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Will Wade and LSU

although it is nice if players like their coach, would take a guy they hate if he can win big. wade is in the big time and he is doing what is needed to land elite recruits but must understand that he has to let assistants do the dirty work. most of the sleezy guys insulate themselves so nothing sticks while their assistants get fired and placed on a do not touch list. again, these conferences need to be in their own deal so that they can do all of this legally, pay the players, the parents, the aau teams, whatever. what they do is so far away from how we handle our programs, things just need to change.
 
Wait until they start interviewing VCU players and their families. Whew!!
 
SpiderTrap said:
From a legal perspective - I wonder if he gets off. When you hear the details of the wiretap - they never talk about specifics. He just says "Offer" - which we can all infer to mean cash and money, etc. But I wonder if he gets a good lawyer (which I am sure LSU has a couple on the payroll for these manners) that this does nothing to him and he walks away from this without a scratch.
Click to expand...
They have many more tapes
 
Spider B said:
Keep telling yourself that RPI fans! He left for more money. He could still cheat at RPI!
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He's been gone for 2 years. His recruits will be long gone before anything happens.And if they came for money, they would have left when he left. You think Rhoades is paying them as well? Grasping at straws.
 
Eight Legger said:
Pretty sure that was a Shaka recruit who jumped when Shaka left.
Click to expand...

A couple of things that people are missing here. First, if he was paying players to come to VCU, we would not have lost those last two recruiting classes of Shaka's. Those classes would have taken VCU to a different level. The recruits did not even talk to Wade before they announced they were going elsewhere. If he had a pocket full of cash to spend here, you'd think a couple would have stayed.

Second, as with Watergate, follow the money. Think shoe contracts. The money that schools like VCU and UR get from shoes and apparel contracts is pennies compared to P5 schools.
 
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RickAM, that is a good point. It does behoove the shoe boys to influence to the TV schools. I still think he was a slimy dirt bag while at VCU, he did not change his stripes. I'm afraid to say on a pubic forum what he might have done to obtain said players services. wink wink.
 
Sources: LSU coach on wiretap discussing 'offer'

6:26 PM ET
  • i

    Mark SchlabachESPN Senior Writer
FBI wiretaps intercepted telephone calls between LSU coach Will Wade and aspiring business manager Christian Dawkins, in which Wade expressed frustration about his inability to close what he described as a "strong-ass offer" for a recruit, sources told ESPN on Thursday.

Yahoo Sports first reported details about the contents of one of the telephone calls on Thursday.

ESPN has independently verified the calls between Dawkins and Wade, which occurred in 2017, when the FBI was monitoring one of Dawkins' cellphones as part of the federal government's clandestine investigation into college basketball corruption.

According to people familiar with the calls, Wade was frustrated with a handler of current LSU guard Javonte Smart, who was then a top-50 recruit from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

"I was thinking last night on this Smart thing," Wade told Dawkins during one of the calls. "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 s---. Like, this should not be that [expletive] complicated.

"Dude," Wade continued during the call, "I went to [the handler] with a [expletive] strong-ass offer about a month ago. [Expletive] strong.

"The problem was, I know why he didn't take it now. It was [expletive] tilted toward the family a little bit. It was tilted toward taking care of the mom, taking care of the kid. Like it was tilted towards that. Now I know for a fact he didn't explain everything to the mom. I know now, he didn't get enough of the piece of the pie in the deal."

"It was a [expletive] hell of a [expletive] offer," Wade continued. "Hell of an offer. ... Especially for a kid who is going to be a two- or three-year kid."


New indictment filed against Code, Dawkins
The federal government on Thursday filed a superseding indictment against former Adidas consultant Merl Code and aspiring business manager Christian Dawkins. The superseding indictment included additional allegations but no new criminal charges.


  • Three sentenced in Adidas recruiting scandal
    Ex-Adidas executive James Gatto, ex-Adidas consultant Merl Code and aspiring sports business manager Christian Dawkins were sentenced Tuesday after being convicted of pay-for-play schemes to steer recruits to Adidas-sponsored college basketball programs.

  • Sources: Miller, Wade to be subpoenaed to testify
    Attorneys representing the two remaining defendants in a federal criminal trial involving college basketball corruption have notified representatives of Arizona's Sean Miller and LSU's Will Wade that they will be subpoenaed to testify at the April trial.
In a different telephone call with Dawkins, Wade joked that the player would be compensated more than the "rookie minimum."

