Louisville BB Coach Pitino placed on administrative leave amid FBI investigation

Posted by:  Channel 8 Eyewitness News
8@klkntv.com

Update:

Louisville men’s basketball head coach Rick Pitino has been placed on unpaid administrative leave, interim president Greg Postel announced Wednesday.

Athletic director Tom Jurich has been placed on paid administrative leave, Postel said at a news conference.

The news comes after the program was linked to a federal investigation into fraud and corruption in recruiting.

Postel said the school will work quickly to name an interim coach and athletic director, possibly within 48 hours. The status of the coaching staff will be decided by the interim coach, Postel said.

The school’s board of trustees was unanimous in supporting the moves, according to chairman J. David Grissom, who also attended the news conference.

The trustees will make the final decision on Jurich and Pitino no later than their next scheduled meeting on Oct. 18, Postel said.

"Doing nothing would be a tacit admission of criminal behavior," Postel said.

Jurich and Pitino met Wednesday morning with Postel and Grissom, when they were informed of the decision.

Steve Pence, Pitino’s attorney, told the Louisville Courier-Journal on Wednesday that the coach has been "effectively fired."

Previous story.

Louisville men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino is out, a source tells ESPN’s Michael Eaves.

Athletic director Tom Jurich is also out at Louisville, a source tells ESPN’s Jeff Goodman, after the program was linked to a federal investigation into fraud and corruption in recruiting.

Jurich and Pitino met Wednesday morning with Louisville interim president Greg Postel. After the meetings, Postel informed reporters that the school would hold a news conference at 1 p.m. and noted that Pitino and Jurich would not attend.

On Tuesday, 10 men — including a top Adidas executive and four assistant coaches — were charged with using hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to influence star athletes’ choice of schools, shoe sponsors, agents, even tailors. Federal prosecutors said 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. Louisville’s president later confirmed the school is part of the investigation.

It marked the latest case of Pitino and his Louisville program being in the news for impropriety.

In 2010, the coach testified in a federal extortion trial involving Karen Sypher, who went to prison after trying to get money and gifts from him in exchange for silence. The married Pitino admitted to having sex with the woman in a closed Louisville restaurant in 2003.

In 2015, the NCAA launched an investigation into a sex-for-pay scandal organized by former Louisville assistant coach Andre McGee that could force the Cardinals to vacate their 2013 national title and dozens of victories. For that, Pitino will be suspended for Louisville’s first five ACC games this season. That all came after the school, hoping to soothe the NCAA and temper the sanctions, self-imposed a 2016 NCAA tournament ban.