By JAMES MADDEN
Will Wade and LSU have made headlines over the past few days due to their aggressive and unorthodox approach to recruiting this offseason. This week, the Tigers have signed multiple former NBA Draft picks and a former member of the Utah Jazz, along with international prospects.
Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson, who’s been vocal about his program’s NIL disadvantage compared to other high-level programs said Tuesday that there’s a “Grand Canyon” between Houston and LSU’s NIL spending.
“If you want Coach (Willie Fritz) to win at the level that LSU does — you know the difference financially between Houston and LSU? It’s not a bridge. It’s the Grand Canyon,” Sampson said. “Yet because of a guy like Coach (Willie) Fritz, we’re competitive.”
UConn head coach Dan Hurley estimated that you need somewhere near $14 million for your roster to compete for a national championship in today’s world, Sampson spoke on the reality of his program competing for a title in today’s climate.
“I could stand up here and blow smoke at you and say we’re going to win a national championship. I don’t know if we’ve got a good enough roster,” he said. “We’re going to be damn good now. But there’s teams in the Big 12 whose rosters are significantly more expensive than ours. And that’s the name of the game today.”
As LSU spends more than the majority of athletic programs around the nation, it even went to the length of poaching a football head coach, from one of its top rivals, that reached the final four this season in Lane Kiffin.
Additionally on Wednesday morning, CBSSports’ Jon Rothstein reported that the two programs have now scheduled a non-conference matchup for the 2026-27 season at the Toyota Center in Houston.
Wade was hired by the Tigers after one season at NC State, with this upcoming season marking the beginning of his second stint in Baton Rouge.
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