NC State investigating Will Wades exit for LSU and if he possibly violated state law

The contentious exit of Will Wade from NC State might now lead to legal action.Wade left to be LSU’s head men’s basketball coach in March after just one season leading the Wolfpack, but now NC State is looking into whether LSU violated a North Carolina law called the Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act. In a letter to LSU general counsel Carlton Jones, NC State general counsel Allison B.Newhart wrote that the school has reason to believe that LSU worked with Wade to help him avoid a pricier buyout fee from his contract, WRAL News reported. “The timing and circumstances of Coach Wade’s departure from Raleigh and his resignation, along with the LSU term sheet, and the eventual [buyout] payment of $4 million to NC State raise questions about LSU’s potential liability in this matter,” Newhart alleged in the letter. “Based on Coach Wade’s actions prior to his departure and other information regarding LSU’s pursuit of Coach Wade, NC State has reason to suspect that LSU may have influenced efforts to avoid or delay notice to NC State of LSU’s recruitment of Coach Wade and perhaps even the timing of Coach Wade’s employment with LSU in order to avoid larger buyout fees,” the letter also stated. Wade walked away from his role at NC State on March 25, and a day later, LSU officially hired him to be their next men’s coach. Wade had a $5 million buyout in his contract if he left before April 1, and that number dropped to $3 million if he departed following that date. The basketball coach negotiated a $4 million buyout with NC State, and LSU wired him that amount on May 8, according to WRAL. Weeks later, LSU sent a “mutual release and settlement agreement” to NC State’s general counsel, which was rejected in a June 4 reply. “NC State has not agreed — and does not agree now — to release LSU from any liability.

Instead, NC State is investigating whether LSU improperly induced Coach Wade to breach his employment agreement, induced ...