The suspension of Will Wade was finally lifted on Sunday evening when LSU Athletic Director Joe Alleva put out a statement after their meeting last Friday.
“The LSU Athletics Department today agreed to reinstate Will Wade as head coach of the Tiger basketball program.” Alleva said in a statement, “Coach Wade met Friday with University and NCAA officials. During those meetings, he answered all questions and denied any wrongdoing in connection with recently reported allegations of irregularities in college basketball recruiting.”
While there were no concrete details about the meeting, Alleva explained why the suspension occurred stating that “the University regrets that Coach Wade did not choose to fulfill his obligations to LSU when he was first asked to do so. However, the seriousness of the allegations and Coach Wade’s prior refusal to refute them could not be ignored without exposing the University and the basketball program to great risk. Protecting LSU and preserving our integrity must always be our first priority.”
Wade, who was suspended for 37 days after a Yahoo Sports report detailed a wiretapped conversation between Wade and Christian Dawkins, also put out a statement saying that “he is humbled and grateful to be back at LSU. I would like to express my appreciation to President F. King Alexander and Athletic Director Joe Alleva for my reinstatement, and I sincerely apologize to the university and our fans for the disruption to the University and the program.”
-Clint Domingue