LSU suspends head men’s basketball coach Will Wade

LSU coach Will Wade shouts during the first half of the team’s NCAA college basketball game against Florida in Gainesville, Fla., Wednesday, March 6, 2019. (AP Photo/Gary McCullough)

What could go down as LSU’s most successful basketball season in about four decades has been tarnished by the suspension of coach Will Wade amid concerns about whether his recruiting tactics violated NCAA rules.

LSU Chancellor F. King Alexander and athletic director Joe Alleva announced Friday that they suspended Wade indefinitely and appointed assistant Tony Benford interim head coach. Benford’s 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 Wade’s 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 Wade’s 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 LSU’s 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.

“We’ve handled everything very well so far,” Wade said Thursday. “We’ve talked about the bigger the game or the more noise that’s out there, the more you have to narrow your focus. We’ve been very good at keeping a narrow focus thus far.”

Smart has not been made available for comment.

Several LSU players who were among Wade’s top recruits the past two years — speaking late Thursday afternoon — echoed some of their coach’s 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 weren’t winning, trust me, they wouldn’t talk about us,” freshman forward Emmitt Williams said. “As you can see, we’re doing stuff no one ever thought of us doing. They’re trying to find a way to bring us down. We don’t even pay attention to that stuff.”

LSU’s 25 regular season victories are tied second most in program history with the 2000 and 2009 teams and behind only the 1981 Final Four team that won a school-record 27 regular-season games. The 1981 team went on to finish the postseason with an LSU-record 31 victories.

Sophomore guard Tremont Waters said LSU players are close-knit group that stays together “when people are trying to create havoc around our program.”

“People don’t pay attention to losers,” Waters added. “Growing up, I never won a championship. People don’t talk about you when you’re not winning. That’s just a way of life.”

Wade’s suspension comes near the climax of a season that began with profound sadness after the late-September shooting death of LSU forward Wayde Sims, a junior from Baton Rouge. Sims — a popular role player known for proudly showing teammates around his home town or helping them run errands — was fatally shot while sticking up for a friend who’d been involved in a fight near the campus of Southern University.