Louisville coach on leave amid bribery scandal

The University of Louisville has “effectively fired” head men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino amid a nationwide scandal over colleges bribing recruits and players, the coach’s attorney, Steve Spence, told Louisville’s Courier-Journal. University officials placed Pitino and athletic director Tom Jurich on administrative leave after acknowledging the school was part of a federal investigation. An indictment announced yesterday by federal prosecutors resulted in the arrest of 10 people but did not name Pitino. Those arrested included four assistant coaches at other schools and an executive at sports and shoe manufacturer Adidas. Louisville recently signed a 10-year, $160 million extension to its sponsorship deal with Adidas, according to the Courier-Journal. Pitino had survived two other major scandals during his tenure as the Cardinals’ head coach. In 2009, he was the target of an extortion attempt by a woman he admitted to having sex with at a restaurant in 2003. It was also revealed that Pitino, who is married and describes himself as a devout Roman Catholic, impregnated the woman and paid for her to abort the baby. A 2015 ESPN interview with five former Louisville players revealed that a member of Pitino’s staff provided strippers and prostitutes for players and recruits at the team’s on-campus dormitory from 2010 to 2014.