Wade told Dawkins that he had made deals for "as good of players as him" that were "a lot simpler than this."

Wade, 36, has guided No. 10 LSU to a 25-5 record, 15-2 SEC this season. The Tigers are tied with No. 5 Tennessee for first place in the SEC with one regular-season game remaining.

Asked about the report Thursday at an LSU luncheon, Wade said he had yet to read it.

"I have to read it and look at it and from there we'll move forward as we need to," the coach said.

Smart, a freshman, is averaging 11.5 points and 2.5 assists. He was ranked the No. 31 player in the country in the 2018 ESPN 100.

Dawkins, a former runner for NBA agent Andy Miller, was sentenced to six months in federal prison on Tuesday after he was convicted on felony charges for his role in a pay-for-play scheme to funnel money from Adidas to the families of high-profile recruits to ensure they signed with Adidas-sponsored schools, including Kansas, Louisville and NC State.

Former Adidas executive James Gatto was sentenced to nine months in prison, and former Adidas consultant Merl Code was sentenced to six months. Attorneys for the men said they intended to appeal the convictions.

Code and Dawkins are also defendants in an April 22 federal criminal case, in which prosecutors have accused them of bribing three former assistant coaches -- Arizona's Emanuel "Book" Richardson, USC's Tony Bland and Oklahoma State's Lamont Evans -- to steer their players to Dawkins' fledgling sports management agency and certain financial planners once they turned pro.

Dawkins' attorney, Steven Haney of Detroit, notified Wade's and Arizona coach Sean Miller's attorneys that he planned to subpoena the coaches to testify at the April trial.

Outside the Lines previously reported that Wade and Dawkins had at least three phone calls between June 19, 2017, and June 30, 2017.

LSU officials previously told ESPN that phone records for Wade's university-issued cellphone didn't include any calls to cell numbers assigned to Dawkins.


Last week, LSU officials also told ESPN that the university hadn't received any correspondence from the U.S. Justice Department or the NCAA regarding its men's basketball program.

During the October federal criminal trial, defense attorneys unsuccessfully tried to introduce into evidence a call between Dawkins and Wade, in which they discussed 2019 recruit Balsa Koprivica, who is committed to Florida State.

"So you said to me ... there was a 2019 kid I wanted to recruit, they can get him to LSU, you would have funded," Dawkins told Wade. "Would you want Balsa?"

"Oh, the big kid?" Wade said.

Dawkins confirmed he was talking about Koprivica.

"OK, but there is other [expletive] involved in it," Wade said. "I have got to shut my door ..."

Then Wade said, "I can get you what you need, but it's got to work."
 
SouthJerseySpiderFan said:
Can't disagree with that, problem was he got caught. Wade though appeared so blatantly arrogant going by the article. Hey Will, maybe move on to the next player with the sales pitch.
Click to expand...
Unless they have more than the tapes, they really do not spell it out in black and white enough for anything to come about it imo. Nothing in those tapes state what was offered. Never mentions money or cars or a house... nothing financial. Now we know that it likely was but Wade will just deny it.
 
Last edited:
32counter said:
Sources: LSU coach on wiretap discussing 'offer'

6:26 PM ET
  • i

    Mark SchlabachESPN Senior Writer
FBI wiretaps intercepted telephone calls between LSU coach Will Wade and aspiring business manager Christian Dawkins, in which Wade expressed frustration about his inability to close what he described as a "strong-ass offer" for a recruit, sources told ESPN on Thursday.

Yahoo Sports first reported details about the contents of one of the telephone calls on Thursday.

ESPN has independently verified the calls between Dawkins and Wade, which occurred in 2017, when the FBI was monitoring one of Dawkins' cellphones as part of the federal government's clandestine investigation into college basketball corruption.

According to people familiar with the calls, Wade was frustrated with a handler of current LSU guard Javonte Smart, who was then a top-50 recruit from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

"I was thinking last night on this Smart thing," Wade told Dawkins during one of the calls. "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 s---. Like, this should not be that [expletive] complicated.

"Dude," Wade continued during the call, "I went to [the handler] with a [expletive] strong-ass offer about a month ago. [Expletive] strong.

"The problem was, I know why he didn't take it now. It was [expletive] tilted toward the family a little bit. It was tilted toward taking care of the mom, taking care of the kid. Like it was tilted towards that. Now I know for a fact he didn't explain everything to the mom. I know now, he didn't get enough of the piece of the pie in the deal."

