Pitino puts the blame on Adidas
Rick Pitino, who was officially fired as Louisville’s head men’s basketball coach on Monday, has filed a federal lawsuit against Adidas, alleging that the athletic apparel company deliberately damaged his reputation.
Adidas is at the centre of a federal investigation into college basketball recruiting. Prosecutors say company executives conspired to steer top recruits to schools that it sponsored for cash payments to the recruits’ families. One of those schools is Louisville, which has had a longtime relationship with Adidas. According to documents released last month by federal prosecutors in New York, Pitino is alleged to have knowledge of these payments, a charge denied by Pitino’s attorney in a statement on Tuesday.
“In today’s lawsuit, Coach Pitino swears that he had nothing to do with, and no knowledge of, the Adidas conspiracy,” Steve Pence said, adding that Pitino is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages in the lawsuit, which was filed n U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky.
“Adidas knew, or recklessly avoided knowing, that Coach Pitino’s reputation for honesty and integrity would be seriously damaged by the perception — even if unfounded — that he was involved with the illegal and wrongful payment of money to recruits, or on their behalf,” the suit alleges.
Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that the federal revelations about Adidas’s actions has damaged Pitino’s reputation and caused him emotional distress.
“In the weeks since Adidas’ actions, and those of its employees, has become public, Coach Pitino has been vilified, ridiculed, and criticized in the local and national media, on social media, and in public and private communications,” the lawsuit maintains. “It has been difficult and painful for Coach Pitino and his family to appear in public anywhere, especially in Louisville, where they lived. That would be an inevitable consequence for Coach Pitino had he participated or acquiesced — in any form — in Adidas’ actions, or those of its employees. But he did not.”
Adidas terminated its personal services contract with Pitino on Monday, hours after the school officially fired him, and a company spokesperson said the lawsuit is “clearly a reaction to his termination.” The former coach took in the vast majority of the money — 98 per cent — of the $39 million Adidas has paid to Louisville under the terms of the school’s current deal with the company, according to the Courier-Journal.