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LSU has reinstated Will Wade as a men's basketball coach, Tigers Athletic Director Joe Alleva announced Sunday night.
Wade was suspended more than a month ago for not meeting with the school and answered questions regarding his relationship with runner agent Christian Dawkins. The two parties finally met Friday alongside NCAA compliance officials, and Alleva said he was satisfied with Wade's responses.
"Coach Wade met with representatives of the university and the NCAA on Friday," Alleva said in a statement. "During these meetings, he answered all the questions and denied any misconduct related to allegations of irregularities recently noted in the recruitment of basketball players in college.
"The University regrets that Coach Wade did not choose to fulfill his obligations to LSU when he was asked to do so. However, the seriousness of the allegations and the earlier refusal of Wade's coach to refute them could not be ignored without exposing the University and the LSU Protect basketball and preserve our integrity should always be our first priority.The explanations and clarifications of coach Wade given during of the meeting, in the absence of actual evidence of misconduct, meet its contractual obligation to LSU. "
Last month, ESPN and Yahoo Sports reported that in one of the phone calls intercepted by the FBI's wiretaps, Wade had expressed his frustration about his inability to close what he was describing as an "offer." fierce "for a recruit. ESPN's Mark Schlabach said Wade was frustrated by a coach from Javonte Smart, who was then one of the top 50 recruits from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and eventually signed with the Tigers.
Following the publication of the transcripts of appeals, LSU suspended Wade on March 8 and appointed Tony Benford interim head coach. The Tigers won the SEC regular season title the next day with a win over Vanderbilt. Benford guided LSU, seeded three of the NCAA tournament, to Sweet 16 before losing to Michigan State.
"I am humble and grateful to be back at LSU," Wade said in a statement. "… I regret the circumstances that prevented me from meeting the University earlier.I would have liked to be able to address these issues when the University requested a meeting, and I am grateful to have given the opportunity to do so last week, I fully understand that without denying or explaining the media who accused me of acting improperly, LSU did not there is no choice but to suspend until I want and I can meet them, and I look forward to joining the team right away. "
A US District Court Judge in New York must decide Friday whether defense lawyers can summon Wade and his Arizona coach, Sean Miller, to testify at a future criminal trial. federal court for corruption in college.
Earlier this month, federal prosecutors asked Judge Edgardo Ramos to prevent coaches from testifying at the trial, scheduled to begin on April 22. In that petition, prosecutors said that defense lawyers were planning to call both coaches to testify "about their involvement in the NCAA settlement" to break by paying student athletes. "
Dawkins and former Adidas consultant, Merl Code, face corruption charges involving Arizona assistant coaches, Oklahoma State and USC.
Wade joined LSU in spring 2017 after two seasons at VCU and two seasons at Chattanooga. He went 18-15 in 2017-18 and then led LSU to a 25-5 record this season before being suspended.
Since the end of the season, LSU has seen five players enter the NBA draft: Smart, Tremont Waters, Naz Reid, Skylar Mays and Emmitt Williams. With the new rules of the NBA, players can return to school even after signing with an agent.
Mark Schlabach of ESPN contributed to this report.
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