Wiretap reveals LSU coach Will Wade discussed recruiting 'offer' with hoops scandal

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per Yahoo:

A 2017 phone conversation intercepted by the FBI between LSU coach Will Wade and basketball middleman Christian Dawkins features Wade speaking freely about a “strong-ass offer” he made in the recruitment of a prospect, Yahoo Sports has learned.

On part of the call, Wade expresses frustration that a third party affiliated with the recruitment had yet to accept Wade’s “offer.” Instead, a verbal commitment to LSU was being delayed because Wade theorized he hadn’t given the third party a big “enough piece of the pie in the deal” and instead “tilted” the offer toward the player and his mother.

“I was thinking last night on this Smart thing,” Wade said. “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.”

There is no elaboration on what the “Smart thing” is. Javonte Smart is currently a freshman guard at LSU and formerly a top-50 recruit from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Dawkins is known to be on FBI wiretaps during the late spring and summer of 2017. ESPN, citing court records, previously reported that Dawkins had “at least three calls with a cellphone number belonging to LSU coach Will Wade, each of which occurred between June 19, 2017, and June 30, 2017.” Smart announced his commitment to LSU via Twitter on June 30, 2017.

“Dude,” Wade continued to Dawkins, referring to the third party involved in the recruitment, “I went to him with a [expletive] strong-ass offer about a month ago. [Expletive] strong.

“The problem was, I know why he didn’t take it now, it was [expletive] tilted toward the family a little bit,” Wade continued. “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.”

Dawkins responded by saying, “Hmmmm.”

“It was a [expletive] hell of a [expletive] offer,” Wade continued. “Hell of an offer.”

“OK,” Dawkins said.

https://sports.yahoo.com/exclusive-...-offer-hoops-scandal-middleman-175046487.html

Go Gophers!!
 

Too easy of a nickname for him now

"Wiretap" Will Wade.

Just rolls off the tongue.
 

Great, let them(NCAA) ruin another downtrodden program. Why aren't they tapping into Duke?, UNC?, Kansas?, Kentucky?, Michigan State? Syracuse?


Those programs are untouchable, yet they will jump on something like this. So sick of this double standard.
 

Creighton and TCU now being named

I believe TCU is a new name in the FBI sting?

Creighton it's been pretty well known McDermott was caught on wiretap.

Arizona and Kansas others who might here their name called next.

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LSU is as crooked as anyone, and has been forever. Their crooked recruiters are just not as talented at cheating as the current big players in NCAA Basketball. They probably throw around as much cash as anyone and always have well before Shaq.

On the football side they are probably one of the biggest cheaters in terms of cash paid and fake admission standards.

I find Louisiana style corruption to be a little more palatable than the type practices demonstrated Ol' Roy and some of the more genteel types in other parts of the south At least in Louisiana everyone just starts with the baseline assumption that everyone and everything is crooked and corrupt.

Of course we seem to sometimes forget that college basketball has been corrupt for decades, even well before the early 60s when John Wooden' bag men started delivering the best players to his door step leading to the huge run of titles.

Look it up, Wooden coached for a very long time, and his career record wasn't nearly as good as the title years, which only started when he had the best rosters of talent of anyone by far. Funny how great of a coach Wooden became after the program started buying players like Kareem and Walton. Of course he did not know anything about any of this, right? Maybe that is the secret part of the Pyramid of Success.
 
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The NCAA now has it's fall guy. I'm sure they are celebrating in Indianapolis, because it will be much easier to scapegoat LSU than Arizona or Kansas. And they only need one to remind us they are cleaning up the game.
 

Yep, fall guy is right. That article is funny also. Acts like LSU is such a farce to be where they are. Yep, they are. And so are the top 10-15 historical progams too. They just don't take any time to investigate them. Or if they find something, they brush it off.
Why don't they dig deeper on Bill Self? How about Roy Williams(Biggest academic scandal in modern college sports history)? How come no one was calling for them(UNC) to skip tourneys? Or to take their medicine before the NCAA did anything(which they didn't)

LSU should most definitely NOT put self imposed sanctions on themselves or back out of the tourney. Why would they? Make the NCAA do something.
 



Really hope NCAA bans LSU from the tournament this year.

Just really, really doubt that will happen. Too slow, not enough time. LSU will go on and probably win games, who knows maybe make the final four. THEN the NCAA will act, after the fact, and redact the wins. It's pathetic, but what else is new in our world?
 

