UPDATE: 1:05 p.m. — At a press conference, Louisville University interim president Greg Postel announced that basketball coach Rick Pitino has been placed on unpaid administrative leave. “His employment will be reviewed at a later date,” Postel said.
Fox News tweeted a Louisville Courier-Journal report that said the decision means Pitino has been “effectively fired.”
Original Story:
LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — Embattled Louisville University men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino has been fired, one day after the FBI arrested 10 people in connection to a corruption and bribery investigation involving college basketball, according to reports by BusinessInsider and ESPN.
Athletic director Tom Jurich is also reportedly out, ESPN says.
Earlier today, ESPN reported that Pitino told his staff he was expecting to lose his job prior to meeting with Louisville interim president Greg Postel this morning.
On Tuesday, federal prosecutors announced that 10 men — including four college basketball assistant coaches and a top Adidas executive — were charged with providing hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to influence top athletes’ choices of schools and shoe sponsors. Prosecutors said at least three top high school recruits were promised payments of as much as $150,000 to attend two universities sponsored by Adidas.
Postel later confirmed the school is part of the investigation.
This isn’t the first time Louisville has made headlines for improper behavior under Pitino.
In 2010, Pitino admitted to having sex with Karen Sypher, who went to prison on extortion charges after trying to get money and gifts from him in exchange for her silence. Pitino, who is married, testified that he and Sypher had sex in a closed Louisville restaurant in 2003.
In 2015, the NCAA launched a probe into a sex-for-pay scandal that could force Louisville to vacate its 2013 national championship and several victories. Former Cardinals assistant coach Andre McGee admitted to being part of the scandal. Pitino was to be suspended for Louisville’s first five ACC games this season as a result of the scandal. In hope of tempering the possible NCAA sanctions, Louisville has already self-imposed a 2016 NCAA tournament ban.
