Three former Louisville basketball recruits told NCAA investigators that they attended on-campus parties involving strippers and escorts, according to a report.
A source close to the NCAA investigation of Louisville told ESPN’s Outside the Lines that the recruits said that strippers danced for them and prostitutes were paid for during the parties.
“There’s no question this stuff happened,” the source said, via ESPN’s John Barr. “There’s no question the people at the University of Louisville know this happened. Katina Powell is not an admirable person, but she told the truth.”
The recruits also said that Andre McGee, the assistant coach at the heart of the allegations, gave the recruits money to tip the dancers.
“It’s a pathetic story,” the source said. “McGee gave the players a stack of dollar bills ranging from $200 to $500. Everybody in the room got the money — the recruits and the current members of the team. Not only that, but McGee himself had his own stack of dollar bills. If this guy’s spending $2,000 to $3,000 on a recruiting weekend, where’s this money coming from?”
“I knew they weren’t college girls,” one of the recruits was quoted as saying. “It was crazy. It was like I was in a strip club.”
The source said that the trio of recruits should give the NCAA a very strong case for charging Louisville with NCAA rules violations that could include impermissible benefits and lack of institutional control.
“If you’ve got three, that’s a slam dunk,” the source said. “That’s the enforcement staff’s dream.”
Louisville won’t be participating in the NCAA tournament in 2016 as self-imposed punishment for the scandal, and Rick Pitino, who has repeatedly denied any knowledge of the parties and argued that the madam involved is not credible, is considering his future at the school as a result of the allegations as well. Still, for Louisville, it sounds as if the worst may be yet to come.
