re: Dickie V sent Culotta a text this morning

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I think they might still be waiting on the FBI investigation into college basketball

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The FBI investigation and trials or long over. It is, presumably, being investigated through the new IARP process (as are Memphis, Louisville, NC St, Arizona and Kansas)

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A phone call, proposing such a transaction, does not provide evidence.

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Simply just making an OFFER of improper benefits COULD be a NCAA violation. That said, two things stick out to me.

1. The wiretap tapes that we've ALL heard by now are the same ones the media was breathlessly melting over TWO YEARS ago. We know today's media is desperate for ANY kind of inflammatory information they can report. So one has to think if there is something else out there the media would have already reported on it at some point in the last two years. Now, that's not to say the ongoing investigation hasn't uncovered new information they are just not leaking. Just that if there were more surface level stuff than the wiretaps we would presumably know about it by now.

2. LSU is a bit different than they other schools listed above. Louisiville, NC St., Kansas, Arizona all had coaches indicted on criminal charges. LSU didn't. The NCAA suspended Wiseman (former Memphis player) at the beginning of last season. LSU hasn't had a player suspended other that Alleva forcing Smart to sit out one game in 2019.

Now, Wade's statement are certainly the most damning of any HC potentially involved here. And we would be completely naïve to think Wade didn't engage in "shady" recruiting behavior...because ALL power conf. coaches do so. It's how recruiting works in CBB with AAU being the main talent broker. But the question becomes what is actually out there.

Listen to Wade's statement about Christian Dawkins, the person who he is talking to on the wiretap: "I have never, ever done any business of any kind with Christian Dawkins." Now that could be a complete lie. But I think that is actually a very carefully worded statement. We KNOW Wade spoke with Dawkins. But when he says he didn't do any business with Dawkins I think he is telling you he never brokered a deal with Dawkins for any players. Clearly he talked to Dawkins about purported "deals". But if he didn't do any "business" with Dawkins then any testimony by Dawkins about Wade's deals seem like they would likely be, at best, second hand information subject to credibility issues