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Yahoo Sports on Thursday, citing an FBI wiretap, reported details about an alleged 2017 conversation between LSU basketball coach Will Wade and basketball middleman Christian Dawkins discussing a strong “offer” for a recruit.
Yahoo Sports, referencing a tape, reports that a conversation between the two shows Wade’s frustrations over a “Smart thing,” with the coach allegedly saying he was “sick of dealing” with it, and that it should not be all that “complicated.”
“The problem was, I know why he didn’t take it now, it was [expletive] tilted toward the family a little bit,” Wade said, according to the report. “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.”
The call offered no details about the “Smart” reference, according to Yahoo. But in June of 2017, guard Javonte Smart, a local Baton Rouge, La., product, committed to the Tigers program. He is currently a freshman on the team’s roster and has scored 11.4 points per game this season.
Dawkins has been connected to FBI wiretaps going back to 2017. ESPN has reported, citing court records, that Dawkins had contact on multiple occasions in 2017 with a phone number that was believed to have belonged to Wade.
A federal basketball corruption trial will take place April 22 in New York and will focus on the college basketball recruiting process. Wade and Arizona head coach Sean Miller have been linked to the case with defense attorneys in the process of filing subpoenas for both coaches, Yahoo Sports reported.
Dawkins and Merl Code, an Adidas consultant, will face bribery charges in the trial. Co-defendants include assistant coaches Emanuel Richardson of Arizona, Tony Bland of USC and Lamont Evans of Oklahoma State, all of whom have reached a plea agreement.
–Field Level Media