Will Wade refuses to compliment LSU player after upset loss

LSU basketball coach Will Wade was clearly frustrated following his team’s 75-66 loss to Vanderbilt on Saturday. After he took more than an hour to arrive at his postgame press conference, the coach finally arrived to answer the media’s questions.

One reporter offered Wade a presumably easy question regarding the recent play of point guard Eric Gaines. But the Tigers coach apparently couldn’t find any positives, essentially ignoring the question.

“We need better play from a lot of folks,” Wade said. “What we’re doing is not good enough on a lot of fronts. We need a lot of guys to step up and play better as we work our way through this slump.”

Thinking Wade had misheard his question, the reporter immediately followed up looking for a comment on Gaines. However, this time the coach bluntly declined to compliment the sophomore.

“Look, he’s learning on the job,” he said. “He’s doing some good things, but there’s still a lot of progress that needs to be made.”

Gaines has scored at least 14 points in each of LSU’s past four games. He was the team’s second-leading scorer Saturday, finishing with 14 points on 4-for-7 shooting. The sophomore is averaging just over 10 points per game on the season.

LSU shot just 1-for-8 from 3-point range in the first half, heading into halftime down by 18. The Tigers would fall behind by as much as 21 before crawling back to cut the deficit to five late in the game. But a dagger 3-point shot from Vanderbilt’s Rodney Chatman put the proverbial nail in the coffin.

The loss Saturday marked the third straight for the Tigers, which have also dropped six of their past seven games. LSU entered the weekend ranked No. 25 in the AP poll, but will likely fall out following its latest loss. They are still currently projected to make the NCAA Tournament, but trending in the wrong direction.

Wade is in his fifth season in Baton Rouge after stops at Chattanooga and VCU. He has never had a losing season in his coaching career, compiling a 193-93 overall record over nine years. Wade helped to lead them to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021, where they lost to one-seed Michigan in the second round.

LSU and Will Wade will hope to get back on track against Texas A&M at 7 p.m. ET Tuesday. The Aggies are actually the last team the Tigers beat, with a 70-64 victory in the Jan. 26 meeting.