LSU has reinstated head coach Will Wade only 37 days away from the team amid the recent Wiretap Scandal, the team announced in a statement issued on Monday.
LSU had suspended Wade indefinitely back on March 8th following a report from Yahoo Sports’ Pat Forde, Pete Thamel and Dan Wetzel that discovered that the FBI had obtained audio of a conversation between Wade and Adidas client recruiter (aka runner) Christian Dawkins in which Wade allegedly discussed pursuing a prospective recruit.
“Coach Wade met Friday with University and NCAA officials,” LSU athletic director Joe Alleva said in a statement, according to NOLA.com’s Amie Just. “During those meetings, he answered all questions and denied any wrongdoing in connection with recently reported allegations of irregularities in college basketball recruiting.”
Last October, Dawkins and two others were found guilty of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud as the three conspired to funnel money to the families of recruits in order to get the recruits to Adidas-sponsored schools.
Wade allegedly referenced “this Smart thing” in his conversation with Dawkins, which was assumed to be a reference to Javonte Smart, who signed with the Tigers.
“Dude. I went to him with a [expletive] strong-ass offer about a month ago,” Wade allegedly said to Dawkins, identifying an unknown third party in the recruiting process. “[Expletive] strong. The problem was, I know why he didn’t take it now, it was [expletive] tilted toward the family a little bit. It was tilted toward taking care of the mom, taking care of the kid. Like it was tilted towards that.”