Don’t look now but Will Wade and McNeese State are 17-2. A team that won 11 games last season hired one of the biggest villains in college basketball during the offseason, signed a bunch of transfers, and can’t stop winning. It’s one of the best under-the-radar stories in sports right now.
The Cowboys are undefeated at 6-0 atop the Southland Conference after an exhilarating final-second victory on Monday night. And as soon as the clock hit zero, sophomore guard D.J. Richards Jr. told the road crowd at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to cry about it.
— No Context College Basketball (@ContextFreeCBB) January 23, 2024
To make the win even more impressive, McNeese State was down by as many as 18 points during the second half. ESPN’s win probability chart puts the chaotic comeback in perspective.
The home side went up 48-30 with 13:25 remaining. The visitors came storming back to win 62-61.
Junior guard Mike Saunders, formerly of Cincinnati and Utah, went to the free throw line with a chance to tie the game at 61 with less than five seconds left. He missed.
However, Texas A&M C.C. was unable to pull down the rebound, and Christian Shumate played the hero. It was the Pokes’ first win over the Islanders in more than a decade!
Wade, who was fired with cause by LSU in March of 2022, has something cooking down in Lake Charles. This is his first year back coaching after the NCAA hit him with a two-year show cause order and a 10-game suspension last June.
It was determined that the 41-year-old “committed multiple violations, including failing to report potential NCAA violations, providing impermissible cash payments to impede disclosure of information of potential NCAA violations in contradiction to NCAA unethical conduct legislation, and failing to cooperate with the infractions investigation.” The governing body also determined that he “violated the head coach responsibility rules by failing to promote an atmosphere of compliance within the men’s basketball program.”
As a result, McNeese State began the 2023/24 season without Willy The Kid. They went 8-2.
Will Wade returned on Dec. 13— black hat and all.
His team has not lost since! The Bayou Bandits are on fire.