Will Wade’s University-imposed suspension may be finally coming to an end. A meeting between Wade and University officials went as scheduled on Friday, school officials confirmed to The Reveille.
However, what was said or exactly who all was in the meeting is still unclear, and a final decision on Wade’s future still has not been made.
“It is unlikely LSU makes any decisions today regarding Coach Wade,” said LSU spokesman Ernie Ballard.
LSU suspended Wade, who is in his second year as LSU’s men’s basketball coach, on March 8 following a Yahoo! Sports report detailing an alleged conversation Wade had with convicted felon Christian Dawkins about recruits. An initial meeting was scheduled between Wade and LSU and was cancelled due to Wade’s concern about the legal implications related to the FBI’s investigation into Dawkins and college basketball.
This led to a month-long standoff between Wade and LSU. It wasn’t until Wade added attorney Steven Thompson to his legal counsel that progress to an end result was being made.
Thompson restarted talks with the University about a possible meeting and ending Wade’s suspension. Then news broke about a motion by the federal government attempting to block Dawkins’ lawyers’ attempts to call Wade to the stand as a witness in this month’s federal trial for bribery in college basketball.
“I can confirm there is a meeting scheduled tomorrow with Coach Wade, LSU officials and the NCAA within the parameters LSU first requested in early March,” said Senior Associate Athletics Director Robert Munson on Thursday. “University officials have made clear their expectation for full cooperation and transparency in this first step in a process toward resolution.”