College Basketball Podcast: Can suspended LSU coach Will Wade survive this wiretap scandal?

LSU coach Will Wade has been suspended indefinitely after reportedly being caught on a wiretap with Christian Dawkins discussing a “strong-ass offer” he made for Javonte Smart — less than a month before the heralded prospect committed to the Tigers. In a separate call, Wade reportedly said he’d done deals for comparable players that were far less complex — and added the player in question would get more than the “rookie minimum.”

Obviously, this looks bad.

Can Will Wade offer any believable explanation for these words without acknowledging major NCAA rules violations? Can he survive this? Should he? I opened this episode of the CBS Sports Eye On College Basketball Podcast by discussing the scandal that has LSU making national headlines for wrong reasons.

After that, the conversation went like this:

• 13:00: LSU and Tennessee are tied atop the SEC standings heading into the weekend. The Tigers are playing Vanderbilt at home. So they should win no problem. But Tennessee has a much tougher task. Can the Vols win at Auburn to earn a share of the SEC title for the second straight season? Or will former UT coach Bruce Pearl prevent current UT coach Rick Barnes from adding another trophy?
• 22:00: The American Athletic Conference currently projects as a four-bid league — with Memphis positioned to be a possible bid-stealer because of the fact that the AAC Tournament will be held inside FedExForum next week. But before we get there, Houston and Cincinnati have to play this weekend to settle the regular-season title. If the Cougars win, they’ll be outright league champs for the first time since the 1983-84 season. So that would be a huge accomplishment for Kelvin Sampson and his program.
• 35:00: Duke-North Carolina is Saturday at the Dean Smith Center. Will Zion Williamson play? Will UNC complete the regular-season sweep of its rival? Will Coby White be the best freshman on the court?
• 43:30: Purdue will share the Big Ten title — with either Michigan or Michigan State — as long as the Boilermakers win Saturday at Northwestern. If they do it, should Matt Painter be Big Ten Coach of the Year? He did, after all, lose four starters from last season’s team without really slipping at all.

The latest Eye on College Basketball podcast is below. Give it a listen. If you’re not already subscribed, please subscribe via iTunes. And if you’ve already done that, thank you. #ShoutsToDevanDowney.