Let’s get this out of the way: Will Wade sucks.
Talking about LSU without talking about Wade, his illegal approach to recruiting, and the Tigers’ resulting success, is a giant disservice. The actual on-court product has been outstanding, but FBI wiretaps give us a glimpse at the, uh, questionable way it came to be.
And by no means was Wade the lone ranger on this adventure, but it was against the NCAA bylaws, and recent (and overdue) advances in NIL don’t work retroactively. LSU is also a team recovering from a hefty amount of roster turnover after its most recent stars decided to turn more pro.