LSU terminated longtime head coach Will Wade's contract with cause, the school announced Saturday.
Associate head coach Bill Armstrong was also dismissed. With the Tigers likely to feature in this year's NCAA Tournament despite falling to Arkansas in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals Friday, LSU assistant Kevin Nickelberry will serve as head coach for the remainder of the season.
The moves come after LSU received a notice of allegations this past week regarding potential violations the school deemed too severe to keep Wade on board, sources told Stadium's Jeff Goodman.
A letter from LSU president William F. Tate IV and athletic director Scott Woodward stated that the school's decision to terminate Wade's and Armstrong's contracts "is not an acknowledgement of agreement with any of the allegations," and that the university would determine its stance after an "exhaustive and objective examination of the relevant facts."
Wade was cited for five Level I violations - the NCAA's most grievous infractions - in the notice, according to Sports Illustrated's Ross Dellenger.
Wade's contract stipulates that LSU can fire him without penalty if he is cited for a Level I or Level II violation, according to ESPN's Jeff Borzello.
Wade declined to address the notice Thursday but said he was eager to do so once permitted.
"I can't comment on any of that stuff," he said, according to Mike Wilson of The Lafayette Daily Advertiser. "We haven't been able to comment on it since everything started. I certainly look forward to commenting on it when it is all over. Until then, they won't allow us to comment."
Wade, 39, took over as head coach of the Tigers in March 2017 and steered the program to a combined 108-53 record and two NCAA Tournament appearances in five seasons. But his tenure had been shrouded in controversy since 2019 after he was allegedly heard discussing a monetary offer made to a potential recruit in a wiretapped phone conversation during the FBI's investigation of corruption in college basketball.