NCAA levies penalties against LSU basketball, football, show cause to former coach Will Wade

The NCAA has levied penalties against LSU and its former men’s basketball coach Will Wade, per Pat Forde. These penalties are stemming from the FBI’s probe into the program and should bring the four-year-long investigation into the program to a close.

Among other penalties, Will Wade is receiving a two-year show-cause penalty from the IARP, otherwise known as the Independent Accountability Resolution Process. That goes until 2025.

Wade has his suspension doubled from five to 10 games, plus recruiting restrictions. pic.twitter.com/yzSNVRZAHl

— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) June 22, 2023

Wade also received a 10-game suspension and the LSU football and men’s basketball teams were given three year probation periods. Both the men’s basketball team and the football program previously self-imposed penalties.

These penalties are final and can not be appealed.

LSU faced eight Level I violations as a result of the scandal. Six of those are against the basketball program, one against the football team, and another for both sports combined as they were lumped together for this case. However, neither program was given a postseason ban or noted for a lack of institutional control.

Some of the issues in the football program include a Level II violation for Odell Beckham Jr. handing out cash after the national championship game and impermissible contact with a recruit by Ed Orgeron. However, it was taken into account that the school had self-imposed sanctions.

While Will Wade was recorded talking about a “strong ass offer,” there were several other payments that he was being punished for. That included payments to middlemen for recruiting, a student athlete’s fiance for her silence, and offering a car for another athlete’s cousin.

Will Wade is currently the head coach at McNeese State, where he will serve his punishment for his role in the scandal.

LSU hired Matt McMahon to replace Wade. The 2022-23 season was a difficult first season for him, going just 14-19.

The FBI’s investigation into Will Wade

In 2019, Will Wade was heard on an FBI wiretap talking to a middleman named Christian Dawkins, speaking about a “strong-ass offer” that Wade made to a recruit. In that call, Wade was upset that the recruit had not committed at that point and wondered if it was because he hadn’t given a third party a big “enough piece of the pie in the deal.”

He could be heard saying, “I was thinking last night on this Smart thing. I’ll be honest with you, I’m [expletive] tired of dealing with the thing. Like I’m just [expletive] sick of dealing with the [expletive]. Like, this should not be that [expletive] complicated.”

It’s unclear who they were speaking about. However, it was rumored to be Javonte Smart, a four-star recruit from Baton Rouge who went to LSU.

“The problem was, I know why he didn’t take it now, it was [expletive] tilted toward the family a little bit,” Wade was heard saying. “It was tilted toward taking care of the mom, taking care of the kid. Like it was tilted towards that. Now I know for a fact he didn’t explain everything to the mom. I know now, he didn’t get enough of the piece of the pie in the deal.”

No specifics of the offer were clear from the recording. However, it was later reported that in another phone call, Wade said that compensation would be more than the “rookie minimum.” The 2017 NBA CBA set the rookie minimum at $815,615.

When news of Wade’s suspension broke, it was reported that the offer also included a coaching job on his staff.

When this tape recorded by an FBI wiretap came to light, LSU suspended Will Wade indefinitely. After restructuring his contract, Wade was reinstated. However, another scandal hit the program again in 2020 when it was reported that there were recruiting violations in the program. Later, in 2022, LSU received an official Notice of Allegations over these violations, and Will Wade was fired.