Rick Pitino believes the punishments against Louisville for their sex scandal are misdirected and should be targeted at the school rather than the current players. To that end, Pitino would prefer if Louisville were fined an eight-figure sum rather than banned from postseason play.
“My opinion is the school should be fined $10 million,” Pitino told SI’s Seth Davis. “They shouldn’t be allowed to collect any money from the tournament. The coach should have to take a hit in his salary, 20% or 50% or whatever. The kids should not be penalized, but (athletic director Tom Jurich) Tom has no choice. He has to comply.”
Pitino continues to say that he had no knowledge of the sex parties that were alleged to have involved his players. He says the people in the program know that he would have been so outraged by the parties that they went to great lengths to hide them from him. However, he still understands why people believe that as the program leader, he should be held responsible for what happened.
The Cardinals self-imposed a postseason ban for this season after concluding it was reasonable to believe violations had been committed. The outcome is particularly disappointing for two graduate transfers who came to Louisville for a shot to play in the tourney but will not have a chance to do so because of the actions of players who were previously in the program. You can read about the allegations against the Louisville program here.