"It was a [expletive] hell of a [expletive] offer," Wade continued. "Hell of an offer. ... Especially for a kid who is going to be a two- or three-year kid."


New indictment filed against Code, Dawkins
The federal government on Thursday filed a superseding indictment against former Adidas consultant Merl Code and aspiring business manager Christian Dawkins. The superseding indictment included additional allegations but no new criminal charges.


  • Three sentenced in Adidas recruiting scandal
    Ex-Adidas executive James Gatto, ex-Adidas consultant Merl Code and aspiring sports business manager Christian Dawkins were sentenced Tuesday after being convicted of pay-for-play schemes to steer recruits to Adidas-sponsored college basketball programs.

  • Sources: Miller, Wade to be subpoenaed to testify
    Attorneys representing the two remaining defendants in a federal criminal trial involving college basketball corruption have notified representatives of Arizona's Sean Miller and LSU's Will Wade that they will be subpoenaed to testify at the April trial.
In a different telephone call with Dawkins, Wade joked that the player would be compensated more than the "rookie minimum."

Wade told Dawkins that he had made deals for "as good of players as him" that were "a lot simpler than this."

Wade, 36, has guided No. 10 LSU to a 25-5 record, 15-2 SEC this season. The Tigers are tied with No. 5 Tennessee for first place in the SEC with one regular-season game remaining.

Asked about the report Thursday at an LSU luncheon, Wade said he had yet to read it.

"I have to read it and look at it and from there we'll move forward as we need to," the coach said.

Smart, a freshman, is averaging 11.5 points and 2.5 assists. He was ranked the No. 31 player in the country in the 2018 ESPN 100.

Dawkins, a former runner for NBA agent Andy Miller, was sentenced to six months in federal prison on Tuesday after he was convicted on felony charges for his role in a pay-for-play scheme to funnel money from Adidas to the families of high-profile recruits to ensure they signed with Adidas-sponsored schools, including Kansas, Louisville and NC State.

Former Adidas executive James Gatto was sentenced to nine months in prison, and former Adidas consultant Merl Code was sentenced to six months. Attorneys for the men said they intended to appeal the convictions.

Code and Dawkins are also defendants in an April 22 federal criminal case, in which prosecutors have accused them of bribing three former assistant coaches -- Arizona's Emanuel "Book" Richardson, USC's Tony Bland and Oklahoma State's Lamont Evans -- to steer their players to Dawkins' fledgling sports management agency and certain financial planners once they turned pro.

Dawkins' attorney, Steven Haney of Detroit, notified Wade's and Arizona coach Sean Miller's attorneys that he planned to subpoena the coaches to testify at the April trial.

Outside the Lines previously reported that Wade and Dawkins had at least three phone calls between June 19, 2017, and June 30, 2017.

LSU officials previously told ESPN that phone records for Wade's university-issued cellphone didn't include any calls to cell numbers assigned to Dawkins.


Last week, LSU officials also told ESPN that the university hadn't received any correspondence from the U.S. Justice Department or the NCAA regarding its men's basketball program.

During the October federal criminal trial, defense attorneys unsuccessfully tried to introduce into evidence a call between Dawkins and Wade, in which they discussed 2019 recruit Balsa Koprivica, who is committed to Florida State.

"So you said to me ... there was a 2019 kid I wanted to recruit, they can get him to LSU, you would have funded," Dawkins told Wade. "Would you want Balsa?"

"Oh, the big kid?" Wade said.

Dawkins confirmed he was talking about Koprivica.

"OK, but there is other [expletive] involved in it," Wade said. "I have got to shut my door ..."

Then Wade said, "I can get you what you need, but it's got to work."
Click to expand...
Thing i dont understand is how “recruiting” affairs are investigated by the FBI. I mean damn, arent there more pressing issues out there? Shouldnt the NCAA be responsible for monitoring their own league? I have a problem with my fantasy league and think there is some underhanded shit going on, please investigate FBI. Seriously, there are federal laws on the books related to college recruiting? Are there some for AAU and highschool too?
 
