Opinion: Will Wade living in his own warped reality, and the NCAA, SEC and LSU have enabled him

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Shortly after LSU arrived in Indiana for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, coach Will Wade was upset about — of all things — Dick Vitale. 

During the SEC tournament championship game Sunday, the legendary ESPN announcer dared to mention on the air that LSU has not yet faced the music for its part in the 2017 FBI investigation into college basketball corruption, including Wade being caught on wiretaps saying some things that would suggest he’s a massive cheater whose continued employment makes a mockery of both LSU and the NCAA. 

“He flat-out lied to me,” Wade complained on the Jordy Culotta Show, a podcast based in Baton Rouge. “He said he was going to talk about our team and stuff. He said, ‘I’m not going to bring anything up.’ I said, ‘OK, I appreciate that. That's nice.’ And I get like 100 texts after the game.”

Poor Will. It must be so hard to be him, having suffered absolutely no consequences for the past two years while his program remains in NCAA limbo, collecting his $2.5 million salary, continuing to get blue-chip recruits and having to turn on his phone after a game and learn that Dickie V is maybe the only person in Wade’s orbit who isn't willfully ignoring reality. 

Goodness knows nobody else has held him accountable yet. Not the NCAA. Not SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, who neither sees nor hears any evil within his league. And certainly not his bosses at LSU, whose tolerance for scandal in athletics is impressive for how cynical it really is. 

And all the while, Wade just continues to motor on, including Saturday’s comfortable 76-61 victory over St. Bonaventure at Assembly Hall to advance to the Round of 32. Which perhaps explains why Wade was so aggrieved about an announcer: Of any coach who was caught up in the FBI investigation, he has paid by far the smallest price. 

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