In 2013, the Louisville Cardinals’ athletic department had reached the pinnacle of success. The football team won the Sugar Bowl against the No. 3 Florida Gators, the baseball team beat the No. 2 Vanderbilt Commodores to reach the College World series, the women’s basketball team made it all the way to the national championship and Rick Pitino led the men’s team to a national championship over Michigan.
Fan bases and athletic directors alike dream of this kind of success for their school, and Louisville was able to achieve it. They were the envy of the country. Three years later, things are very different. Allegations have come out that recruits and players were given sexual favors by escorts who were paid by former men’s basketball staff member Andre McGee. Now the athletic department is under the ominous shadow of the NCAA, and there are a lot of unanswered questions about the program’s future.
On Oct. 2, 2015, Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports reported that the University of Louisville was investigating allegations made by Katina Powell in her book, "Breaking Cardinal Rules: Basketball and the Escort Queen." Powell claims that she was paid to provide women to come to parties to dance and perform sexual favors for recruits and players on the men’s basketball team.
McGee was identified as the member of the staff who organized and paid the female escorts for these dances and favors. In her book, Powell claimed that she was paid more than $10,000 to organize performances over the course of McGee’s four-year tenure at the school. Powell says that she has “hundreds” of text messages between her and McGee that include conversations about setting up the events, as well as pictures with the escorts, recruits and players.
The NCAA officially began their investigation on Oct. 27, 2015, when they sent officials to the school to interview members of the men’s basketball program. After a few months of investigation, the school announced on Feb. 5 that they would self-impose a postseason ban in 2016 for the men’s basketball season after its investigation found detrimental evidence that indicated violations had transpired. The hope is that with self-imposed penalties, the NCAA will be satisfied and hand down lighter sanctions and penalties.
Pitino continues to say that he was unaware of any of these actions happening. He attempted to communicate with McGee, but McGee’s lawyer advised him to remain silent for the time being.
Pitino and University of Louisville President James Ramsey held a press conference on Feb. 5 to announce the postseason ban and to answer questions from the media.
“This is certainly a night of extreme pain,” Pitino said.
Louisville was projected to be a top seed in the NCAA Tournament with their current record of 19-6. They will not be able to compete in that tournament or the ACC Tournament.
Now all the school and Pitino can do is wait for the NCAA to conclude their investigation. How long this will take is anyone’s guess. Sometimes NCAA investigations occur quickly, such as the investigation of Cecil Newton Sr. that took several months, whereas others can last years, like the investigation of Miami’s football team.
Until this is resolved, a dark cloud will hang over a program that was on top of the world just three short years ago. Pitino’s job security is on the line, and recruiting will be a challenge. This once proud program and coach are teetering on the edge of a steep cliff. If enough evidence is found against Louisville and maybe even Pitino, he and the basketball program could hit a low that takes years to recover from.