re: What will it take to rehire Will “The Pear” Wade?

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I love Wade, but this is getting ridiculous. Get over it, at least until something concrete ever comes up about him being hired here again.

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It would have happened at the end of last season but for Tate and Woodward. They refused to consider the opportunity. That's not conjecture. It happened. Tate was NEVER going to sign off on rehiring Wade because Tate did not trust Wade (which was understandable). The people who made the push to get Wade back to LSU last season then "fixed the glitch"...unless you think Tate just really wanted to go to Rutgers and Landy's comments about Woodward were SOLELY related to football. Again, there is no guarantee Wade would even consider coming back after a year at NC State. But the impediments to a reunion are gone and the desire of the people who could potentially make the reunion happen is still there.

As for those who "can't understand" the adulation, here's why:

In the 80's under Brown LSU basketball was hugely popular. Then the Lester Earl saga happened and the program tanked. Combining that with Joe Dean's cheap nature and LSU was left with Brady as almost their only option who would (a) take the job and (b) at the low low price Dean would pay. The Brady era was a roller coaster. Some great highs with some really low lows. Hell, Brady went to the Final Four then finished last in the SEC West the very next season. That, combine with his acerbic personality, finally got him run in 2008. Then came Johnson. He had a great season with the remnants of Brady's roster. But Johnson (like the current HC) didn't love interacting with the donors and he did not want to get in the mud of AAU recruiting. That led to the first real decline in interest in the program.

Alleva then gave into the pollical pressure of Brown and his supporters by hiring Jones. NO OTHER major program would have even considered hiring Jones except LSU. However, Jone has genuine passion for LSU and he was willing to play in the dirty recruiting slop (unless you think guys like Martin, Mickey, Quarterman, Blakeney, etc just really liked LSU). The problem is Jones couldn't coach. That's why LSU got 4 years of (slightly) above average basketball...culminating in the wasted Simmons season. Alleva then gave Jones an extra year when everyone in the program had basically checked out.

Then Wade was hired. From literally day 1 there was a different energy in the LSU program than anything the program had in the 20+ years since Brown retired. He was able to quickly take LSU from a dumpster fire to competitive in year 1...at a time when there was no transfer portal. In year two LSU had its best regular season in 40 years. Wade brought energy and excitement. But for the 2020 tournament being cancelled, he would have brought LSU to 4 straight NCAA Tournaments...something that had not happen since the Shaq era. Wade's only "sin" was paying players...which is ironic in an era where that is MADATORY. Nonetheless, Wade was fired. Whether you agree or disagree with that, there WAS a justifiable basis for doing so. Then LSU hired McMahon who has somehow managed to combine the low energy of Johnson with the poor coaching ability of Jones. The apathy towards the program is probably at a 50 year high now. NO ONE in town cares. Go to the PMAC. It's empty. Go out in BR on a game night. The game isn't even on TV at the bar/restaurant. I was out in a crowded bar/restaurant the night of the SMU game. There were 50 TVs in the place. NONE had the LSU game on until our party asked the staff to change the channel.

Is Wade the best HC in college basketball? No (though he does have a career .700 winning %). COULD LSU hire a better HC? Maybe. No one saw the great success of Oats or even Golden coming. But what fans do know is Wade can consistently win at LSU...because we've actually seen it happen. Hiring Wade is a "known". Hiring anyone else is an "unknown" and even the best resume isn't a certainty (see Brian Kelly). So in a world where there are no certainties, Wade represents as close to a certainty for LSU as it gets. And given the last nearly 40 years of average to bad basketball, many rational people would happily take the ONE guy who was able to consistently win during that time period.