By ADAM ZAGORIA
Tony Benford said Monday he expects to coach LSU in the SEC Tournament this week after he was named as the interim coach following the suspension of Will Wade last Friday.
“I haven’t been told otherwise,” he told reporters on the SEC conference call.
Top-seeded LSU meets the winner of the Florida-Arkansas game on Friday at 1 p.m. ET at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on ESPN.
As for freshman guard Javonte Smart, whom the school had sit out Saturday’s regular-season finale against Vanderbilt in the wake of a Yahoo report that Wade discussed with a middle man paying Smart’s family in return for a commitment, Benford said he expected an update soon.
“We don’t have an update on that yet,” Benford said. “Hopefully, they told me we may have an update [Tuesday] morning, maybe tomorrow afternoon sometime.”
Smart is averaing 11.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists a game.
Meantime, former Roselle (N.J.) Catholic star Naz Reid missed Saturday’s game after getting hit in the mouth against Florida.
“Naz (Reid) is fine. Naz is just protocol,” Benford said per 247Sports.com. He should be fine. He got hit in the face, so he was just recovering from that. Naz will be fine. Naz will be ready to go (for the SEC Tournament).”
Photo: AP
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