Rick Stansbury reportedly out as coach at WKU; Will Wade rumored as replacement

After spending seven seasons in Bowling Green, Rick Stansbury is now looking for a new job.

According to Stadium’s Jeff Goodman, Western Kentucky University will part ways with Stansbury as the men’s basketball head coach. A native of Kentucky, Stansbury got his start with the Hilltoppers in the 2016-17 season, but he failed to lead WKU to a single NCAA Tournament appearance.

The 63-year-old posted an overall record of 130-76 during his tenure with Western Kentucky, including a 69-35 record in Conference USA, but only made it to the postseason twice, losing in the NIT semifinals in 2017-18 and then in the NIT quarterfinals in 2020-21. Stansbury’s best stretch with the Hilltoppers came in ’20-21 when his team finished 21-8 and as regular-season conference champions.

Stansbury was the head coach at Mississippi State for 14 seasons from 1998 until 2012, making the NCAA Tournament on six different occasions. He had initially announced his retirement from coaching following his final season with the Bulldogs but later came back as an assistant coach with Texas A&M in 2014 before returning to being a head coach at WKU in 2016.

Western Kentucky will part ways with Rick Stansbury, source told @Stadium.

Stansbury did not make an NCAA tourney in seven seasons at the helm.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 11, 2023

But that’s not where this news ends. According to Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog, former LSU head coach Will Wade could soon be in the mix for the WKU head coaching gig. It was reported on Friday by multiple outlets that Wade was nearing a deal to become the next head coach at McNeese State, which fired its head coach earlier this week, but this new opening in Bowling Green could cause him to reconsider.

Look for Will Wade to be in the mix at Western Kentucky now that Rick Stansbury is out per @GoodmanHoops

Wade also being targeted by McNeese State

— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) March 11, 2023

Wade has not coached college basketball since he was fired for cause from LSU at the end of the 2021-22 season. He was hit with five Level I violations from the NCAA after allegations that he was paying players. The case is still ongoing.

Prior to coaching at LSU, Wade spent two seasons at Chattanooga (2013-15) and two more at VCU (2015-17). He made back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances with the latter program and was thriving at LSU before getting canned for alleged cheating. Wade held a 105-51 record (55-33 SEC) during his time with the Tigers.

WKU will likely need to come up with a strong ass offer to lure in Wade.