AD / Coach Wade — What If

I am a big fan of Will Wade and what he has accomplished in two years at LSU. These accomplishments are much greater than just wins and losses. I have never seen a coach at LSU of any sport, and there have been many great coaches, do a better job of coaching their players to reach their individual potentials and plugging them in like pieces of a chess puzzle as what we witnessed this year with basketball. The players responded in all situations with great class representing the University with dignity. I believe that is a reflection of how they were coached. The season has brought great joy to many people.
A few days before the final season game everything came to a screeching halt. It starting with a Media hit piece and in my opinion could have ended there. But it did not.
Lots of back and forth has taken place and now both the administration and Coach Wade are at a stalemate. Could this have been avoided? I definitely think it could have been avoided which makes it a tragedy because it wasn't.

What if the athletic director instead of jumping the gun and setting into place events publicly that led us to today would have instead just made one public statement when questioned by the media and only one which is this-

"Statements have been made by the media questioning the integrity of LSU basketball and its coach. LSU has always operated with the highest integrity and fairness. Due to the sensitivity of the issues and potential legal ramifications, we are handling this internally and will withhold further comment until it is appropriate."

And with that the season continues with head coach Wade as it should have. The media would likely never let it go but to any follow up attempts the comment should remain -- "we are handling this internally and will withhold further comment until it is appropriate. Thank you."

So can the present stalemate be broken to restore what should be and that is to reinstate Coach Wade. Of course it can. That is what adults who care about each other work to accomplish. For now it is simply this-- come tomorrow the Athletic Director could make this public statement--

" Two weeks ago allegations were made by media outlets concerning our head coach and basketball program. Our intent as always has been to operate our programs at the highest level of integrity. By our request Coach Wade stepped aside from coaching. We are a nation that presumes innocence until proven guilty. We intend to do the same. Effective immediately, we are reinstating Coach Wade to his full coaching responsibilities. We will handle this moving forward internally and will withhold further comment until it is appropriate."

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