What in the world is Will Wade trying to do at LSU men’s basketball?

The proverbial lines that regulate college sports have never been more difficult to identify than they are at this present moment in time. Players that would have been declared ineligible without a second thought as recently as five years ago are now not just being allowed to suit up for collegiate athletic programs across the country, they’re being paid handsomely (in some cases extremely handsomely) to do so.

Even in this current climate, every now and then there comes a situation where the line crossing becomes akin to pornography: You might not be able to fully articulate exactly what lines have been breached, but you know it when you see it.

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Enter, of course, Will Wade. The man who was openly talking about paying players before it was cool (or allowed) is back to pushing the envelope in Baton Rouge like Kendrick Lamar and Drake are lightly lobbing sneak disses at one another.

On Monday, Wade made headlines for signing 25-year-old Israeli point guard Yam Madar to a reported $5 million deal. Not only is Madar a EuroLeague vet at this point — his Hapoel Tel Aviv B.C. squad just faced Real Madrid Baloncesto in a EuroLeague quarterfinal — but he was the 47th overall pick by Boston in the 2020 NBA Draft. For reference, that’s the same draft where Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball and Tyrese Haliburton all had their names called.

Madar, who will turn 26-years-old in December, never signed with the Celtics, but the franchise still owns his draft rights. He was the EuroLeague’s “Rising Star” award recipient in 2023, and averaged 11.1 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game in 16 appearances for Hapoel Tel Aviv in league play last season.

If that piece of news wasn’t splashy enough, less than 24 hours later LSU announced that Wade had signed former St. John’s star R.J. Luis. The 2024-25 Big East Player of the Year, Luis opted last spring to spurn another year in college in favor of chasing his NBA dream. He went undrafted.

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While there were rumors last summer that Wade was trying to convince Luis to sign with him at NC State, the 6’7 wing ultimately inked a two-way…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/world-wade-trying-lsu-men-184743862.html

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Publish date : 2026-05-19 18:47:00

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