop into the Southland every day. In all likelihood, Wade will significantly elevate the level of recruiting for the Cowboys and win a decent amount of games in the years to come before he’s ready to move to another bigger program. With where McNeese State has been this past decade, they’d take that hands down.