On Sunday night, Yahoo! Sports reported that the NCAA enforcement staff has spent the past six months looking into the recruiting tactics of LSU coach Will Wade. That same report states the NCAA is also probing some of Wade’s tenure at Virginia Commonwealth University.
According to sources familiar with the matter, NCAA officials have done work on the phone and in-person, and have even traveled around the country to learn more about Wade’s recruiting methods.
The report also suggests that any of the NCAA’s scrutiny into Wade is in its exploratory and information-gathering stages.
“After talking to my staff, we have had no contact from the NCAA regarding any irregularities,” LSU athletic director Joe Alleva told Yahoo! Sports.
The school also released a statement Monday afternoon confirming that there’s no active investigation of the men’s basketball program by the NCAA.
VCU athletic director Ed McLaughlin issued a similar statement to the Richmond Times-Dispatch claiming his department of athletics conducted a thorough review of its compliance records and found no evidence of any wrongdoing.
So, what does this all mean?
For starters, it appears that the NCAA’s supposed issue with Wade’s recruiting is completely separate from the investigation the FBI is currently conducting on schools paying college athletes.
LSU has links to that separate federal investigation due to the alleged payments made to former LSU basketball players Tim Quarterman and Jarell Martin.
As of now, the NCAA appears to be conducting a simple check-up as a result of Wade’s early success in recruiting.
LSU’s 2018 recruiting class is ranked No. 3 in the country by Rivals.com, placing the Tigers behind Duke and Oregon, and ahead of Kansas and Kentucky.
You don’t have to be a college basketball expert to understand that one of those schools listed is not like the other.
Many, including myself, are speculating that LSU’s 2018 recruiting class rank, along with Wade’s success in garnering commitments from top prospects in states like New Jersey, Connecticut and Florida, are what piqued the NCAA’s curiosity into Wade’s recruiting strategy.
As of now, there seems to be no man behind the curtain, but I also understand the level of suspicion towards LSU’s basketball recruiting performance.
After all, what blue-chip prospect would want to play for a program that has only been to the NCAA Tournament three times in the past 10 years.
That’s not to mention the fact that LSU had the No. 1 recruit in the nation in Ben Simmons, as well as alleged paid players all on the same team, yet still failed to make an NCAA Tournament appearance.
It also appears odd that the Tigers went from a 10-21 (2-16 Southeastern Conference) record in 2016 to the No. 3 recruiting class in 2018.
So, if these players certainly aren’t committing to the basketball juggernaut that is the LSU program, it’s fair to speculate the where this newfound recruiting success comes from.
I believe the answer lies with Wade, but I don’t think it has anything to do with recruiting impropriety.
Wade is in the process of bringing a new and exciting basketball culture to Baton Rouge, and enthusiasm among fans is at an all-time high. I think there are a lot of prospects who want to play a role in the foundation of that new culture, and I think that’s why LSU is having a tremendous amount of recruiting success.
Wade has a national reputation for being a passionate and fiery coach. He’s the type of leader that athletes in any sport would love to play for, and his success on the court speaks for itself.
Wade took his VCU program to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2016 and 2017, and finished with a record of 51-20 during his two-year stint in Richmond, Virginia.
Before his time at VCU, Wade had a record of 40-25 at Chattanooga.
I believe that players are committing to Wade’s new culture more than they are committing to LSU’s historic basketball culture, and I think that’s the conclusion the NCAA enforcement staff will eventually reach.