Rick Pitino is out as the Louisville men’s basketball coach in the wake of yet another scandal involving the program.
Shortly after reports surfaced that Pitino had informed his assistants he expected to be fired, the university made the move official.
Now official: Louisville has fired Rick Pitino as its basketball coach.
— Gary Parrish (@GaryParrishCBS) September 27, 2017
Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich is also expected to lose his job, and it would not be a surprise if more heads roll before the FBI investigation is sorted out.
Four college assistant coaches (none from Louisville) were among the 10 people arrested Tuesday for their alleged involvement in a massive bribery scheme in which Jim Gatto, director of global marketing for Adidas Basketball, paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars in an attempt to funnel top recruits to Adidas-sponsored programs. One interesting storyline to emerge is that Jurich’s daughter apparently works as an Adidas brand manager for Louisville.
Pitino had coached at Louisville since 2012 and will finish with a record of 416–141 with the program. He led the team to a national championship in 2013 and three Final Four appearances.
Louisville is already on probation stemming from a prostitution scandal involving recruits. Pitino had been suspended five games in the wake of the scandal.
