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What do you think of when you hear/see the name Dickie V? Will Wade immediately drops a couple of letters from his name.
With the LSU basketball team in Indianapolis, site of NCAA headquarters, for the NCAA Tournament, the ongoing investigation into possible recruiting violations by coach Will Wade returned to the national spotlight this week. The investigation, which has been under way for more than two years, centers on an FBI tape recording of Wade discussing the recruitment of guard Javonte Smart.
In meeting with the media this week in Indianapolis, Wade did not shy away from answering questions about the case, even though he is limited in what he can discuss. The LSU did, however, accuse famed ESPN commentator Dick Vitale of lying to him.
LSU's case came up during ESPN's telecast of Sundayās SEC Tournament championship game between the Tigers and Alabama.
"It might be until you're 170 until something gets done," ESPN's Karl Ravech said as he discussed the investigation of LSU with Vitale. Wade took issue with Vitale discussing it because he said Vitale told him he would not.
"I talked to him the day before the game. He said he was going to talk strictly about basketball," Wade said. "And he gets on there, and there's all sorts of other stuff. What I said is the truth.ā
During an appearance on The Jordy Culotta Show, Wade came after Vitale.
āHow about that guy. He flat-out lied to me,ā Wade said. āHe told me on the phone the night before I talked to him, āIām not gonna bring anything up.āā¦And then I get like 100 texts after the game. Unbelievable.ā
LSUās case is centered on an FBI tape in 2017 of Wade saying he made a āstrong (expletive deleted) offerā for Smart, who is currently third on the team in scoring at 15.9 points per game.
Smart was questioned by the NCAA in March of 2019, just before the start of the SEC Tournament in Nashville. Smart was cleared to play in the event only a couple hours before LSUās first game. He was asked Tuesday if he had been interviewed by the NCAA since then.
"That's something I can't say,ā Smart responded.
Wade was suspended by LSU before the 2019 conference tournament and reinstated roughly six weeks later.
"We've just been focused on what we can do on the court," Wade said Wednesday on a NCAA Tournament teleconference. "We spend all of our time worried about what's going to happen on the court, what we can do to help our guys move forward.
"There are a lot of other people that are dealing with other things. Attorneys and folks from the university and that sort of thing. We focused on winning and doing what we can do to put our guys in the best position to be successful.ā
LSU (18-9), which was edged out by Alabama in this yearās SEC conference championship game, is the No. 8 seed in the East Region. The Tigers meet St. Bonaventure on Saturday in the first round, and would likely get top-seeded Michigan on Monday if they win.
"It's a credit to our guys," Wade said. "You've got to narrow your focus. You've got to lock in. You've got to focus on the things you can control, and that's what we can control right now. Our guys and our program, our staff and our support staff, everyone's done a great job with that.ā
With the LSU basketball team in Indianapolis, site of NCAA headquarters, for the NCAA Tournament, the ongoing investigation into possible recruiting violations by coach Will Wade returned to the national spotlight this week. The investigation, which has been under way for more than two years, centers on an FBI tape recording of Wade discussing the recruitment of guard Javonte Smart.
In meeting with the media this week in Indianapolis, Wade did not shy away from answering questions about the case, even though he is limited in what he can discuss. The LSU did, however, accuse famed ESPN commentator Dick Vitale of lying to him.
LSU's case came up during ESPN's telecast of Sundayās SEC Tournament championship game between the Tigers and Alabama.
"It might be until you're 170 until something gets done," ESPN's Karl Ravech said as he discussed the investigation of LSU with Vitale. Wade took issue with Vitale discussing it because he said Vitale told him he would not.
"I talked to him the day before the game. He said he was going to talk strictly about basketball," Wade said. "And he gets on there, and there's all sorts of other stuff. What I said is the truth.ā
During an appearance on The Jordy Culotta Show, Wade came after Vitale.
āHow about that guy. He flat-out lied to me,ā Wade said. āHe told me on the phone the night before I talked to him, āIām not gonna bring anything up.āā¦And then I get like 100 texts after the game. Unbelievable.ā
LSUās case is centered on an FBI tape in 2017 of Wade saying he made a āstrong (expletive deleted) offerā for Smart, who is currently third on the team in scoring at 15.9 points per game.
Smart was questioned by the NCAA in March of 2019, just before the start of the SEC Tournament in Nashville. Smart was cleared to play in the event only a couple hours before LSUās first game. He was asked Tuesday if he had been interviewed by the NCAA since then.
"That's something I can't say,ā Smart responded.
Wade was suspended by LSU before the 2019 conference tournament and reinstated roughly six weeks later.
"We've just been focused on what we can do on the court," Wade said Wednesday on a NCAA Tournament teleconference. "We spend all of our time worried about what's going to happen on the court, what we can do to help our guys move forward.
"There are a lot of other people that are dealing with other things. Attorneys and folks from the university and that sort of thing. We focused on winning and doing what we can do to put our guys in the best position to be successful.ā
LSU (18-9), which was edged out by Alabama in this yearās SEC conference championship game, is the No. 8 seed in the East Region. The Tigers meet St. Bonaventure on Saturday in the first round, and would likely get top-seeded Michigan on Monday if they win.
"It's a credit to our guys," Wade said. "You've got to narrow your focus. You've got to lock in. You've got to focus on the things you can control, and that's what we can control right now. Our guys and our program, our staff and our support staff, everyone's done a great job with that.ā
