Report: LSU Coach Will Wade Discussed Recruiting ‘Offer’ With Christian Dawkins
According to a Yahoo report, a phone call between LSU basketball coach Will Wade and hoops scandal intermediary Christian Dawkins was intercepted by the FBI in which Wade discusses an "offer" for a prospect.
Dawkins, a former Adidas consultant, was sentenced to six months in jail this week after being proven guilty of fraud and conspiracy charges in which he facilitated various payments to families of college basketball recruits.
Per Yahoo, Wade discussed a "strong-ass offer" he made to a recruit, and appeared vexed a "third party affiliated" with the recruit hadn't accepted the offer yet.
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.”
Yahoo: Wiretap reveals LSU coach Will Wade discussed recruiting 'offer' with hoops scandal middleman
Ja'vonte Smart, a former top recruit from Baton Rouge and reigning SEC freshmen of the week, is a member LSU's basketball team.
Wade never said the full name of the prospect on the call, and never detailed the precise nature of the "Smart thing".
No details on whether the "offer" was an NCAA violation or if the prospect or his family knew of the "offer" is not revealed in the call.
Per the Yahoo report, Wade repeatedly discussed how great the offer was, particularly for a "two or three year kid", insinuating the prospect would not be a one-and-done player heading to the NBA after a single season.
Ja'vonte Smart wasn't and currently isn't considered to be a one-and-doner.
According to a report from ESPN's Mark Schlabach, Wade jokingly told Dawkins on a different phone call the "offer" would compensate the player better than the "rookie minimum".
Ten days ago, Yahoo sports reported Wade and Arizona head coach Sean Miller would be subpoenaed for the federal basketball corruption trial on April 22.
An ESPN report stated Dawkins called a cell number belonging to Wade at least 3 times between June 19-30 of 2017.
On June 30, 2017, Smart announced on his twitter account he was committed to LSU.