Pitino, others fired amid NCAA bribery scandal

Louisville’s head basketball coach, Rick Pitino, and athletic director, Tom Jurich, have been dismissed from the University of Louisville, in light of a recent scandal involving the payment of high school recruits (or their family members) in an attempt to influence them to play basketball at Louisville. Pitino was officially fired on Monday, after the Louisville Athletic Association unanimously approved a motion to do so. Jurich has not been officially fired yet, but was placed on paid administrative leave amid the FBI’s investigation into the scandal.

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Louisville has been the focal point of what has been dubbed the “pay for play” scandal by the media. The FBI has uncovered evidence that Brian Bowen, a five-star, national top-20 recruit from La Porte, Indiana, accepted a bribe amounting to $100,000 to attend Louisville. The offer was allegedly put forth by Adidas representative James Gatto. And, with the cooperation of former NBA agent Christian Dawkins and investment advisor Michael Sood, Gatto arranged plans with the Louisville basketball program to get Bowen the offer. Gatto had intended for Bowen, as he has for other college recruits, to represent the Adidas brand if and when he turned professional, likely reasoning that Bowen and the other athletes would present a great marketing opportunity for the company. It is unclear what Pitino’s and Jurich’s involvement is in this scandal, but what is clear is that they were either unaware of or did not do enough to prevent these kinds of shady activities from occurring under their supervision. Bowen is currently restricted from participating in any sort of NCAA athletic activities for his acceptance of the payment. In addition, the aforementioned Christian Dawkins conspired with Nike AAU basketball coach Brad Augustine to obtain the services of big man Balsa Koprivica, a top 2019 prospect from Serbia, for Louisville by attempting to offer him about $150,000 in cash. Per the aforementioned FBI complaint “DAWKINS and AUGUSTINE agreed to facilitate payments to the family of another high school basketball player (“Player-11”)[Koprivica] in exchange for Player-11’s commitment to play at University-6 [Louisville].” This is by no means the first time that Louisville has been involved in a controversial and eye-opening scandal that rocked the college basketball world. Just last year, some of the top high school recruits that visited Louisville’s campus were found to have been treated to strippers and prostitutes in exchange for their commitment to the university. Those incidents allegedly occurred between 2010 and 2014.

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While Louisville, Adidas, and Bowen have been the focal point of the “pay for play” scandal, there are numerous other schools, companies that have participated in bribing high school recruits to come to their schools. As noted in the FBI complaint above, there were a total of eleven players and seven collegiate universities were identified to have been part of this scandal, so far anyway, as the FBI and NCAA’s investigation in ongoing still. The seven universities that have been connected to the scandal as a result of the investigations are Louisville (most prominently), Arizona, Auburn, Miami, Oklahoma State, USC, and South Carolina, all of which have allegedly funneled funds from Adidas to the athletes. Of the more prominent names that show up on this report, Auburn associate coach Chuck Person, USC’s Tony Bland, and Arizona’s Daniel Richardson. Person was arrested, Bland was placed on administrative leave, and Richardson was also arrested and suspended. It has also been rumored that Syracuse has engaged in these activities as well, although nothing has been confirmed.

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This scandal has raised another ever-debated topic in the modern sporting world, should colleges be allowed to pay their athletes. Many have portrayed this as the solution to solving corruption and bribery in college basketball. Marc Edelman, a law professor in New York City, said to NBC News regarding paying college players “There's this underground network already going on of secret deals and corruption...The most reasonable way to resolve this matter would be...the compensation of college athletes into an open and above-board market.” Most sports fans are already suspicious of these activities being more common that what is reported. It seems to be the most logical solution, but considering the perks that college athletes already receive (scholarships, priority scheduling, and the amenities of traveling), it is still a hot topic for debate, and these recent incidents of corruption can be a catalyst for progression toward or away from paying collegiate athletes.