LSU's Will Wade Says He Regrets How Season Ended; Ready to Rebuild Trust

LSU men's basketball head coach Will Wade was suspended by the school in March while it investigated potential recruiting violations. He missed both the SEC and NCAA tournaments, though he was reinstated in April after meeting with LSU and NCAA officials.

On Tuesday, Wade spoke about the situation and regrets he had over how he handled it, telling reporters he was ready to "start the process of rebuilding trust."

"As I've had time to reflect since I was out for 40 days or so—there were some mistakes that I made," he said, per Alex Scarborough of ESPN.com. "But ever since that, since I was able to sit down and talk to LSU and the NCAA, I was fully cooperative."

"I wish, looking back on things, we could have gotten into a room together a lot quicker than we did," he added. "That was my mistake. I respect LSU's decision based on that."

In March, ESPN and Yahoo Sports reported that federal prosecutors had a wiretap that they said had Wade talking over his frustration after making a "strong-ass offer" for 5-star recruit Javonte Smart but not finalizing it.

Former Arizona Wildcats assistant coach Emanuel "Book" Richardson—who has since pleaded guilty to a felony count of conspiracy to commit bribery in the federal investigation into college basketball recruiting—also claimed during the trial that Wade said he had a $300,000 deal for recruit Naz Reid lined up.

Wade denied those accusations. He was also asked if money had ever exchanged hands during a recruitment of a player, including Smart, but sidestepped the question.

"It's a good question," Wade said. "I can't get into the specifics of everything, like I was saying earlier. I can assure you in my meetings with LSU and the NCAA, I've addressed all the media reports and what was said and I was reinstated."

Without Wade, the Tigers were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament, though they did make the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tourney before losing to Michigan State, 80-63.

Wade, 36, has spent two seasons at LSU, going 43-20 and winning a regular-season title this year. In six total seasons as a college coach at Chattanooga, VCU and LSU, he's gone 134-65 and led his team to three NCAA tournament appearances.