Report: Shoe finally dropping on Wade, LSU basketball over “impermissible payments” while football deals with own issues

For LSU athletics, 2020 is the best of times and quite possibly the worst of times.

First, the Tigers thrilled the masses with a brilliant, unbeaten, record-setting, national championship football season, a beacon of light for Louisiana.

Then came the coronavirus pandemic.

Now comes the darkness.

It took quite some time but the other shoe has finally dropped and it could drop heavily, severely on the LSU basketball program and the LSU football program may not escape the wrath of the NCAA as well.

ESPN reports that the the NCAA has come out with a report stating that LSU basketball coach Will Wade either arranged for or offered “impermissible payments” to at least 11 potential recruits or others around them.”

This is a case of where the smoke was visible, too visible, fire was sure to follow.

Now we wait to see if the term fire is utilized in different fashion and meaning as it pertains to LSU athletic director Scott Woodward.

Wade was hired by Joe Alleva.

Woodward has correctly taken the approach to wait for the drama to play out before absorbing the evidence and then taking the correct course of action.

With the fire growing around the program and LSU athletics, in general, could Wade be dismissed in the near future?

Consider the fact that Wade has marched on and continued to recruit aggressively and successfully, building what looks to be a very good team for the 2020-21 season.

A March documentary on HBO did not help the cause of Wade or his case to prove any wrongdoing.

While we were already familiar with the verbiage of his alleged impropriety, hearing him speak the words had a larger impact.

Initially, Wade was suspended by LSU for the words he used to discuss the recruitment of Javonte Smart.

Wade reacted poorly to LSU initially, resulting in his suspension before he changed representation, changed course and cooperated with his employee.

As part of being reinstated by LSU, Wade agreed to allowing university to fire him with cause if it is discovered that he committed a Level I or Level II violation. Wade also agreed not to sue LSU if he is fired with cause.

While Wade’s future hangs in the balance, whistling in the wind, the winds of change are blowing a bit on the LSU football program as well with the allegation that an LSU booster provided monies to current and former student-athletes.

There is also the matter of former Tiger Odell Beckham giving money to LSU players on the field during LSU’s national championship victory over Clemson in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Jan. 13. Of course, LSU worked quickly to collect and return the money to right the wrong, ill-advised moved by Beckham which damaged the school he professes to care much about.

Then, there is the note that Ed Orgeron was accused of having impermissible contact with a recruit in early 2019. LSU self-reported the violation and moved on.

Finally, there is the Derrius Guice situation and an accusation by a former football player that Orgeron knew about inappropriate behavior on the part of Guice while at the school. Orgeron has flatly denied the allegation.

With the basketball issues, the smoke is truly a fire burning bright and white hot.

With the football issues, the smoke is smoldering a bit but may avoid becoming a fire.

The primary concern is whether there will be a combination of the two program issues brought together as one by NCAA investigators and what penalties could be meted out.

Common sense and the naked eye suggests that LSU football will receive minimal punishment, if not a slap on the hand, while basketball will receive substantive punishment, a punch to the gut.

Then again, who really knows? All we know about 2020 is that negative results are common. The shoe is dropping on Tiger basketball. The LSU football program may not escape unscathed, either, if the shoe fits.