LSU an intriguing case for committee

One of the trickiest teams to evaluate this week for the NCAA Tournament selection committee will be wiretap-tainted LSU.

The ninth-ranked Tigers, who won the SEC regular season for the first time in 10 years, will surely be in the mix for a seed as high as No. 2 when the 68-team field is revealed on Sunday. What’s less clear is whether coach Will Wade will take them to the tourney and if fourthleading scorer Javonte Smart will be allowed to play.

The determination about where the Tigers deserve to be placed in the bracket, however, will rest solely with the results in the SEC tournament and how the other high-seed hopefuls fare around the country this week and not with any judgment of off-the-court activity.

LSU suspended Wade indefinitely last week after Yahoo Sports published excerpts of the coach’s phone conversations with a person convicted last year of funneling money to families of basketball recruits. The university then held Smart out of the team’s last game out of an “abundance of caution,” according to senior associate athletics director Robert Munson.

“They’re working through their process. But as far as we know, they’re eligible for the tournament. Then we’re going to evaluate how they perform this week and then make our judgments as it compares to the rest of the field,” NCAA Division I Basketball Committee chairman Bernard Muir said Wednesday.

Auburn aide suspended:

Auburn has suspended assistant coach Ira Bowman indefinitely amid allegations that he was involved in a bribery scheme during his time at the University of Pennsylvania.

The university sent a statement announcing the suspension, saying “we continue to gather information regarding a situation that recently arose.” Auburn didn’t elaborate on reasons for the suspension, but ex-Penn coach Jerome Allen implicated Bowman during testimony last week at a federal trial of a former health care executive, according to reports.

Allen testified that after he left Penn in 2015, Bowman was aware of the alleged scheme to have a son of Miami businessman Philip Esformes on the Penn basketball team, according to reports. Bowman was a Penn assistant for six seasons.

Man down: All-Big 12 forward Dean Wade is expected to miss the entire Big 12 Tournament for No. 15 Kansas State because of a foot injury that has lingered for much of the season. Wade is averaging 12.9 points and 6.2 rebounds for the top-seeded Wildcats.

Hokies, Wolfpack win:

Kerry Blackshear had 19 points and 10 rebounds to help No. 16 Virginia Tech beat Miami 71-56 in the second round of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament in Charlotte, N.C. Ty Outlaw added 14 points — all in the first half — points for the fifthseeded Hokies (24-7) . ... Markell Johnson hit two free throws with 2.6 seconds left and North Carolina State (22-10) came from 18 down in the first half to beat Clemson 59-58.