LSU Lands Will Wade as Basketball Coach

UPDATE: LSU makes it official.

Reports had begun to leak that LSU was pursuing Virginia Commonwealth University head coach Will Wade over the last 24 hours, and per ESPN’s Jeff Goodman, Joe Alleva has his man:

Tiger Rag’s Cody Worsham confirmed shortly thereafter.

Wade has a 91-45 overall record in four years as a head coach at the tender young (younger than yours truly by about 10 months) age of 34. He was 51-20 in his two years at VCU, making the NCAA tournament both times and winning a share of the Atlantic 10 conference title in his first season.

He’s squarely in the “young up-and-comer” camp or head coaches, but aside from Middle Tennessee’s Kermit Davis (who never seemed like a serious candidate) and now-former Indiana head coach Tom Crean, that seemed like the most likely path for Joe Alleva in replacing Johnny Jones. A six-year deal indicates that the LSU administration recognizes that Wade will have a heck of a job in front of him as well, and need time to attract “his” players.

Wade is a Clemson alum, and many expected him to pursue that job, but the Tigers elected to keep head coach Brad Brownell for another year.

More on this to come.