Former LSU men’s basketball coach Will Wade, who was fired for cause in March 2022 due to multiple allegations of NCAA Level I violations dating back to 2017, was assessed a two-year display order and 10-game suspension at his new school, McNeese State. The punishment was handed down Thursday by the Independent Resolution Panel (IRP), the governing body for the soon-to-expire Independent Accountability Resolve Process (IARP).
A day after announcing Wade’s appointment last March, McNeese State took the pre-emptive step of suspending him for the first five games of the 2023-24 season. IRP doubled that number on Thursday. An IRP ruling cannot be appealed.
According to the IRP, Wade committed “multiple violations, including failure to report potential NCAA violations, making unauthorized cash payments to obstruct disclosure of information about potential NCAA violations contrary to the body’s unethical conduct statutes, and failure to cooperate with an investigation of wrongdoing.” The hearing panel also found that the former men’s basketball coach had violated the head coach’s responsibility rules by failing to foster an atmosphere of compliance within the men’s basketball program.
Four level one violations were identified by the IRP, with two more level two violations and two level three violations. The majority of this case concerned the Wade and LSU men’s basketball programs, but the LSU football program was handed over Special punishment group. Those stemmed from violations totaling $180,150 that included former LSU worker Vadal Alexander. The school vacated its football victories from the games played by Alexander. Each program is in testing for the next three years, and neither has been evaluated due to a lack of institutional control charge, although both have been hit with charges of failure to monitor.
the original Notice of allegations Investigators in the case alleged that Wade’s behavior was “premeditated, committed and after considerable planning”. Wade made infamous reference to the “strong ass” display of a recruit at the time, who was later identified as former Tigers basketball player JaVonte Smart.
Specific prohibitions included in the two-year viewing order v. Wade:
- No off-campus employment-related activities during any applicable April or summer assessment and/or contact period
- Reducing the number of official visits by four during the academic years 2023-2024 and 2024-25
- No recruitment talks between 1 September 2023 and 15 October 2023 and 1 September 2024 and 15 October 2024
- No unofficial visits from September 1, 2023 to October 15, 2023, September 1, 2024, and October 15, 2024
- Suspension from the first 10 Season 1 contests for any Division I job, which must not include exhibitions or practice brawls
Some of these penalties were self-imposed by McNeese State when it hired Wade.
Sanctions of the LSU men’s basketball program (mostly retroactive) include:
- Scholarship reduction by one during the 2023-24 season and by one during the 2024-25 season
- A 15-week ban on informal visits during the 2022-23 school year
- Limiting the total allowed official visits to two during the 2022-23 academic year
- A seven-week ban on telephone contact with all basketball student-athlete prospects during the 2022-23 school year
- In off-campus recruitment for 20 days in 2022-23
- On off-campus hiring of former head coach, former #1 assistant coach, and then-assistant coaches for 30 days in April and May 2019
- The then-staff were prohibited from visiting a particular high school prospective student-athlete, attending his competitions, or otherwise communicating with him for 30 days in April and May 2019.
the IRP report Details Wade was allegedly blackmailed by the ex-fiancée of one of his former players, who threatened to expose Wade for cheating if he did not give her money.
Based on a comprehensive review of text message exchanges with an ex-fiancé prior to August 2017, the Hearing Panel concluded that reliable and convincing information supports the conclusion that [Wade] He violated the NCAA’s unethical conduct bylaws when he made payments to an ex-fiancé in direct proximity to her requests for money to avoid disclosure of benefits and potential impermissible activities,” the IRP statement said, adding that Wade did not report this to LSU. at that time.
Wade was also cited for obstructing an NCAA investigation into the matter, prior to sending LSU to the IRP. Wade “delayed the full production of records and documents and knowingly provided false or misleading information regarding his knowledge of and/or involvement in potential violations of NCAA legislation,” according to the IRP.
The IRP survived former LSU assistant Bill Armstrong, who was also part of the notice of allegations. In its findings, the IRP said there was “insufficient reliable and convincing information to prove this [Armstrong] offered or provided recruiting incentives to prospective No. 1 basketball student athletes, family members or associates,”
Thursday’s ruling comes more than five and a half years after the public disclosure of the FBI’s investigation into college basketball recruiting — a controversial operation that led to the arrests of 10 men, including four former college basketball assistants. Neither Wade nor any of the other coaches have been charged in the matter. In her case, the federal government identified universities as victims of fraud, a narrative that the schools themselves have knowingly accepted.
The central figure in the case was Christian Dawkins, with whom Wade had an affair due to Dawkins’ connections to some of the recruits. Dawkins was trying to start his own business endeavor that would, in theory, become a representation and marketing agency for athletes. At the time, Dawkins did not realize that his company was secretly funded by the FBI, which was investigating fraudulent recruiting behavior.
In 2019, HBO documentary “The Scheme” They obtained a wiretap of Wade talking to Dawkins. The wiretap below dates back to 2017, when it was part of an FBI investigation. This is the transcript of the call from the documentary:
WADE: I hope (Jaron) Blossomgame isn’t bothering you too much at the moment.
Dawkins: Well, listen, I mean [expletive]He could be playing for LSU or some other [expletive]. He could be a fifth year qualifier and if he wasn’t drafted like Randolph Morris or some [expletive] like this.
Wadi: We’ll take that. We’ll take it.
Dawkins: I know you will. I know you will.
Valley: We can make up better than the beginner’s minimum.
DAWKINS (laughs): You’re probably right about that, too.
Wade: We’ll give him more than a D-league.
DAWKINS: Exactly. exactly. God bless us all. God bless us all. So, what is a good word?
WADE: Well, last night I was thinking about this clever thing (Javonte). Like, I’ll be honest with you, me [expletive] Tired of dealing with the thing. Like just me [expletive] I’m tired of dealing with this [expletive]. What do you think, because I went to him b [expletive] Showing strong butt about a month ago. [Expletive] strong. Now, the problem was, I know why he didn’t take it now – it was [expletive] Slightly inclined towards the family. But I mean it was [expletive] Hell a [expletive] Displays. Like hell show. Especially for a child who will be two or three years old.
Dawkins: Right.
Wade: I’ve done deals for good players like him [expletive] Much simpler than this.
Speaking on camera for “The Scheme” Dawkins later said of Wade: “He talks 100% about money. Just grit, you gotta take your hat off to him, man. He just wasn’t charged for anything, the government just didn’t have all that info.” And the evidence and there was nothing going on on a criminal level he also said “you” to the NCAA and the university he was working for..and he said “you” to people who weren’t with him and he still had to keep his job and make millions of dollars.It’s like the perfect storm . That’s life. Damn, they pay him a lot of money to win matches, bro… Will Wade sure is a gangster for what he’s done.”
Wade’s contract at McNeese State is worth $1.175 million over five years. The school cut its four official visits for the 2023-24 year and banned Wade from recruiting on the road this spring and summer. Wade’s terms of contract Also “barred him from all recruiting talks between September 1, 2023 through October 15, 2023.” McNeese State also brought a compliance offer to supervise Wade specifically, and required him to provide weekly reports on all of his recruiting activities.