What could go down as LSUs most successful basketball season in about four decades also has been tarnished by the suspension of coach Will Wade amid concerns about the recruiting tactics he used to build his team.
LSU Chancellor F. King Alexander and athletic director Joe Alleva announced on Friday that they suspended Wade indefinitely and appointed assistant Tony Benford interim head coach. Benfords first game in his new role comes Saturday, when No. 10 LSU (25-5, 15-2 Southeastern Conference) hosts Vanderbilt (9-21, 0-17) with an opportunity to win at least a share of the SEC regular season championship.
The suspension came a day after reports that an FBI wire-tap captured Wades telephone conversations with a person convicted last year of funneling money to the families of basketball recruits. In a joint statement, Alexander and Alleva said the suspension will continue until LSU can ensure that Wades recruiting tactics have been in full compliance with NCAA and university policies.
Recent media reports regarding coach Will Wade are without question concerning to all of us, the joint statement said. As such, we and university officials have taken deliberate and purposeful steps to fairly assess and adequately address this situation. … 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.
A Yahoo report on Thursday included excerpts of a phone call in which Wade spoke with Christian Dawkins, who is one of several people convicted in October of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for funneling illegal payments to families of recruits to Louisville, Kansas and North Carolina State. Dawkins also is a defendant in a federal bribery case scheduled for trial scheduled for April 22, and Wade is expected to be called as a witness in that case.
In the report, Wade is described expressing his frustration with an unidentified third party handling the recruitment of player referred to only as Smart. LSU has a freshman guard named Javonte Smart who is a former Louisiana high school player of the year.
Wade is quoted on a transcript of the call saying that he made a strong offer that was tilted toward taking care of the player and his mother, but that the third party who received the offer was unsatisfied with his piece of the pie.
The report also states that it was not clear if the offer Wade discusses would violate NCAA rules, or if the player and his family knew of, or accepted, the offer, of which there were no specific details.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said he supported LSUs decision to suspend Wade.
The information in recent news reports is very disturbing, if true, said Sankey, noting that the SEC advises member institutions on compliance matters, and would do so in this case. Considering the existing circumstances, LSU has taken appropriate action.
Wade was at a public speaking engagement at a south Louisiana casino when the report came out. When asked about the report by media after the event, Wade declined comment other than to express confidence in his players ability to remain focused on basketball.
Weve handled everything very well so far, Wade said. Weve talked about the bigger the game or the more noise thats out there, the more you have to narrow your focus. Weve been very good at keeping a narrow focus thus far.
Smart has not been made available for comment.
Several LSU players who were among Wades top recruits the past two years speaking late Thursday afternoon, before Wades suspension echoed some of their coachs comments about moving forward and also suggested their recent success had something to do with the timing of the scrutiny surrounding the program.
If we werent winning, trust me, they wouldnt talk about us, freshman forward Emmitt Williams said. As you can see, were doing stuff no one ever thought of us doing. Theyre trying to find a way to bring us down. We dont even pay attention to that stuff.
