Fired Louisville coach Rick Pitino allegedly had knowledge and directed payments to potential recruits, according to an indictment that was recently unsealed in the FBI’s ongoing probe into corruption in college basketball.
According to the indictment, former sports agency representative Christian Dawkins claimed that he requested Pitino – known in the court documents as ‘Coach-2’ – call Adidas executive James Gatto to ask for money in order to bribe the family of a recruit. Pitino allegedly agreed.
Pitino had already been fired after Louisville was implicated in a plot to pay the family of recruit Brian Bowen. The Hall of Fame coach has never been charged, but the indictment does explicitly accuse Pitino of being aware and directly involved in the scheme to bribe the player’s family.
Now-former Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino leaves the school’s Grawemeyer Hall after being placed on unpaid leave on September 27. He has since been fired by the school
Louisville’s Athletic Association officially fired Pitino ‘with just cause’ in October – nearly three weeks after the school acknowledged that its men’s basketball program is being investigated as part of the federal corruption probe.
Pitino was placed on unpaid administrative leave on September 27 after the FBI investigation uncovered an alleged plot to bribe Bowen, a five-star recruit, with $100,000 to secure his commitment to Louisville. Pitino has maintained his innocence. In an affidavit presented by his attorney, Pitino claimed he ‘had no part – active, passive or through willful ignorance’ in the alleged bribery scheme.
‘I do not dispute ULAA’s right to terminate my employment at its discretion,’ Pitino’s affidavit stated. ‘But I vehemently reject its right to do so ‘for cause.’ I have given no ’cause’ for termination of my contract.
‘I had no reason to know about the conspiracy described in the complaint, and no reason to know about the complicity of any UL assistant coach or staff member in any bribery conspiracy,’ the affidavit continued. ‘I never have had any part – active, passive, or through willful ignorance – in any effort, successful or unsuccessful, completed or abandoned, to pay any recruit, or any family member of a recruit, or anyone else on a recruit’s behalf, as an inducement to attend UL.’
According to the unsealed indictment, Pitino – known as ‘Coach-2’ called Jim Gatto with a request to have the Adidas executive bribe the family of a recruit whom Pitino hoped to coach
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
Bowen, a freshman, has since been suspended indefinitely by the school and has retained an attorney in an effort to gain reinstatement. He has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
Louisville previously placed assistants Kenny Johnson and Jordan Fair on paid administrative leave, the latter of whom has since been fired.
Pitino’s affidavit also contained the results of a polygraph, which purported to show that he was not deceptive in answering questions regarding the recruitment of Bowen.
Pitino did admit to being in touch with Gatto, the company’s director of global sports marketing who was charged with fraud and money laundering in the alleged bribery plot. However, Pitino insisted he never discussed improper benefits with Gatto.
‘ULAA’s October 4, 2017 letter to me says that I should have known about any assistant coach or staff member’s complicity in the bribery matter,’ the affidavit states. ‘I reject that assertion. No reasonable level of oversight – including the oversight that President Postel and AD Jurich recommended and that I implemented – can guarantee that staff members will always act properly.’
The fact that Pitino was fired ‘with just cause’ is significant because it means Louisville has no plans on paying him for the remainder of his contract. Had Pitino been fired without cause, he would have been owed between $44 million and $55 million according to Bleacher Report.
The move officially ended Pitino’s 16-year tenure with the program, a run that included winning the 2013 NCAA championship but was tarnished by several embarrassing off-court incidents.
Adidas executive James Gatto (right) has been indicted and could face up to 80 years in prison
Christian Dawkins, a 25-year-old former ASM sports employee, could face up to 200 years in prison on charges including bribery conspiracy, payments of bribes, honest services fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, and travel act conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy
On Tuesday a federal grand jury in New York indicted eight of the ten individuals charged in connection with the joint FBI-Justice Department investigation into corruption within college basketball.
Those indicted include suspended Auburn assistant basketball coach and former NBA star Chuck Person, former Arizona assistant Emanuel ‘Book’ Richardson, suspended USC assistant Tony Bland, suspended Oklahoma State assistant Lamont Evans, former NBA referee-turned-clothier Rashan Michel, Gatto, former Adidas representative Merl Code, and Dawkins.
The time to return an indictment was extended for a month for two defendants: Brad Augustine, the AAU program director who stepped down, and financial adviser Munish Sood.
The FBI and Justice Department announced a massive crackdown on what they have described as the ‘dark underbelly’ of college basketball back on September 26.
According to the complaint, Dawkins and Sood, among others, paid bribes to assistant and associate coaches at Division I schools, including Person, Bland, Richardson, and Evans. The hope was that in exchange for the bribes, the coaches would convince players under their control, and the players’ families, to retain Dawkins and Sood upon entering the NBA.
Two familiar schemes were investigated by the FBI and Justice Department: One in which recruits and their families allegedly received bribes in exchange for commitments to specific universities, and another in which player advisers were supposedly paid to persuade the athletes to sign with certain managers, agents, and financial advisers.
Pitino – one of the highest-paid basketball coaches in the world with a $7.7 million annual salary – had already been suspended for the first five games of the season after it was revealed that strippers were provided to basketball recruits by basketball operations director Andre McGee. Louisville is appealing that 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.
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.
In August, Louisville signed a new 10-year, $160 million with Adidas that has since come under scrutiny in the wake of the FBI’s ongoing investigation.