LSU’s Wade suspended indefinitely

Published 7:00 pm Saturday, March 9, 2019

LSU has a chance to clinch at least a share of its first Southeastern Conference basketball title in 10 years tonight, but the Tigers will have to do it without their head coach.

Will Wade’s status beyond tonight’s final regular-season game against Vanderbilt is also in doubt after the school suspended him indefinitely on Friday.

Assistant coach Tony Benford will take over the team in Wade’s absence.

The bombshell came a day after Wade’s name surfaced again in FBI wiretaps related to an upcoming federal trial on recruiting corruption in college basketball.

“Recent media reports regarding Coach Will Wade are without question concerning to all of us,” LSU President F. King Alexander and Athletic Director Joe Alleva said in a joint statement released by the school.

“As such, we and university officials have taken deliberate and purposeful steps to fairly assess and adequately address this situation. As we have done since media reports first surfaced months ago, we are closely coordinating with the NCAA with every step. They have our full cooperation and we will continue to report to them all facts and information on this matter.”

The statement went on to say that Wade had been suspended indefinitely “until such time as we can ensure full compliance with the NCAA, as well as institutional policies and standards.”

A report by SI.com, using multiple unnamed sources, said LSU officials were “blindsided” by the latest revelations.

Baton Rouge TV station WAFB reported that Wade was asked to speak with Alleva and other LSU officials about the recent revelations, but Wade declined.

It said when initial reports about Wade and the FBI probe surfaced last fall, school officials quizzed him about the matter and he assured them that what had been reported was the full extent of his involvement.

That was after it was revealed that Wade and Arizona coach Sean Smith could be subpoenaed to testify in a second federal trial on basketball corruption on April 22.

But Thursday’s story by Yahoo! Sports, which broke while Wade was addressing fans at a booster meeting and reveling in Wednesday night’s overtime win over Florida, was far more incriminating.

That story on FBI wiretaps that could be used in the April trial quoted Wade in 2017 talking with Christian Dawkins, an agent’s “runner” who was convicted in a similar trial in October. He is also a defendant in the April trial.

On the recordings, Wade and Dawkins are talking about Wade’s frustration with “third-party” involvement in the recruiting of a recuit identified only as “Smart.”

LSU has a freshman guard named Javonte Smart.

In the recording Wade is heard saying about the “Smart thing” that he made a “strong offer” that was “tilted toward taking care of” the player’s family and speculated that the hang-up was due to the third party not getting “enough piece of the pie.”

Shortly after the suspension, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey released a statement which read, “I support the action of LSU in its suspension of (coach) Will Wade. The information in recent news reports is very disturbing, if true. Considering the existing circumstances, LSU has taken appropriate action today while the investigation continues.”

A statement released by Wade read, “I cannot comment at this time on various media reports, except to say that they do not begin to tell the full story. I understand the University had to take action before all the facts are in, but I would ask everyone to withhold their judgment until the record is complete.”

Several national columnists called for LSU to fire Wade in the wake of the latest revelations.

But given the team’s surprising success this season, perhaps it was no shocker that within an hour of the announcement of Wade’s suspension, a few students were outside the athletic department complex with protest signs reading “Free Will Wade.”

The No. 10 Tigers (25-5, 15-2 SEC) are in the midst of what could be their most successful season since the 1980-81 Final Four team went 31-5, including a 17-1 SEC record.

On the other hand, Vanderbilt (9-21, 0-17) is trying to avoid becoming the first SEC team to go 0-18 in conference play and the first to go winless in the league since Georgia Tech went 0-14 in 1953-54.

LSU goes into tonight’s game tied with Tennessee atop the standings, but a victory would assure the Tigers earn the top seed in next weeks’s SEC Tournament. LSU owns the tiebreaker having beaten Tennessee two weeks ago.