Wade protested the decision at the time, saying that his legal counsel had advised him “not to submit to a joint LSU/NCAA interview on the exact same subject matter at issue in an impending federal criminal trial in New York.” He added, “Declining to be interviewed was a difficult decision for me, as I would like to cooperate fully with all parties, particularly LSU. To be clear, however, all I’ve done is follow the prudent advice of counsel to exercise my constitutional rights to due process. Given these facts, I don’t believe it is appropriate for me to be relieved of my duties.”<doc-sep>LSU has decided to reinstate men's basketball coach Will Wade, who was suspended March 8 for refusing to meet with school officials regarding alleged recruiting irregularities. After meeting Friday with Wade and NCAA compliance officials, LSU Athletics Director and Vice Chancellor Joe Alleva determined that Wade did not violate his contract and could continue to coach the Tigers next season. "During those meetings, he answered all questions and denied any wrongdoing in connection with recently reported allegations of irregularities in college basketball recruiting," Alleva said in a statement. Wade was allegedly caught on FBI wiretap discussing an offer for then-recruit Javonte Smart. He was suspended before LSU's final regular-season game against Vanderbilt and then missed the SEC tournament and the Tigers' three NCAA tournament games. WAY-TOO-EARLY TOP 25:Time to focus on the season ahead, who's No. 1 DAILY SPORTS, DELIVERED:Get the best Sports news in your inbox! "I am humbled and grateful to be back at LSU," Wade said in a statement. "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. "I completely understand that without my denying or explaining the media reports accusing me of wrongdoing LSU was left with no choice but to suspend me until I was willing and able to meet with them. Any other course of action would have put the program and the University at risk. "I look forward to re-joining the team right away."<doc-sep>LSU head coach Will Wade during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Florida in Gainesville, Fla., Wednesday, March 6, 2019. (AP Photo/Gary McCullough) LSU announced Sunday night that it has reinstated suspended basketball coach Will Wade, two days after he met with school and NCAA officials. LSU athletic director Joe Alleva released a statement that said Wade "answered all questions and denied any wrongdoing in connection with recently reported allegations of irregularities in college basketball recruiting. … Coach Wade's explanations and clarifications offered during the meeting, absent actual evidence of misconduct, satisfy his contractual obligation to LSU. Accordingly, I have recommended that Coach Wade's suspension be lifted and that he should be allowed to resume his coaching responsibilities. President (F. King) Alexander has accepted this recommendation." Wade was suspended on March 8, the day after Yahoo Sports reported about a 2017 phone conversation intercepted by the FBI between Wade and basketball middleman Christian Dawkins. The wiretap features Wade speaking freely about a "strong-ass offer" he made in the recruitment of a prospect. In the wake of that report, Wade refused to meet with LSU officials, prompting the suspension. He missed LSU's last regular-season game and all of its games in the Southeastern Conference and NCAA tournaments. Wade also issued a statement, saying in part, "I regret the circumstances that prevented me from meeting with the University sooner. I wish I could have addressed these issues when the University first requested a meeting, and I'm grateful they gave me the opportunity to do so last week. I completely understand that without my denying or explaining the media reports accusing me of wrongdoing LSU was left with no choice but to suspend me until I was willing and able to meet with them. Any other course of action would have put the program and the University at risk." Neither LSU nor Wade discussed any particulars about the meeting, which included members of NCAA Enforcement. It is unknown what answers Wade gave in explaining what he said on the wiretap. Story continues Despite being reinstated, Wade appears to be far from finished with his involvement in the college basketball scandal. Wade and Arizona coach Sean Miller have been subpoenaed by defense attorneys to appear in the second of three federal trials of college basketball figures, which is scheduled to begin April 22 in New York. Federal prosecutors have filed a motion to keep the coaches from having to testify in that trial. Beyond that, it is unclear where the NCAA inquiry into LSU and Wade stands. It likely would be in its beginning stages. NCAA Enforcement representatives told Yahoo Sports that they have been waiting for the feds to finish their work before fully launching what figures to be many investigations. On part of the call reported last month, Wade discusses the recruitment of Javonte Smart, a guard from Baton Rouge, and expresses frustration that a third party involved in the recruitment — identified by Yahoo Sports as Baton Rouge basketball fixture Shannon Forman — had yet to accept Wade's "offer." Instead, a verbal commitment to LSU was being delayed because Wade theorized the third party hadn’t been given a big "enough piece of the pie in the deal" and instead "tilted" the offer toward the player and his mother. "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." 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-ass 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." Dawkins responded by saying, "Hmmmm." "It was a [expletive] hell of a [expletive] offer," Wade continued. "Hell of an offer." "OK," Dawkins said. "Especially for a kid who is going to be a two- or three-year kid," Wade said. Smart may turn out to be a one-year collegian, having declared for the NBA draft last week after his freshman season. He also could still return to school. The wiretap reported last month is not the only one involving Wade to surface during the federal investigation of college basketball. At the first of three trials last October, one of the defense attorneys read a transcript from another call between Wade and Dawkins. On that call, the LSU coach and Dawkins discuss the possible recruitment of Balsa Koprivica, a center who played in Florida and was one of the top players in the Class of 2019. "[Wade] is communicating to Christian Dawkins that he can get him what he needs – meaning money – if a player in Florida, Balsa Koprivica, agrees to play for LSU," said Casey Donnelly, one of Jim Gatto's attorneys. (Gatto is a former Adidas executive who was found guilty in October during the college basketball corruption trial in federal court.) Donnelly then read a portion of the transcript of the call. "Would you want Balsa?" Dawkins asked. "Oh, the big kid?" Wade responded. Dawkins confirms. "OK, but there is other [expletive] involved in it," Wade said. "Wait, I've got to shut the door … I can get you what you need but it's got to work." More from Yahoo Sports:<doc-sep>
Sean Gardner/Getty Images The LSU Tigers reinstated Will Wade to his position as head coach of the basketball team on Sunday. "Coach Wade met Friday with University and NCAA officials," LSU athletic director Joe Alleva said in a statement, per NOLA.com's Amie Just. "During those meetings, he answered all questions and denied any wrongdoing in connection with recently reported allegations of irregularities in college basketball recruiting." On March 8, LSU announced it had suspended Wade indefinitely. The move came after Yahoo Sports' Pat Forde, Pete Thamel and Dan Wetzel reported the FBI had obtained audio of a conversation between Wade and Christian Dawkins in which Wade allegedly addressed the pursuit of a prospective recruit. A jury last October found Dawkins and two others guilty of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud after the three conspired to funnel money to the families of recruits in order to get the recruits to Adidas-sponsored schools. According to the Yahoo Sports report, Wade allegedly referenced "this Smart thing" in his conversation with Dawkins. Javonte Smart was the No. 35 player in the 2018 recruiting class, per 247Sports' composite rankings, and signed with the Tigers. "Dude. I went to him with a [expletive] strong-ass offer about a month ago," Wade allegedly said to Dawkins, identifying an unknown third party in the recruiting process. "[Expletive] strong. The problem was, I know why he didn't take it now, it was [expletive] tilted toward the family a little bit. It was tilted toward taking care of the mom, taking care of the kid. Like it was tilted towards that." Video Play Button Videos you might like Wade released a statement to NOLA.com in the wake of the report saying, "[The reports] do not begin to tell the full story." Because of his suspension, Wade missed LSU's regular-season finale and the team's opening-round loss to Florida in the SEC tournament. The Tigers reached the Sweet 16 of the 2019 NCAA tournament without him on the sideline. LSU's 28 wins were its most since 2000.