Wading through testimony

Published 6:00 pm Wednesday, May 1, 2019

All during his 34-day school-mandated suspension, LSU basketball coach Will Wade begged for patience, urged one and all to wait for all the facts to come out and withhold judgment until then.

He also used the ongoing second federal trial in New York on college basketball corruption as an excuse for not originally meeting with LSU officials to clue them on what was going on (which is why he was suspended; he was reinstated after meeting with them).

The details — and if they aren’t facts, then they might constitute perjury — are slowly coming out.

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And after a relatively quiet first week of the trial (for Wade and LSU), the second week is not going well for the embattled second-year LSU coach.

Many fans mistakenly thought it was a victory for Wade when a judge ruled that Wade would not be allowed to testify in the trial.

And maybe it was.

But just a reminder: Wade was never on trial in this thing. Before the judge’s ruling, Wade was scheduled to be a witness for the defense in the trial of former middleman Christian Dawkins and former shoe executive Merl Code Jr.

But it really doesn’t matter.

Wade was never going to be convicted of anything in this. He wasn’t the target of the investigation.

From the beginning, his problems were what he might have to admit to on the stand while under the oath, which, while probably not breaking any laws, could run seriously afoul of NCAA rules.

Judge Edgardo Ramos, who ruled that Wade and Arizona head coach Sean Miller wouldn’t testify, reserved the right to change his mind.

Right now, Wade might be hoping he does change his mind.

It couldn’t go much worse for him on the stand than what’s happening with him just watching from afar.

Others are saying plenty of incriminating things without him being there.

The latest bombshell came from an FBI surveillance video played at the trial. In this one, former Arizona assistant coach Emanuel Richardson in the summer of 2017 is discussing the recruitment of Naz Reid, an Asbury Park, New Jersey, native who’ll you’ll recognize as a key freshman cog in LSU’s run to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 this past season. Reid recently declared for the NBA draft.

Unlike a previous FBI wiretap that surfaced in which Wade himself is heard talking to Dawkins about making a strong “offer” to another recruit, presumably Javonte Smart, the LSU coach isn’t on this recording.

But Richardson, who is awaiting sentencing for a January conviction on conspiracy to commit bribery, is talking to two undercover informants when he quotes Wade as telling him, “Look, there’s a deal in place. I got $300,000 for him (Reid).”

On the tape Richardson says he then told Wade, “Listen, give me half (of the $300,000) and I’ll make sure he goes there.”

There’s not much LSU can say right now, but new Athletic Director Scott Woodward surely has a mess on his hands as he hits the ground running.

“We are continuing to monitor the situation,” an LSU spokesperson said. “Due to the fluid nature of this matter, LSU will refrain from commenting until further notice.”

Wade, of course, was reinstated on April 14 after that meeting and denying any wrongdoing and agreeing to significant changes in his contract while forgoing $250,000 in bonuses he would have received for his team’s performance.

It doesn’t necessarily mean LSU officials believed him.

Mainly, they had amendments added to the contract that allowed LSU to fire Wade “with cause” if the NCAA issues a formal notice of allegations of a Level 1 violation (defined by the NCAA as “severe breach of conduct”) or Level 2 violation (significant breach of conduct).

It makes it much easier for LSU to fire Wade with cause without worrying about what, at present, would be almost a $10 million buyout.

So it’s curious why Wade would agree to those changes if he had any idea the upcoming testimony would make things worse and attract more NCAA scrutiny.

It’s even more curious that the added amendments weren’t in the original contract, but maybe that’s one of the reasons Joe Alleva is now the former athletic director.

But it certainly doesn’t look any better for Wade now.

If he has any magic defense, now might be the time to whip it out.


Scooter Hobbs covers LSU athletics. Email him at shobbs@americanpress.com