LSU basketball coach Will Wade isn't backing away from his approach to roster building this offseason, signing multiple players with eligibility concerns. One such player is former St. John's star RJ Luis, who signed two NBA contracts but was given a temporary injunction to play for LSU this season.

Wade, who was fired by LSU four years ago amid accusations of NCAA violations only to return this offseason after rehabilitating his career at Mc Neese and then NC State, met with reporters in Baton Rouge on Wednesday and compared his approach to successful businesses like Airbnb and Uber. "I'm not hiding from this," Wade said. "Just because it's unconventional doesn't mean it's not going to work."

Former UCLA standouts Skyy Clark and Donovan Dent were part of a lawsuit to gain a fifth year of eligibility and were cleared in a California court to join LSU, though the NCAA has vowed to fight the state decisions. International players Saliou Niang (the 58th pick in the 2025 NBA draft) and Brice Dessert (undrafted in 2025) could be ineligible under new SEC rules.

"We're going to be unapologetic about it," Wade continued. "This is who we are. This is what we're doing. This is the path that we charted. We're going to go down it, and that's fine. Everybody's waiting for us to fail. That's fine. If we fail, I own it." Wade noted the Tigers can't be any worse after going 60-70 under former coach Matt Mc Mahon over the past four years. "Hell, what's the downside," Wade said. "We're going for it."