Will Wade’s new contract as McNeese State basketball coach reportedly includes his being suspended for the first five games of the 2023-24 season.

KPLC-TV in Lake Charles and the Lake Charles American Press are both reporting the suspension, which is believed to be a preemptive move in light of expected NCAA sanctions against Wade stemming from his time at LSU. The contract also reportedly includes various recruiting restrictions, the specifics of which were not immediately disclosed.

Wade was fired by LSU last March after the NCAA charged him with five major violations, including cash payments to recruits. Among other violations, Wade was caught on an FBI wiretap in 2019 talking of a “strong-ass offer” (presumably several thousand dollars) to former LSU guard Javante Smart.

The NCAA’s Notice of Allegations accused Wade of “offering inducements” to 11 prospective recruits that were perpetrated “after substantial planning.” LSU suspended him for the 2019 postseason after news of the wiretap conversation surfaced, but later reinstated him.

But none of that kept McNeese State — which is coming off an 11-23 season and has not made the NCAA tournament since 2002 — from hiring the 40-year-old Wade, who went 105-51 in five seasons at LSU. His 2019 Tigers team won the SEC regular-season championship, and he took them to the NCAA tournament on two other occasions.

Wade is 196-96 in nine seasons as head coach at LSU, Virginia Commonwealth and Chattanooga. He and McNeese State agreed to a five-year contract that will pay him a total of $1.175 million, including $200,000 next season.

“I think this is the perfect time where everything is colliding at the right time,” Wade said Monday while being introduced as the Cowboys’ new coach. “Life is a lot about timing. I think this is the perfect time for all of us in a lot of ways. McNeese basketball needs a re-birth. We’ve got to turn this thing around. Let me be clear, we’re going to turn it around and turn it around quickly. We expect to compete at the top of the Southland next year. Period.”