Reed Vial, a former LSU Tiger basketball player in Will Wade's first season as head coach with the Tigers, has joined Wade's staff at McNeese and will serve as the Special Assistant to the Head Coach.
 
He'll also have an important role with basketball operation logistics, leadership development for players, marketing, fan engagement, and creative and social media for the program.
 
"We are very excited to add Reed to our staff," said Wade. "He is someone who played for me and I have known him a long time. He has a wide range of experience which will help us grow this program internally and in the community."
 
A Baton Rouge native who grew up on the LSU campus, Vial is a 2018 graduate from LSU in finance then earned his MBA with a focus in sports marketing in 2021. 

Vial walked onto the LSU basketball team from 2016-18, playing under Wade his final season where he earned SEC Academic and Phi Kappa Phi honors both years. He was named to the LSU Chancellor's and Dean's List every undergrad and graduate semester from 2014-18 and 2019-21. 

He spent the last season in Austin, Texas where he spent a year working for Hyperice, whose innovative products have been used by the world's best athletes and consumers in over 60 countries around the world and is a partner with organizations such as the NBA, NFL, MLB, and the PGA, among others. 

As a player for the Tigers, he appeared in 17 games and made one start under Wade and was a member of the 2018 team that played in the NIT quarterfinals. 

Following his graduation, Vial interned at Nike World Headquarters in the summer of 2018 as a Basketball Sports Marketer for Girls Nike EYBL. He then spent a year to travel the world before starting his MBA at LSU and rejoining the program as a graduate assistant in 2019. 

Prior to LSU, he played four years as a shooting guard at Parkview Baptist under Coach Don Green. He helped lead his team to district titles in 2012 and 2013, and advanced to the Louisiana Top 28 semifinals in 2013. 

He was a two-time All-District selection and a member of The Advocate All-Metro team. He averaged 16 points, four assists and five rebounds per game as a junior (2013) and bettered that with a 20-point scoring average, five assists and seven boards his senior season (2014). He was also a member of the National Honor Society, listed in the top 10 percent in GPA in his class, a member of the Beta Club, and awarded onto the President's List.