Report: LSU Gets Notice of Allegations for Violations by Will Wade's Program

The NCAA has sent a notice of allegations to LSU in regards to allegations of violations within the men's basketball program under head coach Will Wade, per Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated.

The allegations stem from the FBI's ongoing investigation into widespread corruption in the sport.

Per Forde:

"LSU officials did not acknowledge receipt of the NOA when contacted by SI on Tuesday. The NOA originated from the Complex Case Unit of the Independent Accountability Review Process—the so-called off-ramp for more complicated and contentious NCAA investigations. If coach Will Wade is charged with a major violation, he could be terminated with cause, according to a contract amendment he agreed to in April 2019. Wade’s attorney, Steve Thompson, did not immediately respond to a call from Sports Illustrated."

Forde, Pete Thamel and Dan Wetzel (then all of Yahoo Sports) reported in 2019 that the FBI intercepted a 2017 conversation between Wade and ex-basketball middleman Christian Dawkins in which the coach discussed a "strong-ass offer" for ex-LSU guard Javonte Smart:

"Dude, I went to him with a [expletive] strong-ass offer about a month ago. [Expletive] strong."

"The problem was, I know why he didn't take it now, it was [expletive] tilted toward the family a little bit. It was tilted toward taking care of the mom, taking care of the kid. Like it was tilted towards that. Now I know for a fact he didn't explain everything to the mom. I know now, he didn't get enough of the piece of the pie in the deal."

"They ain't talking about a scholarship offer, bro," Dawkins said on the HBO documentary The Scheme (via Forde). "One hundred percent talking about money.”

LSU suspended Wade indefinitely in March 2019:

Wade was reinstated the following month after meetings with school and NCAA officials.

In August, ESPN's Mark Schlabach reported more allegations against Wade from the NCAA, which stated that he "arranged for, offered and/or provided impermissible payments, including cash payments, to at least 11 men's basketball prospective student-athletes, their family members, individuals associated with the prospects and/or nonscholastic coaches in exchange for the prospects' enrollment at LSU."

As for next steps, Forde reported:

"LSU now has several weeks to file a response to the charges. The CCU will file its own response and a hearing will be held with a ruling thereafter. Those steps in the laborious process will likely take several months, but the ruling would be final. There is no appeal built into the IARP."

All this is going down as LSU appears destined for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report listed the Tigers as a No. 6 seed in his latest projection Tuesday.

LSU will next play in the SEC tournament as the No. 5 seed. It will face the winner of Ole Miss vs. Missouri in the second round Thursday.