Pitino on way out
Louisville coach put on administrative leave amid bribery scheme.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Rick Pitino couldn’t survive another scandal.
Interim Louisville president Greg Postel on Wednesday placed the head men’s college basketball coach and his boss on administrative leave amid a nationwide federal bribery investigation.
Postel’s decision comes after the school acknowledged Tuesday that the men’s program is part of a federal investigation into alleged bribery of recruits. The 65-year-old coach was not named in the indictment that resulted in the arrest of 10 people, including four assistant coaches at other schools and an Adidas executive.
Postel didn’t stop with Pitino, also sidelining Athletic Director Tom Jurich by putting him on paid administrative leave.
“I’m more angry than embarrassed,” Postel said Wednesday at a news conference, adding that an interim coach would be announced within 48 hours. “We will be looking for someone with integrity. … There’s no reason this team can’t have a good season.”
Although Pitino isn’t officially out of a job — he was placed on unpaid leave — the coach’s attorney, Steve Pence, told the Courier-Journal that Louisville has “effectively fired” Pitino.
“The information disclosed thus far in the investigation is clearly insufficient to implicate Coach Pitino in any type of misconduct or other activity that would violate the terms of his contract,” a statement from Pitino’s attorneys Pence, Kurt Scharfenberger and Bryan Cassis said. “In sum, Coach Pitino has done nothing wrong and there is no evidence to suggest otherwise.
“Moving forward, Coach Pitino’s primary concern is for the well-being of the student-athletes on the University’s basketball team, and in getting complete and accurate facts in the ongoing investigation. Those facts will inevitably exonerate him.”
Federal prosecutors say at least three top high school recruits were promised
payments of as much as $150,000, using money supplied by Adidas, to attend two universities sponsored by the athletic shoe company. Court papers didn’t name the schools but contained enough details to identify one of them as Louisville. The other was Miami.
Last month, Jurich announced a 10-year, $160 million sponsorship deal with Adidas.
Postel also said Wednesday that one athlete has been informed he will not practice or play for the university until the investigation is resolved. He did not name the athlete involved in the investigation, which federal documents list as a high school All-American.
The player’s name also was not released by federal prosecutors, but details in the criminal complaint make it clear investigators were referring to 6-7 Brian Bowen. The freshman has yet to play in a game with the Cardinals.
“This decision will protect the interests of both the student and the University of Louisville,” Postel said.
Also Wednesday, Miami President Julio Frenk confirmed a member of the coaching staff is being investigated as part of the federal probe. He said school officials are “alarmed and disappointed” by the development.
An attorney for head Coach Jim Larranaga said Larranaga has no involvement with any accusations in the investigation. The attorney said Larranaga will continue to lead the Hurricanes.
Alabama basketball administrator Kobie Baker, a former NCAA enforcement staff member, also resigned Wednesday.
Athletic Director Greg Byrne said in a statement that the decision followed an internal review of the basketball program resulting from a wave of arrests in a federal bribery investigation.
“Our review has not identified any NCAA or SEC rules violations nor the involvement of any other coach or staff member,” Byrne said. “We have notified both of the governing bodies of the actions we have taken. As always, we will continue to be proactive in our compliance efforts.”
Baker was entering his second year with the program and his first as an associate athletic director. He is a former assistant director of enforcement for basketball development with the NCAA.
The nationwide federal investigation includes schools from California to Auburn.
The assistant coaches charged include Chuck Person of Auburn, Emanuel Richardson of Arizona, Tony Bland of Southern California and Lamont Evans of Oklahoma State. Person and Evans have been suspended, and Bland was placed on administrative leave.
Auburn athletic department spokesman Cassie Arner said Wednesday that the school has granted refunds to about 30 season-ticket holders who requested them after the arrest of Person. The refunds come two days after the school announced a fourth consecutive sellout for the program.
The Cardinals have been winning under Pitino, who has a 416-143 record over 16 years at Louisville, including a 2013 NCAA championship. But there have been previous off-the-court issues.
Jurich, who has been at the school for nearly 20 years, has supported Pitino throughout them all.
The school is in the middle of appealing NCAA sanctions handed out in June after a sex scandal that unfolded nearly two years ago — which could cost the school its 2013 national title.
That scandal began nearly two years ago with escort Katina Powell’s book allegations that former Cardinals staff member Andre McGee hired her and other dancers for sex parties with players and recruits in the team’s dormitory.
Pitino denied knowledge of the activities described in Powell’s book and criticized McGee for his actions. The NCAA committee on infractions dismissed Pitino’s contention that he was unaware of McGee’s activities and imposed harsher penalties on the program and the coach.
The program was ordered to vacate up to 123 victories in which ineligible players
received improper benefits — a period that includes the 2013 title, Louisville’s third national championship — along with the 2012 Final Four appearance. The NCAA also placed the school on four years’ probation and ordered the return of money received through conference revenue sharing.
Pitino was ordered to miss five unspecified Atlantic Coast Conference games this season.
The NCAA noted that Cardinal players and recruits had received improper benefits and called the activities in the dorm “repugnant.”
Pitino’s future will be evaluated at a later date, Postel said, while his assistants’ status will be examined by the interim athletic director. Jurich’s future will be determined by the school’s board of trustees.
Pitino is 770-271 over a 32-year coaching career with stops at Hawaii, Boston, Providence and Kentucky, where he won the 1996 NCAA title. He has also coached in the NBA with the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks.
Before the sex scandal case, Pitino testified in 2010 in a federal extortion trial for the wife of the school’s equipment manager, when he acknowledged under oath to having an extra-marital affair with her in a Louisville restaurant.