The University of Louisville’s head basketball coach and athletic director have been placed on paid administrative leave after an FBI investigation looking into corruption and fraud in college basketball alleged a current freshman at the university was bribed to join the school.
Rick Pitino, the head coach at Louisville, has been implicated in the investigation as a conspirator in the alleged bribe. The bribe was allegedly offered by an Adidas executive, who wanted to pay the family of a high school prospect $100,000 to represent Adidas once he went pro.
Pitino released a statement following his release.
“These allegations come as a complete shock to me,” said Pitino in a statement. “If true, I agree with the U.S. Attorney’s Office that these third-party schemes, initiated by a few bad actors, operated to commit a fraud on the impacted universities and their basketball programs, including the University of Louisville. Our fans and supporters deserve better and I am committed to taking whatever steps are needed to ensure those responsible are held accountable. But the FBI and the United States Department of Justice have come to clean up the sport and the mess made by Louisville and other programs.”
The athletic director, Tom Jurich, also released a statement.
“For the last 20 years, I have dedicated my life to the University of Louisville. Disappointment does not even come close to describing my feelings surrounding the allegation that any member of the UofL basketball staff could be involved in the criminal conduct announced yesterday. My intent has always been to run every athletic program at the University in an honest and compliant manner. It is heartbreaking to me that the alleged intentional and secret criminal acts can bring such harm to our school. I love this University, the Louisville community and all of our fans. I plan to continue to help UofL overcome the challenges it faces and work cooperatively with the University with support of the UofL Board of Trustees following their meeting on October 19th.”
These allegations could not have come at a worse time for Pitino, who is already suspended for the first five Atlantic Coast Conference games this season after the investigation into the school’s escort recruiting scandal.
No charges have been brought against anyone from the University of Louisville yet, however ten people have been arrested as a result of the investigation. Among them are Oklahoma State assistant coach Lamont Evans, Auburn assistant Chuck Person, Arizona assistant Emmanuel “Book” Richardson and USC assistant Tony Bland were all charged in the corruption scheme.
All of these coaches are charged with bribery conspiracy, solicitation of bribes, honest services fraud conspiracy, honest service fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and Travel Act conspiracy. Each coach faces a maximum sentence of 80 years in prison.
Also arrested is James Gatto, the director of global sports marketing for Adidas; Merl Code, another Adidas employee; Christian Dawkins, a former NBA agent who was recently fired from ASM Sports; Munish Sood, a financial adviser; Jonathan Brad Augustine, president of The League Initiative and program director of the Adidas-sponsored 1 Family AAU program; and Rashan Michel, a former NBA official who founded Thompson Bespoke Clothing, a company that makes custom clothing for athletes.
“For the 10 charged men, the madness of college basketball went well beyond the Big Dance in March,” acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Joon H. Kim said during a news conference on Tuesday. “Month after month, the defendants exploited the hoop dreams of student-athletes around the country, allegedly treating them as little more than opportunities to enrich themselves through bribery and fraud schemes.”
Kim added that the managers and financial advisers were “circling blue-chip prospects like coyotes” and “employees of one of the world’s largest sportswear companies [was] secretly funneling cash to the families of high school recruits.”
Paul Helmers
Reporter