LSU menās basketball clinched the regular season Southeastern Conference title on Saturday, but the teamās head coach wasnāt on the sideline. Instead, Will Wade was serving an indefinite suspension, handed down by LSU president and chancellor F. King Alexander and athletic director on Friday.
The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that the suspension came on the heels of media reports that Wade had been caught on FBI wiretaps with Christian Dawkins discussing paying a recruit. Dawkins was sentence to six months in prison last week for his involvement in college basketballās corruption scandal.
Wade reportedly made repeated references to an āofferā on the recordings of the calls, including a reference where Wade seemed to express frustration over a third party not getting a big āenough piece of the pie in the deal.ā Wade also references āthis Smart thing,ā which could be a reference to freshman guard Javonte Smart. Smart sat out of Saturdayās game based on what associate AD Robert Munson called āan abundance of caution.ā
Assistant coach Tony Benford is now serving as LSUās interim head coach. Wadeās fate remains unclear, though the Times-Picayune reports Wadeās contract allows the school to suspend him for āan indefinite period during any investigation, another governmental entity, or the NCAA or SEC to determine whether (Wade) has materially violated any laws or Governing Athletics Regulations.ā
LSU hasnāt received any penalties as of yet, and will appear in this weekās conference tournament.