Last edited:
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The player was pissed his mom cut a better deal than he did with Wil Wade.
 
fatherspider said:
i doubt they do. These were released to incriminate him so why leave some out. His problem is that he will b calied to testify and he better not lie.
Click to expand...
FBI said they did. Don’t know if they pertain to Wade or not.
 
fatherspider said:
Unless they have more than the tapes, they really do not spell it out in black and white enough for anything to come about it imo. Nothing in those tapes state what was offered. Never mentions money or cars or a house... nothing financial. Now we know that it likely was but Wade will just deny it.
Click to expand...

What part of compensated more than the "rookie minimum" do you not understand? And, VCU fans might be concerned with hearing he made deals for "as good of players as him" that were "a lot simpler than this."

LSU needs to fire him and sit out this year's tourney to try to get as small a penalty as possible.
 
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Check out this article from 2018, VCU fans:

https://www.theadvertiser.com/story...-basketball-coach-wades-recruiting/372698002/

In case you do not want to read the whole article, here is part of it:

Yahoo Sports said the NCAA had started looking into Wade's recruiting tactics while he was Virginia Commonwealth's coach last season. He left VCU for LSU in March 2017, and the NCAA's investigation of Wade continued at LSU through recent months.
 
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why would they release all of the information they have if they don't have to? They had to have enough to convince the Judge to let them do a wiretap.
 
fatherspider said:
Thing i dont understand is how “recruiting” affairs are investigated by the FBI. I mean damn, arent there more pressing issues out there? Shouldnt the NCAA be responsible for monitoring their own league? I have a problem with my fantasy league and think there is some underhanded shit going on, please investigate FBI. Seriously, there are federal laws on the books related to college recruiting? Are there some for AAU and highschool too?
Click to expand...
They’re being charged with fraud.

The way I’ve heard it explained is by taking this money, and assumedly not reporting it, they are then getting an atheltic scholarship. Players don’t receive scholarship money just from the athletic department. First the athletic department gets the players money based on need (just like any other student) and then covers the rest from their own scholarship fund.

By not reporting the money taken, the players (and their families) are illegally claiming less income, receiving more need based aid then they actually qualify for. Hence, the fraud (both against the federal government and the university).

Why the fbi got involved in the first place? I don’t know, and I agree there are more important things in the world.
 
fatherspider said:
Thing i dont understand is how “recruiting” affairs are investigated by the FBI. I mean damn, arent there more pressing issues out there?
Click to expand...

Every time I read one of these stories this is my thought. So the federal government is monitoring the cell phones of suspected college basketball deal makers? Just casually dropped into the article like it's no big deal. I know laws need to be followed but I also feel like there's probably better use of FBI resources.
 
fmrick said:
A couple of things that people are missing here. First, if he was paying players to come to VCU, we would not have lost those last two recruiting classes of Shaka's. Those classes would have taken VCU to a different level. The recruits did not even talk to Wade before they announced they were going elsewhere. If he had a pocket full of cash to spend here, you'd think a couple would have stayed.

Second, as with Watergate, follow the money. Think shoe contracts. The money that schools like VCU and UR get from shoes and apparel contracts is pennies compared to P5 schools.
Click to expand...
you're naive. a coach either has ethics or he doesn't. he didn't just get dirty when he signed with LSU. he's willing to do whatever it takes to land recruits, rules be damned.

and father, you think the families won't roll over for immunity from tax fraud? lol. yeah, they might think about it for 10 seconds. maybe they'll wait to see if Wade can make another offer to keep quiet.
 
All of these universities involved committed fraudulent activities while received Federal dollars. That is why the FBI is involved. Are there "more important" things for the FBI to investigate? You can argue that about any potential white collar case, but that is not how the FBI works.

As for Wade and VCU, the FBI was sniffing around him while he was at VCU for his recruiting tactics. What is outrageous to me is that Wade knew this and yet still proceeded with trying to pay players to come to LSU. He must be the stupidest SOB around.
 
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And finally, you think this tape is the only evidence the FBI has. Please. They have corroborating witnesses and will lean on them to catch bigger fish, such as D-1 men's basketball coaches.
 
I think Wade looks like the character "Gabe" from the Office.

Yes, quite ballsy if Wade knew he was being investigated to keep pushing, not that bright of a guy. I have a feeling that you would have to assign about 1/2 of the FBI to the SEC to find 1/2 of what is going on.
 
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That's the damn truth, 23. I was friends with a recruiter for VT football who told me once that when he was recruiting Percy Harvin, he realized he was not going to get him once Florida bought a house for his mom and set her up with a job down there.
 
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