Slick Rick Couldn’t Survive This One. Pitino Out At Louisville

The cumulative weight of that baggage became too much for the university to bear.

The latest news revelation comes at a time of increased tension between the university board of trustees and athletic program. In addition to the stripper scandal, trustees have been critical of athletic spending and the general oversight of Jurich — among the most critical being Papa John’s Pizza magnate John Schnatter. The school also was coerced by the city into agreeing to a new lease in July on its debt-saddled downtown basketball arena, the KFC Yum! Center. University officials were sharply criticized for the terms of the original lease, which shifted much of the financial burden to the city and left the arena in danger of defaulting on its huge loans.

But all of that is dwarfed by the magnitude of bombshell dropped Tuesday by the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

If this is the end of the 64-year-old Pitino’s coaching career, it is a shocking demise. The only coach to capture national titles at two different colleges (he also won the 1996 championship at Kentucky) has long been one of the biggest stars and richest men in the sport. Now his legacy has been irrevocably tarnished.

For Jurich, at one point considered the finest athletic director in the country, the comeuppance is similarly dramatic. His work upgrading Louisville into a football power, improving non-revenue sports and increasing student-athlete academic performance has been irrevocably overshadowed.

The FBI investigation revealed Tuesday resulted in the arrests of four college basketball assistant coaches and six other men involved in the sport as representatives of the shoe and apparel company Adidas, or as financial advisers or agents. Nobody at Louisville was charged with a crime and the school was not directly named in the United State Attorney’s complaint, but Postel issued a statement Tuesday acknowledging that the school is under investigation.

The federal complaint alleges that an Adidas executive conspired to pay $100,000 to the family of a top-ranked national recruit to play at Louisville and to represent Adidas when he turned pro. An unnamed Louisville assistant coach was allegedly involved in discussions of the payments. The recruit is not identified by name but it clearly is five-star prospect Brian Bowen, who unexpectedly committed to Louisville late last spring.

The complaint further alleges that an unnamed Cardinals assistant also was present at a Las Vegas hotel meeting in late July to discuss Adidas funneling $150,000 to a second recruit, this one from the class of 2019.

“These allegations come as a complete shock to me,” Pitino said in a statement released by his attorney, Steve Pence. “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.”

Ultimately, the university is holding Pitino accountable. As, almost assuredly, the NCAA will do when it gets its turn to delve into a scandal that threatens the viability of college basketball.