LSU suspends Will Wade

The LSU Tigers are suspending head coach Will Wade, the school announced Friday.

Here is the official statement from the school:

Wade has been caught on tape discussing an “offer” for a recruit, according to Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports. That report came out Thursday, so it only took a day for LSU to decide Wade won’t coach the Tigers this weekend against Vanderbilt, and he’ll probably be out for the rest of the season.

Wade was initially mentioned in the first round of FBI wiretaps back in 2017, but it appears now that Wade has indeed been identified as the coach in the wiretapped phone call, which is very damning for his hopes of keeping his job.

Wade was supposedly frustrated that a third party involved in the recruitment had yet to accept the offer that Wade had put out. The player rumored to be in question is LSU freshman guard Javonte Smart, who was a top-50 recruit last season. It will be interesting to see if he’s also held out for the rest of the season.

LSU currently leads the SEC with a 15-2 record and has already clinched a share of the SEC regular-season crown. If LSU loses to Vanderbilt on Saturday, Kentucky and Tennessee can also clinch a share of the regular-season title with wins.

And at 25-5 overall, LSU was starting to get into the mix for a 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Winning out would almost assuredly get them one.

Now, you have to wonder if LSU will even play in the NCAA Tournament. As bad as things look, it wouldn’t be unheard of for the school to self-impose a postseason ban.