Head coach for the Louisiana State University men’s basketball team Frank Williams “Will” Wade and incoming Duke freshmen Zion Williamson’s names surfaced at Tuesday’s session of an ongoing federal conspiracy trial against an aspiring player agent and two former Adidas executives.

Duke Zion Williamson and LSU Coach Will Wade’s Names Surface At Trial

A trio of defense teams attempted to enter an array of new evidence to Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who denied many of the admissions.

Among the evidence that Kaplan refused was a recorded conversation between Kansas assistant Kurtis Townsend and Adidas consultant Merl Code, and a similarly recorded conversation between LSU coach Wade and player liaison Christian Dawkins.

Townsend was caught on a wiretap expressing a willingness to provide money and other benefits in exchange for No. 4 overall 2018 recruit Williamson.

Kaplan refused to admit the Code-Townsend conversation into evidence because it occurred just 12 days before Code was arrested in September 2017. Kaplan deemed this to mean that this conversation did not offer sufficient insight into Code’s state of mind at the time of his alleged fraud, which would have already occurred by then.

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Casey Donnelly, a defense attorney for former Adidas executive Jim Gatto, told the court that the government had wiretapped a conversation in which Wade told Dawkins “there are others — involved in it,” then tells Dawkins he is shutting his door. “I can get you what you need,” Wade then continued, “but it’s got to work.”

The defense confirmed the player’s identity as Balsa Koprivica. Koprivica is a Serbian basketball player who is considered one of the top ten college recruits in the Class of 2019.

The conversation between Dawkins and Wade was not admitted on grounds of relevance, because none of the defendants were being charged in relation to any activity connected to Wade, LSU or Koprivica.

In this corruption trial, the schools are assumed to be the victims of fraud because they would have admitted and provided scholarships to players who were not NCAA-eligible.

The defense attorneys tried to enter this evidence onto the record to show that their defendants were not defrauding the universities, and were instead working among the schools’ highest-paid and most visible employees.

Will Wade is parting ways with Virginia Commonwealth to take charge of the LSU Tigers men’s basketball team, after guiding the Rams to the NCAA Tournament in both his seasons as coach.

VCU’s Will Wade Hired As LSU’s New Head Coach

According to ESPN’s Jeff Goodman, Wade signed a six-year deal with LSU.

The 34-year-old took over as coach for VCU after Shaka Smart left for Texas in 2015.

The Rams are 51-20 under Wade, with back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances. However, VCU (26-9) lost to St. Mary’s 85-77 in the first round of this year’s tournament on Thursday.

Wade was also the head coach at Chattanooga for two years, going 40-25 overall and 27-7 in the Southern Conference.

Wade, one of the youngest coaches in college basketball, started his coaching career at Clemson as a graduate assistant and director of basketball operations from 2005 to 2007 before moving on to become an assistant coach at Harvard and VCU.

He received an eight-year contract extension from VCU following his first season that would have paid him $1.4 million this season, plus incentives, and $1.5 million in each of the remaining seasons. LSU will have to pay the Rams $1 million as compensation for hiring Wade and agree to a home-and-home series with VCU within three years. Wade will inherit a struggling Tigers team that went 10-21 this season and finished 13th in the Southeastern Conference.

“I always meet with coaches after the season to determine the best ways to build their programs and put our student-athletes in the best position to reach their potential,” VCU athletics director Ed McLaughlin said in a statement released Tuesday. “Will and I agreed on the necessary next steps, and we met all of Will’s requests. He ultimately decided he would rather coach elsewhere.”

The Rams have reached the NCAA Tournament for seven consecutive seasons. VCU and Kansas are the only teams that have won at least 24 games in each of the last 11 seasons. However, the Rams have also lost four coaches to major college jobs since 2006.

VCU is also in a tricky position because it is losing five graduating seniors from this year’s team, including leading scorer JeQuan Lewis, and are set to have only two seniors on next year’s squad.

Nevertheless, McLaughlin remains confident VCU will remain an attractive destination for both new coaches and players, and said the search for Wade’s successor will begin immediately.

“We have a world-class practice facility, a sold-out arena every night and one of the greatest fan bases in all of college basketball,” said McLaughlin. “VCU basketball is bigger than one person. We remain committed to ensuring that VCU basketball remains a top-25 program nationally. We have a tradition of remarkable success that is focused ultimately on providing our student-athletes with a positive experience, focusing on our core values: student-athlete focus, drive to excel and integrity.”

SALT LAKE CITY, UT – MARCH 16: Head coach Will Wade of the Virginia Commonwealth Rams instructs his team against the St. Mary’s Gaels during the first round of the 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Vivint Smart Home Arena on March 16, 2017 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)