Will Wade, the coach of the university’s men’s basketball team who was recently hired by McNeese State, has been suspended 10 games for next season. This ends a lengthy NCAA investigation into the football and basketball programs of Louisiana State, the powerhouse in the Southeastern Conference that Wade previously coached.
A review panel ruled Thursday that LSU failed to oversee its major programs, which were found to have improperly funneled payments to a recruit, paid hush money to keep recruiting violations quiet and to the NFL star Odell Beckham Jr., a former LSU wide receiver, allowed , to hand out wads of cash to players after the January 2020 football national championship game.
But the independent arbitrators did little to increase the school’s self-imposed punishments, other than extending the university’s probation by three years. They also did not cite Wade for the most infamous charge: brazen schemes to lure recruits with illegal payments, detailed by Wade on a federal wiretap, which first reported by Yahoo and later aired in an HBO documentary.
But because the NCAA said the federal government had rebuffed its attempts to obtain recordings or transcripts, the panel did not have enough credible information to punish Wade for that, said Bruce Meyerson, a retired judge who chaired the independent panel.
Another formal complaint that was dismissed due to insufficient evidence alleged that Wade passed on payments from a bank account in his wife’s name to a family friend of a recruit, who in return would refer the prospect to LSU. But Wade successfully argued that because he was not an authorized user of the account jointly controlled by his wife and his mother, he could not force them to turn over the account information to NCAA investigators.
The panel also found no credible evidence in the formal complaint alleging that a former assistant coach, Bill Armstrong, offered to provide $300,000 in cash to a recruit’s family or associates, as well as a job, an apartment and a car for the recruit’s nephew.
The most serious violation was Wade’s failure to notify university officials of an alleged extortion attempt in which the former fiancée of a former player threatened to go to the NCAA with a list of recruiting violations Wade had committed.
But in the end, Wade was punished mainly for lies, misleading statements and repeated delays in turning over documents in the investigation.
In addition to the 10-game suspension, Wade is prohibited from recruiting off-campus and has other recruiting restrictions placed on him for two years, but those restrictions could have less of an impact on a team that relies more on the transfer portal to build its roster.
The NCAA’s decision ends a drama that began more than four years ago when Yahoo reported on a federal government wiretap, with Wade saying he made a “strong offer” to Javonte Smart, who played at LSU and then briefly in the NBA.
Wade was suspended from the 2019 NCAA Tournament after refusing to speak to LSU, but was reinstated a month later. “You need evidence to ruin someone’s career,” F. King Alexander, the former LSU president, told The New York Times last year, adding: “Presidents must follow due process rights. Did he pay players? In my feeling I would say: yes, but my feeling doesn’t do very well in a jury trial.
Ultimately, however, Wade was fired just before the 2022 NCAA Tournament, when LSU was informed of the allegations by the NCAA
A year and a day later, he was hired at McNeese State, the last school to revive a lifeless program by hiring a coach embroiled in a federal corruption sting. Iona had brought in Rick Pitino and Xavier brought in Sean Miller for a second tenure there after his run at Arizona ended. Pitino has since moved to St. John’s.
The day after McNeese State hired Wade, it announced he would receive a five-game suspension. There was little disappointment Thursday from the school, which is tucked away in Lake Charles, La., in the southwest corner of the state.
Athletic director Heath Schroyer did not respond to a phone call, but he said in a statement that his school, which has not had a winning record in men’s basketball since the 2011-12 season, accepted the decision and was ready to move on.
“The enthusiasm around this program is at an all-time high,” he says. “And we are all excited about the future of McNeese Basketball, with the coach leading the way.”