Give them all 3 year bans and take half their scholarships. Including Arizona and Kansas.
 

I find it both appalling and amusing all at once.

It's appalling because of the amount of cheating that has been going on for decades and that it takes a series of FBI investigations to expose what has been essentially a don't-ask, don't-tell part of big-time college hoops.

It's also amusing because it has thoroughly exposed the NCAA's hypocrisy in both enforcing it's bylaws and also in claiming to be all about amateurism. What a joke.

With all of that said, I have no sympathy for anyone implicated. Cheaters find ways to cheat, regardless of what the rules are. The key is finding effective and stringent ways to monitor and discipline schools for cheating. The NCAA has proven time and again they're effectively unable to police their own association. With that being the case, I say lay it all bare. Let the FBI present everything they have and further expose the absolute joke the NCAA truly is.
 




MRJ said:
I find it both appalling and amusing all at once.

It's appalling because of the amount of cheating that has been going on for decades and that it takes a series of FBI investigations to expose what has been essentially a don't-ask, don't-tell part of big-time college hoops.

It's also amusing because it has thoroughly exposed the NCAA's hypocrisy in both enforcing it's bylaws and also in claiming to be all about amateurism. What a joke.

With all of that said, I have no sympathy for anyone implicated. Cheaters find ways to cheat, regardless of what the rules are. The key is finding effective and stringent ways to monitor and discipline schools for cheating. The NCAA has proven time and again they're effectively unable to police their own association. With that being the case, I say lay it all bare. Let the FBI present everything they have and further expose the absolute joke the NCAA truly is.
Click to expand...

Agreed with nuances. The NCAA has no subpoena power and the really bad eggs have simply refused to talk, which has limited their ability to gather evidence in some cases. You also need to factor in the compliance committee versus the enforcement team. In the most egregious case ever, NC, enforcement wanted to put the hammer down, and the compliance committee ran away afraid of lawsuits. That's bogus, of course. If the NCAA wants to right the ship, it has to be consistent in applying the rules and penalties, and the "member institutions" have to give enforcement people real teeth. The conspiracy of silence on the part of those being investigated may be the biggest obstacle in the system, which is why it "needs" the law of ferret out the bad boys.
 

Holy Man said:
Agreed with nuances. The NCAA has no subpoena power and the really bad eggs have simply refused to talk, which has limited their ability to gather evidence in some cases. You also need to factor in the compliance committee versus the enforcement team. In the most egregious case ever, NC, enforcement wanted to put the hammer down, and the compliance committee ran away afraid of lawsuits. That's bogus, of course. If the NCAA wants to right the ship, it has to be consistent in applying the rules and penalties, and the "member institutions" have to give enforcement people real teeth. The conspiracy of silence on the part of those being investigated may be the biggest obstacle in the system, which is why it "needs" the law of ferret out the bad boys.
Click to expand...

Everything you just stated is correct. The lack of subpoena power is a huge issue. How can you be expected to police anything if when you ask for an interview, the individual in question can simply say no without repercussions? Add to that the NCAA's penchant for uneven enforcement and penalties and it becomes a mess.

The only solution, imo, is to have an independent body (which has complete subpoena power) handle enforcement. That, and stringent guidelines on penalties for cheating, that stand as precedent and are followed. Whether the member institutions would go for it remains to be seen, but if they object, then we'll get a clearer indication of where their true priorities lie.
 
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Go Gophs said:
Great, let them(NCAA) ruin another downtrodden program. Why aren't they tapping into Duke?, UNC?, Kansas?, Kentucky?, Michigan State? Syracuse?


Those programs are untouchable, yet they will jump on something like this. So sick of this double standard.
Click to expand...
Spot on!
 

One wonders if Arizona is untouchable or at least their coach. His address to the crowd at the end of their last home game today sounded like a goodbye, not a se you next year.
 

SelectionSunday said:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...ncaa-tournament-after-fbi-wiretap/3095307002/
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Interesting conundrum for LSU officials. If they decide to play in their post-season tourneys, LSU could explain away its reasoning as their situation as not significantly different than Kansas or Arizona, both of which are certainly expected to play with allegations hanging over their heads. However, a highly ethical Athletic Director, President and/or Board of Supervisors should shut down this year's team now, as the article suggests. Putting off likely penalties from the NCAA would only impact teams and players in the future that had nothing to do with this year's team. I am guessing part of the decision will depend on if the AD has/had knowledge of the shenanigans.
 
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