Report: Will Wade, alleged $300K 'deal' for Naz Reid brought up in NCAA corruption trial
BATON ROUGE - LSU Basketball Coach Will Wade's name has shown up once again in the legal proceedings tied to an ongoing college recruiting scandal.
Convicted Arizona assistant coach Emanuel "Book" Richardson claimed Wade mentioned a $300,000 "deal" that would have guaranteed five-star recruit Naz Reid's signing at LSU, CBS Sports reporter Matt Norlander said.
A secretly recorded FBI video shown in court Monday reportedly featured Richardson discussing Wade's alleged deal in the company of financial manager Munish Sood, who was tied to now-convicted agent Christian Dawkins.
Before his recruitment, Reid had said his choice had come down to either LSU or Arizona. Richardson, who was with Arizona at the time, alleges Wade approached him about a job at LSU so that he might help them land Reid.
Reid announced in August 2017 that his choices had narrowed down to the two schools. He made his choice official about a month later and after a visit from Wade.
Undercover video revealed on Monday showed Book Richardson talking about LSU coach Will Wade approaching him with an informal inquiry about luring Book away from Arizona to coach with at LSU.
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) April 29, 2019
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“Look, there’s a deal in place, I got $300,000 for him," Richardson claims Wade told him.
Richardson said he responded to Wade with, “S***, give me half that and I’ll make sure he goes there.”
Richardson went on to be arrested as part of the federal investigation into college basketball corruption and was fired by Arizona.
Though Will Wade has not been charged in the ongoing investigation, his future at LSU is still uncertain after his temporary suspension earlier this year.