Embattled Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino reportedly pocketed as much as 98 percent of the school’s five-year, $39 million deal with Adidas while leaving less than a million for the school and the program.
Specifically, over the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, Pitino made $3 million under a personal services agreement with Adidas while only $35,000 went to the basketball program, according to a contract obtained by the Louisville Courier-Journal.
In August, Louisville signed a new 10-year, $165 million with Adidas that has since come under scrutiny in the wake of the FBI’s ongoing investigation into corruption in college basketball. The probe has already led to the Pitino’s suspension and his imminent dismissal. On Monday, the athletic board voted unanimously to fire the longtime coach for cause.
Louisville’s athletic board voted unanimously on Monday to fire longtime Cardinals basketball coach Rick Pitino ‘for cause’ after he was implicated in the ongoing NCAA corruption scandals
According to the Courier-Journal, the current and new apparel deals stipulate that the Louisville basketball coaches are to be paid with funds deducted from whatever the sneaker giant gives to the school’s athletic department.
Upon signing the new agreement in August, athletic director Tom Jurich made it sound as though the revenue would all be going directly to the athletic department.
‘It’s for the athletic department,’ Jurich said on August 25, before he was placed on paid leave after it was revealed that Louisville was ensnared in the FBI investigation. ‘It’s for these student-athletes. It’s been earmarked for them.’
Louisville athletic department spokesman Kenny Klein said it was fair of Jurich to say the money was for the student athletes.
‘Players come here in part because of Coach Pitino,’ Klein told the Courier-Journal. ‘Coaching is part of what we give to student-athletes.’
As Klein told the Courier-Journal, Pitino had an existing contract with Adidas before the company began sponsoring the Cardinals.
The upcoming agreement with Adidas calls for $79 million in cash as well as apparel and shoes to be given to Louisville’s basketball program, but according to the Courier-Journal, it’s unclear how much of that money would go to the coaches.
The current deal expires on July 1, but before the new contract can come into effect, Louisville interim president Greg Postel says the school will re-evaluate its agreement with Adidas since it has raised so many red flags.
University of Louisville interim President Greg Postel, center, walks with interim coach David Padgett (right), who previously played for Pitino before serving as an assistant on his staff
Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich, who is currently on paid leave, cuts down a piece of the net as he celebrates the school’s 82-76 win over Michigan in the 2013 NCAA title game
‘In addition, as we’ve discussed, your recent negotiation of the terms of the updated sponsorship deal with Adidas was conducted without timely or appropriate consultation with me or members of the Board of Directors of the University of Louisville Athletics Association,’ Postel wrote to Jurich in a letter released Monday. ‘It would have been nice to know more about the [Adidas] agreement.’
Jurich’s daughter was hired by Adidas earlier this year, prior to the negotiation of the new contract with Louisville, according to ESPN.
Jurich has not been terminated as of yet and could ultimately keep his job.
Padgett (left) has been on Pitino’s staff since 2015. He previously played for Pitino at U of L
According to Postel, the vote to dismiss Pitino was straightforward.
‘The motion was short and simple,’ Postel said in a news conference after the meeting on Monday. ‘The board requested of me and authorized me to initiate the process of termination for cause as defined in Coach Pitino’s employment contact.’
Being fired ‘for cause’ is significant because it could save the school from paying Pitino’s $44 million buyout.
Earlier on Monday, Pitino’s attorney Steve Pence served the school with a notice alleging that Louisville did not give Pitino a chance to respond when he was placed on unpaid leave last week, according to WDRB.com.
Pitino’s contact required the school to give 10 days advanced noticed of his firing and give the 65-year old an opportunity to present evidence in his own defense.
The New York native and former NBA coach was placed on unpaid administrative leave last week after he was implicated in an alleged scheme to bribe the family of an elite recruit with $100,000 in funding provided by an Adidas executive, Jim Gatto, who was arrested as part of the FBI’s investigation. Gatto was charged with wire fraud conspiracy, two counts of wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracy.
Brian Bowen (left after committing to Louisville and right playing at La Lumiere School in Indiana) is reportedly the recruit whose family received a $100,000 bribe
Pitino has not been charged by the FBI or Department of Justice, but he is alleged to be the ‘Coach-2,’ who, according to the court documents, helped facilitate the Adidas payments and knew about aspects of the criminal conspiracy.
In a conversation with the Courier-Journal, Pitino – who has been replaced by a former player, interim coach David Padgett – maintained his innocence and claimed he ‘will be vindicated.’
‘Right now it’s in the lawyers’ hands,’ Pitino said. ‘I went to Miami. I’m selling my house [in Louisville]. I love David Padgett. I love the boys. I hope they win the national championship. I’m not doing anything but laying low.’
According to acting U.S. attorney in Manhattan Joon H. Kim, the FBI investigation was launched in 2015 and focuses on ‘the criminal influence of money on coaches and student-athletes who participate in intercollegiate basketball governed by the N.C.A.A.’
Specifically, the FBI is investigating two schemes: one in which recruits and their families were paid to go to particular universities and another in which player advisors were paid to persuade those players to sign with certain managers, agents, and financial advisors.
Interim president Greg Postel took aim at Jurich’s decision to sign a new deal with Adidas
Gatto and his fellow defendants are accused of funneling $100,000 to the family of a recruit in order to persuade that player to attend a school in Kentucky. That school was not named, but Louisville has since acknowledged it received notice that it is included in the federal investigation.
No player is named in the FBI’s court documents. However, according to multiple reports, the recruit that received the $100,000 bribe was five-star prospect Brian Bowen, an All-American from Indiana who chose Louisville over other national powerhouse programs such as Michigan State, Arizona, UCLA, and Oregon.
Bowen has not been charged with any wrongdoing. However, the freshman was suspended indefinitely by the school and has retained Miami attorney Jason Setchen in an effort to gain reinstatement, according to the Courier-Journal.
Pitino was one of the highest paid basketball coaches in the world with an annual salary of $7.7 million. However, he was already facing a five-game suspension after it was revealed that strippers were provided to basketball recruits by basketball operations director Andre McGee. Louisville is appealing the decision, but the school may ultimately be forced to vacate dozens of wins and the team’s 2013 national championship if the NCAA’s ruling is not overturned.
In the meantime, Louisville has already lost a pair of recruits to the most-recent scandal. High school seniors Anfernee Simons and Courtney Ramey both decommitted to Louisville last week.