After twisting in the wind from a five-year investigation of recruiting violations in its football and basketball programs, LSU came out smelling like a rose when the NCAA’s Independent Accountability Resolution Panel finally issued a ruling Thursday.

The Tigers didn’t receive a postseason ban, wasn't slapped with a lack of institutional control in both sports and didn't get any further reduction in scholarships and official visits than those the school self-imposed in October 2020. The football and basketball programs are both on probation for three years. The decisions are final and can't be appealed.

LSU President William Tate and athletic director Scott Woodward released the following statement:

"LSU has always taken compliance with NCAA rules seriously, and the institution fully cooperated with the NCAA enforcement staff and then with members of the Complex Case Unit as part of the Independent Accountability Resolution Process. We are pleased that our current men’s basketball student-athletes will not be punished for the acts of others and that the Independent Resolution Panel accepted our self-imposed penalties for football. We are grateful to the members of the panel for their time and fairness. LSU is now moving forward along with our passionate fans supporting our current coaches and student-athletes in both men’s basketball and football."

A penalty LSU had self-imposed for its football program was made public in the ruling. The football team vacated 37 wins in which former offensive lineman Vadal Alexander played between the 2012 and 2015 seasons.

Alexander’s family was provided $180,150 worth of embezzled funds from Our Lady of the Lake hospitals by former CEO John Paul Funes. It was deemed a Level 1 violation.

"LSU had a heightened obligation to monitor his interactions with any student-athletes or their families," the IARP ruling stated. "The institution failed to do so. Therefore, the hearing panel found a violation for LSU for failure to monitor the activities of a representative of athletics interests.

“Any public reference to the vacated records shall be removed from the athletics department stationery, banners displayed in public areas, and any other forum in which they may appear. Any trophies awarded by the NCAA in the affected sport program shall be returned to the Association."

The football and basketball and football programs shared an additional Level I allegation. The IARP said LSU “failed to exercise institutional control and monitor the conduct and administration of its football and men's basketball programs” from February 2012 through June 2020, a period that spanned former football coaches Les Miles and Ed Orgeron as well as former head basketball coach Will Wade.

The football program was also charged with a Level 2 violation for an incident when former LSU wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. handed out $2,000 in cash to four players on the field after the 2019 national championship game win over Clemson. Also, the NCAA alleged Orgeron committed a Level 3 violation by having impermissible contact with a recruit before the completion of the player’s junior year.

LSU avoided more stringent sanctions by previously self-imposing sanctions in October 2020 that cut eight scholarships over a two-year period, reduced recruiting visits and banned Beckham from the facility for two years. The school then self-imposed a one-year bowl ban in 2020 for a team with a 3-5 record at the time.

"The hearing panel also applied significant weight to LSU’s self-imposed penalties, especially the 2020-21 postseason competition ban for its football program," the IARP decision noted. "LSU reacted quickly to the discovery of the football violations, accepted responsibility and implemented penalties that included disassociating from the representatives (Funes and Beckham) of its athletics interests."

As far as basketball, Wade was charged with six Level 1 violations and assistant Bill Armstrong with a Level 2 violation.

Wade now the head coach at McNeese State, was meted a 10-game suspension and two-year show-cause order. Armstrong didn’t receive any penalties.from the IARP’s ruling.

The investigation into Wade and then the football program began at the end of the 2018-19 basketball season after Yahoo Sports reported a wiretapped conversation between him and now-convicted middleman Christian Dawkins.

The conversation recorded by the FBI revealed Wade speaking freely about a "strong-ass offer" he made in 2017 while recruiting former LSU guard and Baton Rouge native Javonte Smart. Wade was suspended 37 days by LSU for refusing to speak to university or NCAA officials on the matter.

That Level I violation violation led to several more including Wade’s failure to cooperate with the NCAA investigation in a timely manner.

The IARP said Wade “violated the NCAA principles of ethical conduct and failed to cooperate in the investigation, including "a number of other allegations" that couldn’t be fully substantiated.

Also, Wade was also accused of paying money to an unnamed former fiancée of an LSU athlete in exchange for her silence regarding Wade’s payments to players. Additionally, he alleged to have paid an unknown sum in April 2018 to an unnamed man for his services to act as an impermissible recruiter for an unnamed player.

After Wade was suspended, Armstrong was alleged between February and June 2020 to have offered $300,000 in cash in an effort to get an unnamed international athlete to commit to LSU.

Armstrong also promised a car for the athlete’s cousin, help in obtaining Visas for the player and/or his family and other associate and getting a scholarship for the athlete's friend.