Familiar Territory: Will Wade Returning to Old Stomping Grounds at LSU

March 26th, 2026 - 15:22

Will Wade, rehired by Louisiana State, boasts an opportunity to achieve something rare in the major-college coaching community. The Tigers reeled Martin back in despite a trend where resurrected mentors failed to come anywhere close to duplicating success during previous tenure. Wade won 67.3% of his games in previous five-season stint.

Although eight of them posted losing marks during initial stint, Ronnie Arrow (South Alabama), Jim McCafferty (Loyola LA) and Ritchie McKay (Liberty) are the only three of the 42 mentors a total of 44 times in this "Comeback Club" category over the last 60-plus years to compile a higher winning percentage the second time around.

Several years ago, Xavier's Sean Miller reupped to align with Lou Carnesecca (St. John's) and Lake Kelly (Austin Peay State) as the only coaches to win NCAA playoff games in two different stints with the same school. Wade is the fourth active coach on the following alphabetical list of coaches returning to their former major-college stomping grounds if their tenures weren't interrupted solely by World War II:

Two-Time Coach DI College First Stint W-L Pct. Second Stint W-L Pct.
Ronnie Arrow South Alabama 1988-95 114-93 .551 2008-13 97-68 .588
Tom Asbury Pepperdine 1989-94 125-59 .679 2009-11 28-68 .292
Lou Carnesecca St. John's 1966-70 104-35 .748 1974-92 422-165 .719
Ed Conroy The Citadel 2007-10 49-76 .392 since 2023 38-90 .297
Paul Cormier Dartmouth 1985-91 87-95 .478 2011-16 55-116 .322
Kermit Davis Idaho 1989 and 1990 50-12 .806 1997 13-17 .433
Mike Dement UNC Greensboro 1992-95 55-56 .495 2006-12 69-125 .356
Joe Dooley East Carolina 1996-99 57-52 .523 2019-22 44-67 .396
Homer Drew Valparaiso 1989-2002 235-185 .560 2004-11 136-120 .531
Marshall Emery Delaware State 1977-79 30-50 .375 1986-88 18-66 .214
Dan Fitzgerald Gonzaga 1979-81 51-29 .638 1986-97 203-140 .592
Blair Gullion Washington (Mo.) 1948-52 65-41 .613 1954-59 69-61 .531
Lou Henson New Mexico State 1967-75 173-71 .709 1998-2005 136-105 .564
Ben Jobe Southern (La.) 1987-96 191-100 .656 2002 and 2003 16-40 .286
Phil Johnson San Jose State 1999 12-16 .429 2003-05 19-67 .221
Donald Kellett Penn 1944 and 1945 22-9 .710 1947 and 1948 24-22 .522
Lake Kelly Austin Peay State 1972-77 110-52 .679 1986-90 79-70 .530
Joe Lapchick St. John's 1937-47 181-54 .770 1957-65 154-75 .672
Dave Leitao DePaul 2003-05 58-34 .630 2016-21 66-113 .369
Abe Lemons Oklahoma City 1956-73 309-181 .631 1984-90 123-84 .594
Cuonzo Martin Missouri State 2009-11 61-41 .598 since 2025 25-41 .379
Thad Matta Butler 2001 24-8 .750 2023-26 63-69 .477
Jim McCafferty Loyola (La.) 1950 9-15 .375 1955-57 38-36 .514
Dave McDowell Kent State 1949-51 56-20 .737 1956 and 1957 15-29 .341
Ritchie McKay Liberty 2008 and 2009 39-28 .582 since 2016 259-114 .694
Doc Meanwell Wisconsin 1912-17 92-9 .911 1921-34 154-90 .631
Sean Miller Xavier 2005-09 120-47 .719 2023-25 65-40 .619
Robert Moreland Texas Southern 1976-2001 399-352 .531 2008 7-25 .219
Joe Mullaney Providence 1956-69 271-94 .742 1982-85 48-70 .407
Buzz Peterson Appalachian State 1997-2000 79-39 .669 2010 24-13 .649
Steve Prohm Murray State 2012-15 104-29 .782 2023-25 45-51 .469
Bill Reinhart George Washington 1936-42 100-38 .725 1950-66 216-201 .518
Elmer Ripley Georgetown 1928 and 1929 24-6 .800 1939-43 68-39 .636
Elmer Ripley Georgetown 1939-43 68-39 .636 1947-49 41-37 .526
Jack Rohan Columbia 1962-74 154-161 .489 1991-95 43-87 .331
Lorenzo Romar Pepperdine 1997-99 42-44 .488 2019-24 76-112 .404
Glen Rose Arkansas 1934-42 154-47 .766 1953-66 171-154 .526
John "Honey" Russell Seton Hall 1937-43 101-32 .759 1950-60 194-97 .647
Joe Scott Air Force 2001-04 51-63 .447 2021-26 46-119 .279
Larry Shyatt Wyoming 1998 19-9 .679 2012-16 98-69 .587
Norm Sloan Florida 1961-66 85-63 .574 1981-89 150-131 .534
Ken Trickey Oral Roberts 1970-74 118-23 .837 1988-93 96-93 .508
Billy Tubbs Lamar 1977-80 75-46 .620 2004-06 46-43 .517
Butch van Breda Kolff Lafayette 1952-55 68-34 .667 1985-88 64-51 .557
Butch van Breda Kolff Hofstra 1956-62 112-43 .723 1989-94 79-81 .494
Will Wade Louisiana State 2018-22 105-51 .673 since 2027 TBD TBD
Donald White Rutgers 1946-56 98-145 .403 1963 7-16 .304
Davey Whitney Alcorn State 1971-89 395-199 .665 1997-2003 115-93 .553

NOTES: VBK also had two stints at Hofstra, but Hofstra wasn't at the major-college level his first stint there. . . . OCU de-emphasized its program to the NAIA level after Lemons returned. . . . ORU wasn't always at the Division I level for either of Trickey's stints.