The month-long standoff between Will Wade and LSU may be coming to close, according to a report by Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger.
Following Wade’s reported conversation about freshman Javonte Smart’s recruitment with Christian Dawkins, a main target in the FBI’s investigation into college basketball, the school suspended Wade as LSU men’s basketball coach.
Advised by his counsel, Wade refused to meet with LSU in the days following the report after he was told the NCAA was going to take part in the meeting. Wade was concerned about the legal ramifications of the meeting and the implications it may have on the pending legal trial involving Dawkins, whose attorneys want Wade on the stand as a witness.
The school believed when Wade’s bosses called for a meeting he should have been there and whatever Wade was involved in legally was his responsibility. In Dellenger’s report, he says the two sides became even more distant when LSU attorney Tom Skinner said Wade and his side had never denied wrongdoing throughout the whole ordeal.
Wade then published a letter asking to be reinstated “while exercising his constitutional rights.” His request was denied, and both sides have been in relative silence since.
However, according to Dellenger, the two sides have began facilitating talks largely due to Wade’s new attorney Steven Thomspon. Thompson has represented Arizona coach Sean Miller and Auburn coach Bruce Pearl throughout the FBI’s in-depth investigation into college basketball.
How soon a meeting is expected is uncertain, but the clock is dwindling for both sides. LSU is still in the midst of trying to scramble together a recruiting class and managing its current roster which is at risk of losing three starters after being eliminated from the NCAA tournament last weekend.