Report: Will Wade Recorded On Wiretap Discussing Recruiting With Middleman

Yahoo Sports is reporting that LSU head coach Will Wade has been recorded on an FBI wiretap with basketball middleman Christian Dawkins discussing an "offer" and mentions "this smart thing" while on the call.

The report states that Wade spoke with Dawkins a few times between June 19, 2017, and June 30, 2017 and that Wade expressed frustration on the calls about a players commitment.

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“I was thinking last night on this Smart thing,” Wade said. “I’ll be honest with you, I’m [expletive] tired of dealing with the thing. Like I’m just [expletive] sick of dealing with the [expletive]. Like, this should not be that [expletive] complicated.”

There is no elaboration on what the “Smart thing” is. Javonte Smart is currently a freshman guard at LSU and formerly a top-50 recruit from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Dawkins is known to be on FBI wiretaps during the late spring and summer of 2017. ESPN, citing court records, previously reported that Dawkins had “at least three calls with a cellphone number belonging to LSU coach Will Wade, each of which occurred between June 19, 2017, and June 30, 2017.” Smart announced his commitment to LSU via Twitter on June 30, 2017.

“Dude,” Wade continued to Dawkins, referring to the third party involved in the recruitment, “I went to him with a [expletive] strong-arse 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,” Wade continued. “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.” Read more.

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This news comes just a couples weeks after Yahoo reported that Wade and Arizona coach Sean Miller have both been notified that they will be subpoenaed for the April 22 federal basketball corruption trial.

LSU is set to wrap up the regular season on Saturday vs. Vanderbilt and could head into the SEC Tournament with No. 1 overall seed. The Tigers are currently 25-5, 15-2 SEC and are projected to be a No. 2-3 seed in the NCAA Tournament later this month.

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