USC Basketball: 10 candidates to replace Andy Enfield as Head Coach

Will Wade

There wasn’t anything wrong with Enfield’s hire eleven seasons ago: the Trojans jumped quickly at the hot name in coaching circles. With an opening again, they might be willing to snatch up another hot name. The difference here is that Wade comes both with baggage and significant experience already at the power conference level.

A former graduate assistant at Clemson, Wade’s early success was helping VCU to the Final Four in 2011 as an assistant coach. His head coaching career began with successful two-year stints leading Chattanooga and VCU before landing at LSU in 2017. He put LSU back in great position over the next five years, but his tenure was overshadowed by a recruiting violations probe that cost him his job in 2022. However, Wade bounced back in a major way this season, leading McNeese State to 30 wins in his first season with the Cowboys.

He’s just 41 and could stay with USC for the long haul, though Wade has already shown great success at four different D1 programs. However, he still has some of the ramifications of those violations hanging over his head and we’re not sure if USC wants to wade into all of that fuss. Wade could absolutely build a successful program and potentially win games in the Big Ten. It’s all about his willing to move to the West Coast for the first time as well as if the Trojans want to gamble on him.