Success raises suspicions
Published 7:00 pm Wednesday, February 28, 2018
<p class="p1">For now, LSU basketball coach Will Wade can take it as the ultimate compliment.</p><p class="p1">Many Tigers basketball fans — and Wade has converted a few more than there used to be — want to pinch themselves.</p><p class="p1">There’s a competitive team on the court right now for a change, but it’s backed up more so by the promise of a bright future — mainly the nation’s No. 3 recruiting class, as ranked by Rivals.com, headed to the Maravich Assembly Center.</p><p class="p1">That’s a pretty quick turnaround for Wade.</p><p class="p1">It’s the kind of thing he promised when introduced as head coach last March and during his whirlwind revival meetings while touring the state.</p><p class="p1">It almost sounds too good to be true.</p><p class="p1">Apparently, the NCAA thinks so too — or at least it raised enough eyebrows among the investigators in residence to have a look-see at the hoops miracle going on in Tigertown.</p><p class="p1">A story from Yahoo! Sports this week cited three sources as saying that the NCAA enforcement staff “spent parts of the past six months looking into the recruiting tactics of LSU coach Will Wade.</p><p class="p1">“NCAA enforcement officials have done work both on the phone and in person to look into Wade, including traveling around the country, to learn more about his recruiting.”</p><p class="p1">Perhaps that’s what happens when a basketball outlier that hasn’t really been a national factor since reaching the 2006 Final Four is suddenly recruiting toe to toe with the sport’s bluebloods — this current class is ranked ahead of the likes of Kentucky and Kansas and trails only Duke and Oregon.</p><p class="p1">It includes the nation’s No. 2 center, Nazreon Reid from New Jersey, who’s already signed, along with No. 8 point guard Ja’Vonte Smart of Baton Rouge and No. 12 power forward Darius Days of Gainesville, Florida. The No. 8-ranked power forward, Emmitt Williams of Orlando, Florida, has orally committed.</p><p class="p1">If LSU football or baseball signs that kind of athlete, nobody would say a word.</p><p class="p1">But basketball?</p><p class="p1"><em>The nerve of that young coach!</em></p><p class="p1">So Wade must be doing something right.</p><p class="p1">Of course, it’s all contingent on the assumption — Wade’s firm assertion — that he’s done nothing wrong or untoward in the process.</p><p class="p1">It will play out.</p><p class="p1">The Yahoo! story cited a source that said “Wade’s early recruiting activity at LSU prompted the NCAA enforcement interest.”</p><p class="p1">It also says that the NCAA’s inquiry was in the “exploratory and information-gathering stages” and that the investigation is stalled due to a lack of on-the-record specifics.</p><p class="p1">That gives LSU credible plausibility when it says it has heard nothing about any such thing.</p><p class="p1">“I’m aware of the Yahoo! Sports story,” Wade said Monday. “Facts are, zero inquiries. Zero contact from NCAA to my staff, players or the school. I’m not going to expand on it. Very proud to represent LSU. Very proud to represent Louisiana. Going to bring top-tier program to Louisiana.”</p><p class="p1">On Tuesday the LSU athletic department sent an email with the statement: “LSU has confirmed with NCAA officials that there is no active investigation into the men’s basketball program.”</p><p class="p1">The NCAA wouldn’t confirm that assessment, but that’s not unusual. When it comes to recruiting investigations, the NCAA long ago decided it was best to “no comment” on such matters no matter the situation or circumstances.</p><p class="p1">But when things get serious, the NCAA does send a school a formal letter that it is being investigated.</p><p class="p1">It doesn’t sound like that has happened.</p><p class="p1">It doesn’t mean it won’t happen eventually, that the preliminary inquiry will un-stall and barge full steam ahead.</p><p class="p1">Maybe Wade should hold off on signing so many good players for a while to let the heat die down.</p><p class="p1">“We just try to find people that have natural ties to Louisiana, natural ties to LSU and recruit those folks,” he said. “Hopefully we find enough good ones that want to be there.”</p><p class="p1">If that’s really the secret, Wade has nothing to worry about. He can keep annoying the big basketball schools for years to come.</p><p class="p1">If not, stay tuned …</p>
