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Louisville men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino and Athletic Director Tom Jurich have been placed on leave due to the FBI’s ongoing investigation of several major Division I basketball programs, including Louisville, Oklahoma State, Auburn, Oklahoma State and Miami.
The FBI and NCAA are currently investigating a scandal in which several assistant coaches and staff members at the various schools listed above were bribed to influence their players’ decisions to sign with certain shoe and apparel companies such as Adidas. Other allegations also noted that certain recruits were paid as much as $150,000 to influence their choice of what school they would sign with.
Rick Pitino has probed NBA teams on return as a head coach in recent years, but there's been no interest in him. That's unlikely to change.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 27, 2017
Rick Pitino served as the head coach of Louisville basketball from 2001 until 2017. Pitino’s tenure with the Cardinals included one national championship, three Final T appearances, three Big East tournament championships and a C-USA Coach of the Year award.
Tom Jurich has been the school’s athletic director since 1997; his job experience before coming to Louisville included a stint as Colorado State University’s athletic director and a two-year period where he served at Northern Arizona University in the same capacity.
If Rick Pitino is fired with cause, he will leave more than $55 million on the table.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) September 27, 2017
Pitino said in a press release following the release of the investigation that, “these allegations come as a complete shock to me.”
Louisville kicks off their season with a game vs. Kentucky Wesleyan on October 30. The Cardinals have
Rick Pitino is out at Louisville, a source tells ESPN's Michael Eaves.
A look back at what he accomplished there: pic.twitter.com/kmwCs7XrQ2
— ESPN (@espn) September 27, 2017
