With the status of freshman guard Javonte Smart still unknown, the LSU basketball team returned to practice Tuesday after a two-day break from the court. While he hasn’t been cleared to play in the Southeastern Conference tournament opener Friday, at least Smart was able to practice as No. 9 LSU began prepping for its quarterfinal game with either Florida or Arkansas. School officials held Smart out of Saturday’s regular-season finale with Vanderbilt, which LSU won to clinch the SEC championship outright, as it investigated alleged recruiting improprieties involving coach Will Wade and a federally convicted recruiting middleman. Wade was suspended indefinitely Friday when he declined to meet with university officials to talk about his comments on an FBI wiretap of Christian Dawkins’ phone. The conversation appeared to be about a recruiting offer to Smart, who was not allowed to dress for the game. +3 LSU's Tremont Waters, Skylar Mays, Naz Reid earn recognition from SEC coaches Three LSU men’s basketball players were honored Tuesday on the eve of the Southeastern Conference tournament by the league’s coaches. Interim coach Tony Benford told The Advocate that Smart, LSU’s third-leading scorer at 11.5 points per game, will travel with the team when it departs early Wednesday afternoon for Nashville, Tennessee. But as far as Smart playing Friday, Benford, during his pre-tournament news conference late Tuesday afternoon, said he still didn’t know. LSU sports news in your inbox If you're a Tiger fan you won't want to miss this newsletter. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up “Right now, there’s no update. … I’ll check when I get out of here.” Benford said. “They said they would let us know this afternoon. When I leave here, I’ll make a couple of calls to see what his status is. We’re still hoping we could have him Friday. “He practiced today and he practiced really well, too, he had fresh legs,” he said. “He’s in (the gym) getting shots up right now. Hopefully, by tomorrow or Thursday, we’ll have a word on him.” Also, Benford said forward Naz Reid, who missed the Vanderbilt game with multiple injuries sustained against Florida last Wednesday, practiced Tuesday as well. Subbing for Wade on his radio show Monday night, Benford said Reid had been cleared by doctors to return to the court. “He’s ready to go; he was good,” Benford said. “He made shots, he ran the floor, he was talkative. I thought he was really good.”<doc-sep>LSU guard Javonte Smart returned to the Tigers' SEC tournament opener against Florida on Friday, scoring 13 points off the bench in a 76-73 loss. Smart, averaging 11.5 points and 3.3 rebounds for the Tigers, was held out of LSU's regular-season finale against Vanderbilt after his recruitment reportedly was linked to FBI wiretaps that included LSU coach Will Wade. The school said in a release that Smart had fully cooperated in a joint investigation between LSU and the NCAA. Wade remains off the LSU sideline, as he has declined to meet with the school and NCAA until the federal government inquiry is complete.<doc-sep>LSU freshman point guard Javonte Smart will not play in the Tigers' regular season finale on Saturday after reports this week linked him to the ongoing probe by the feds into potential corruption in basketball recruiting. Smart will be withheld along with his coach, Will Wade, who Friday was indefinitely suspended due to the reports. "Javonte Smart will be held from today's game against Vanderbilt. This is done only in an abundance of caution and as a result of the lack of clarity provided regarding media reports and reported wiretaps involving head coach Will Wade," LSU said in a statement on Saturday. "This decision does not suggest, in any way, wrongdoing or knowledge of wrongdoing on Javonte's part of his family. Javonte and his family have been fully cooperative and open with university officials." LSU says the university and NCAA are continuing to review the matter and hope to reach a resolution "as quickly as possible." The link to the probe surfaced Thursday after Yahoo Sports reported that FBI wiretaps caught Will Wade, a second-year coach at LSU, discussing a "strong-ass" offer with Christian Dawkins, an ex-middleman in the basketball world who was sentenced this week to prison time for his role in the scandal. "I was thinking last night on this Smart thing," Wade reportedly said in the conversation on wiretap with Dawkins. "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." Wade was also caught on wiretap confiding in Dawkins about a conversation he had with Smart's handler about the alleged offer, and expressed concern about how it was tilted more towards taking care of others besides the handler. "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." Smart is averaging 11.4 points per game for LSU on the season. LSU plays Vanderbilt in its season finale in Baton Rouge, and it can clinch at least a share of the SEC regular season title with a win.<doc-sep>
LSU freshman Javonte Smart has been cleared to return to the court ahead of the Tigers' SEC Tournament opening game Friday against Florida, the school announced Friday morning. Smart was held out of LSU's regular-season finale Saturday against Vanderbilt after media reports revealed that LSU coach Will Wade was caught on a wiretap discussing an "offer" to a perspective recruit with ex-middleman Christian Dawkins, who was recently convicted for his role in the college basketball scandal. The recruit in question is believed to be Smart. Wade was suspended for the victory vs. the Commordores, which allowed the Tigers to clinch the SEC regular-season title outright -- as was Smart. From the statement: "LSU has cleared freshman Javonte Smart for today's game against the University of Florida in the SEC men's basketball tournament. Smart has fully cooperated and participated in a joint inquiry with LSU and the NCAA resulting from reports of wiretapped conversations purportedly involving head coach Will Wade. "Smart was held out of the regular season finale against Vanderbilt out of an abundance of caution in cooperation with the NCAA. Though the inquiry is not closed, after multiple additional interviews, there has been no wrongdoing identified to date. As a result, and because of his full cooperation and transparency in this matter, Smart has been cleared by university officials for play on Friday." Wade on the other hand remains indefinitely suspended. Asked to cooperate with the LSU and NCAA inquiry, the Tigers coach declined this week. Wade said he does not intend to discuss the case or anything related to it with the feds or LSU until the federal probe is complete, though Thursday he issued a statement pleading LSU officials to reinstate him despite not cooperating. Smart's return is a boon for an LSU team that is on track to be a top-two seed in the NCAA Tournament. The freshman from Baton Rouge, Louisiana is averaging 11.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.4 steals per game for the ninth-ranked Tigers.