If you’ve ever experienced the adrenaline-inducing thrill of a family board game night, you’ve probably come across the game “Clue” once or twice.
“Clue” is a murder mystery game where players piece together evidence in order to logically deduce which character committed the crime, which room the crime was committed and which weapon was used in the crime.
Obviously, the player who gathers the most clues will have the highest probability of winning the game. However, some players will attempt to make up lost ground in the game and jump to conclusions based on an inadequate amount of evidence.
Recently, LSU basketball coach Will Wade’s recruiting tactics have once again grabbed headlines after attorneys attempted to introduce recordings of Wade allegedly discussing improper benefits with Christian Dawkins, a handler for prospect Balsa Koprivica in federal court.
Judge Lewis Kaplan did not allow the call between Wade and Dawkins to be allowed into evidence, but that has not stopped the general public from playing their own game of “Clue” and jumping to rash conclusions.
This is the second time questions have been raised about Wade’s recruiting style with the first coming last February after a Yahoo! Sports article suggested the National Collegiate Athletic Association was investigating Wade’s tenure at Virginia Commonwealth University.
While the reports of possible impropriety by Wade at VCU were misleading, the recent revelations of the transcript between Wade and Dawkins appear to have potentially damaging ramifications.
One quote within the transcript that seems to have caught everyone’s attention is the one in which Wade saying “he can get [Dawkins] what [he] need[s],” after Dawkins inquired about LSU funding Balsa.
I agree that this transcript raises some red flags, but I also understand that context is important. I do not think a recording of an extremely brief conversation that was not allowed to be admitted as evidence in a court of law should be enough to indict Wade for illegal recruiting tactics.
Wade said he was “proud of everything he’s done at LSU,” and that he’s “never done business of any kind with Christian Dawkins.”
Those are carefully chosen words from Wade, but his statement did little to clear up any doubts about how he recruits.
Still, I think any panic among fans would be unfounded. When Yahoo! Sports released their report on the possible NCAA investigation into VCU last February, I wrote a column saying that Wade’s success among high school prospects was a result of the exciting culture and passionate coaching style that Wade brought to Baton Rouge, and I still believe that.
Wade is the type of coach kids want to play for, and he’s been a great ambassador for the university in his short-stint here.
As a result, LSU finished with the No. 3 recruiting class for 2018, which I truly believe to be a product of hard work on the trail rather than payoffs under the table.
In the current era of collegiate athletics, I realize it’s hard to believe in cleanly-run programs. So many athletic programs bend the rules to build powerhouse teams, and the FBI’s recent investigation into numerous basketball programs have revealed an underbelly of the sport that we all knew existed.
However, good coaches still exist, and I think Wade is building LSU’s basketball program the right way. If fans allow themselves to overreact to thirty-second phone conversation, they could miss out on a once-in-a-lifetime coach.
