A day after the FBI announced the college basketball scandal, dominos around the college basketball world are beginning to fall.
Louisville is the first to make a big splash, even though they did not have a coach arrested yesterday. Early reports claimed that Tom Jurich had been fired as the athletic director at the university, as well as legendary men's basketball head coach Rick Pitino. The two weren't fired, but placed on administrative leave on Wednesday morning.
The university's interim president Greg Postel said in a news conference on Wednesday that Pitino is on unpaid leave, while Jurich is paid.
Jurich has led Louisville athletics to unprecedented success since his tenure began in 1997. He hired Pitino in 2001 and Pitino led Louisville to a national championship as recently as 2013.
Louisville is no stranger to controversy under Pitino or Jurich’s eye, however. In 2010, Pitino testified in a federal extortion trial against Karen Sypher, who was sent to prison for demanding payment from the coach to remain silent amidst a sex scandal.
In 2015, the NCAA investigated a sex-for-pay scandal that could cause the Cardinals to vacate their 2013 national title. Louisville later self-imposed a 2016 postseason ban.
The FBI investigation for basketball concluded that an unnamed Louisville staff member, along with a high ranking member of Adidas, illegally gave $100,000 to a recruit who then unexpectedly committed to Louisville over the summer.
Auburn associate head coach Chuck Person was arrested Tuesday by the FBI on charges of bribery on fraud schemes. The NCAA and the University have yet to announce any punishment towards the team or coaching staff.
Nathan King, assistant sports editor, contributed to this story.
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