re: Still no decision on Smart as of 7:25.

But they’re working in multiple states guys!!!!

He should play, but he won't

Seriously. What would it take to have all the clowns who put the university in this position relieved of their duties?

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Pretty sure we are waiting on the NCAA to clear him

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Clear him for what? Per our administration he’s not suspended he’s being withheld due to “an abundance of caution”.

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The decision was made when they suspended him. No one has been working to try and get him reinstated - all of these reports since yesterday afternoon are a PR campaign. They've never given a shite about the student athlete, and they sure didn't start caring yesterday.

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exactly

What do people think the LSU admin is doing?

They are asking Smart and his family to prove they didn't get benefits. If they say they didn't then where do you go from there? This is all a charade to buy time and appease the NCAA.

Smart should have never been suspended in the first place. Find evidence that impermissible benefits were given then remove his amateur status. Simple.
His situation is no different than Zion Williamson. His name was caught on the wire tap referencing pay for play. Currently the national media is writing erotic novels about his play last night while LSU kills itself.

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Currently the national media is writing erotic novels about his play last night while LSU kills itself.

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LSU: Will Wade hasn’t even denied it.
JeVonte Smart: I DIDNT DO IT! I DIDNT DO IT! I DIDNT DO IT!
LSU: Nope we won’t let you play

So according to the administration, the coach on wiretap simply needs to deny wrongdoing, but the player mentioned in one little snippet needs a full anal probe and denying it isn’t good enough?


Clown show

I've never thought he would play again this year. LSU has taken the "abundance of caution" approach and they cant reinstate Smart without the question arising as to why Wade isn't reinstated as well?

I suspect we hear something along these lines: NCAA and LSU officials met with Smart and his family. All denied wrongdoing. However, in order for Smart to be cleared, LSU and NCAA officials requested to speak with Wade about the substance of the tapes. Wade refused to do so. Thus, we can't completely clear Smart.

The LSU administration (and surprisingly, I don't think it's fully Alleva) has decided internally that the remainder of this basketball season is immaterial to the big picture. If LSU loses today, or the 1st round of the NCAAT, they don't care.

The problem is at this point there is really no future to save. You've asked the NCAA to come investigate you and sanction you if necessary. The relationship between school and HC is likely irreparably broken. There is no trust between either side. The players that likely would have returned for next season (Smart, E. Williams, Days, Taylor, Hyatt) are going to be poached by opportunistic schools

Perhaps LSU would have eventually gotten hit with heavy penalties. But we are in uncharted territory where there isn't just negative information on a "rouge" school. There are dozens of schools who could plausibly be investigated once the federal trials are done. This is an NCAA problem. Not simply a LSU problem.

Yet, despite the overall landscape in college basketball and the unknown scope of the future fallout, LSU's administration has for all practical purposes given themselves a preemptive "death penalty" without any assurances whatsoever it will do anything to mitigate future sanctions. No quality coach is going to want to come work for this administration. The talent you have now will leave and without a quality coach, along with an administration who will be even stricter on recruiting, you're not getting many great players anytime soon.

The "sting" of the death penalty is the inability to sign great players. Reduced scholarships = less good players on your team. Less good players = losing. Losing = a program unattractive to great players. LSU didn't wait for sanctions. They simply chose to make their program unattractive to anyone

LSU basketball right now is like a house where mom started a grease fire in the kitchen. It potentially could have been contained to just the kitchen. But the administrations effort to contain the fire was to basically dump gasoline all over to effective burn down the entire house, just so an outsider wouldn't come in and burn it down. However, the reality is that the outsider will come along anyway just to piss on the ashes

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Once they called the ncaa they couldn't really play dumb anymore. Now they have to make sure he is eligible before playing him

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So is he suspended or not? The ncaa can’t clear someone who is already cleared to play