Will Wade began his career as the student manager of the Clemson men's basketball team from 2002 to 2005. He worked under Larry Shyatt and Oliver Purnell, who gave him further opportunities as a graduate assistant and Director of Basketball Operations. Tommy Amaker then brought him in as his first hire as Harvard men's basketball coach where he was responsible for helping to recruit a top 25 class for the program. He stayed at Harvard for the 2007–08 and 2008–09 seasons before leaving for VCU. Will Wade was brought in as an assistant to then-head coach Shaka Smart at VCU. He helped VCU to four consecutive postseason appearances, including a trip to the 2011 Final Four. VCU finished the 2012–13 season with a 27–9 overall mark and a No. 23 final national ranking. The VCU Rams were one of only five teams nationally to win 27 or more games in each season from 2009–2013. In Wade's four years as an assistant coach, VCU was 111–37 with three straight trips to the NCAA Tournament.
Head coaching career
Chattanooga
In 2013, Wade left his assistant coaching position at VCU to lead the Chattanooga Mocs basketball program. In his two seasons as head coach, he posted both winning overall and conference records, and gave the Mocs their first 20+ win season in 10 years. He was named the Southern Conference's 2014 Coach of the Year.
VCU
After two seasons at Chattanooga, Wade returned to VCU to take the head coaching position vacated by Shaka Smart. In his first season returning to VCU, Wade guided the team to their first ever Atlantic 10 Conference regular season championship and a 25–11 overall record. VCU made it to the championship game of the A10 conference tournament for the 4th straight season, falling to St. Joseph's. The Rams also made their 6th straight NCAA tournament, one of only 8 teams in the country to do so. VCU made it to the round of 32 where they fell to Oklahoma 85–81. Wade finished second in voting for A10 coach of the year.
LSU
On March 21, 2017, Wade accepted an offer to become the head coach at Louisiana State University. On December 28, 2017, Wade earned his 100th career victory with a win over Memphis. During the 2018–19 season, Wade's Tigers won their first five SEC games in a row. It was the first LSU team to do this since the 2005–06 team. They also claimed two victories over top 5 opponents, the first LSU team to do so since 1980. Wade coached the 2018–19 team to the Southeastern Conference regular season championship. On March 7, 2019 it was reported that Wade discussed an 'offer' to a recruit, which was overheard on a Federal Bureau of Investigationwiretap. The offer he made was reportedly a large one. In the transcripts he is quoted as saying that he was frustrated with the situation: “I’ll be honest with you, I’m tired of dealing with the thing. Like I’m just sick of dealing with the . Like, this should not be that complicated.” The following day, LSU announced that he was indefinitely suspended amid the FBI's probe. Tony Benford was named interim head coach at LSU during Wade's suspension. On April 14, 2019, LSU lifted Wade's suspension. It was also reported on April 24, 2019 that Wade agreed to significant modifications to his contract, in order to be reinstated. Some of those changes include: 1) to forfeit $250,000.00 in bonuses he would have otherwise earned during the time of his suspension, 2) the contract also now allows LSU to fire Wade for cause if he commits a Level I or Level II NCAA violation, and 3) He can also be terminated if the NCAA infractions committee issues a formal notice to LSU that Wade was involved in a Level 1 or Level 2 violation.
