By ADAM ZAGORIA
After announcing Friday that head coach Will Wade had been suspended indefinitely, LSU will now sit guard Javonte Smart on Saturday against Vanderbilt.
The 6-foot-4 Smart is averaging 11.5 points and 3.3 assists for No. 10 LSU (25-5).
Javonte Smart will not play tonight. LSU will now be without its coach and one of its top players tonight against a Vandy team that is winless in league play. https://t.co/NBHyIKhzLA
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 9, 2019
A Yahoo report on Thursday included excerpts of a phone call in which Wade spoke with Christian Dawkins, who is one of several people convicted in October of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for funneling illegal payments to families of recruits to Louisville, Kansas and North Carolina State. Dawkins also is a defendant in a federal bribery case scheduled for trial scheduled for April 22, and Wade is expected to be called as a witness in that case.
In the report, Wade is described expressing his frustration with an unidentified third party handling the recruitment of player referred to only as “Smart.”
Wade is quoted on a transcript of the call saying that he made a strong offer that was “tilted toward taking care of” the player and his mother, but that the third party who received the offer was unsatisfied with his “piece of the pie.”
The report also states that it was not clear if the offer Wade discusses would violate NCAA rules, or if the player and his family knew of, or accepted, the offer, of which there were no specific details.
(The AP contributed; Photo: Getty Images)
Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter
