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Report: VCU’s Will Wade emerges as top candidate for LSU job

Mandatory Credit: Christian Petersen-Getty Images
Mandatory Credit: Christian Petersen-Getty Images

VCU’s Will Wade has emerged as the leading candidate to become the head coach at LSU.

Will Wade is becoming a hot commodity for head coaching vacancies, and you can add LSU to the names of schools that are trying to woo him away from Richmond.

According to a source from ESPN that was reported in the Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch, the current head coach at VCU has emerged as the leading candidate to take over the reigns in Baton Rouge.

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The Tigers are in need of some new life. After failing to meet expectation in the 2015-16 season, the Tigers sunk to a new low this past season, going just 10-21, which included a school-record 15-game losing streak and a miserable 2-14 record against SEC opponents.

If Wade is the man, he will have his hands full in turning around a program that is currently enduring hard times, but if anybody can inject life into the dormant program, it’s Wade. Born and raised in Nashville, Tennesee,  his first head coaching gig came at UT-Chattanooga, where. after going 18-15 in his first year led them to their first 20+ win season in 10 years (22-10).

That was enough to convince VCU to bring back Wade as a head coach (he previously was at VCU as an assistant coach). During his first year back in Richmond, he led the Rams to a 25 win season and an apperance in the 2nd Round of the NCAA Tournament last season.

This season, he powered the Rams to a 26-9 record, but surprisingly went down to Saint Mary’s in this year’s March Madness. Despite their early exits, Wade has made what was once a relative unknown program into a rising powerhouse, and it’s perfectly logical for LSU to think that he will be successful in bringing their men’s program back from the dead and back into contention.