Robbie Moore

March 23rd, 2017 at 4:35 PM ^

...keep protecting this guy? I understand he wins but a lot of coaches could win there. Pitino is one big embarrassment after another. You think the institution could handle only so much humiliation. I guess we can't go broke underestimating the willingness of some schools to prostitute themselves. Pun fully intended.

Tater

March 23rd, 2017 at 6:50 PM ^

If Louisville does part ways with Pitino, I am guessing they will buy his silence and allow him to resign.  My guess is that they do just what OSU and USC did in footall: admit nothing, deny everything, make countercharges and whine incessantly that the penalties were "too severe."

Bodogblog

March 23rd, 2017 at 4:24 PM ^

The prick was complaining about lack of scholarship players, wasn't he?  

How could the NCAA possibly accept that bullshit explanation 

 

I've never seen this question answered: basketball starts recuiting kids very early, as I understand it.  Were these sex parties only official visits (in which case many of them would have been of age)?  Or were there like 15 year old kids getting hookers and blow?  

UMChick77

March 23rd, 2017 at 5:50 PM ^

You'd think.

However, Louisville Metro Police Department is a little busy right now with a huge sex scandal of their own that involved minors that participated in their youth police officer program. Given that info, I wouldn't be surprised if they were involved in the UL sex scandal themselves. 

Blueblood2991

March 23rd, 2017 at 4:30 PM ^

That was my first thought as well. However, the NCAA only cares about the value of the hookers, not breaking the law.

 

“Put simply,” the NCAA said, “arranging and funding sexual intercourse for a prospective student athlete on an official visit is a severe violation, wholly inconsistent with NCAA principles, whether valued at $80 or $120.

SF Wolverine

March 23rd, 2017 at 6:41 PM ^

seems to me to be the case where you take your lumps and move on.  If that's a quarter-season suspension for Tricky Rick, so be it.  Deal, and move the F on.  This just keeps the issue in the press and confirms your sleaziness as a school.  Gonna be that much harder to get Mom to let her kid go to L'ville.  

olsont

March 23rd, 2017 at 4:56 PM ^

You are confusing two topics. He was complaining about scholarships as the reason why it might be tough for his team in this tournament. Separate issue is the formal statement from Louisville defending pitino saying that he had no idea this stuff was going on with recruits

Bodogblog

March 23rd, 2017 at 5:59 PM ^

I'm not confusing the two, but I could see how you would read that. 

My first statement is a general lament that this asshole was complaining this weekend about having lack of scholarships and a thin bench.  What a prick when he knows how dirty he is.  Full stop. 

Then I'm saying how could the NCAA ever believe Louisville's lame ass response that he adequately monitored the program.  The results speak for themselves. 

Then I'm asking about hookers for underage kids, which is whole other level scumbaggery.  Look I'm not naive, I know "hosts" are there for recruits on these visits.  But it's quite another thing to have a paid adult hooker with 15 or 16 year old boys.  

crg

March 23rd, 2017 at 4:30 PM ^

Shouldn't there also be a criminal investigation on this as well? Having a recurring prostitution event organized through a public university would be a big deal... at least in most states.

anywaytodelete…

March 23rd, 2017 at 4:35 PM ^

During last weekend's game one of the announcers referred to Louisville as the 2013 NCCA champions and I (not the closest follower of these things) immediately thought to myself, "wait, haven't they been stripped of that already"?  

I guess we'll see, but major sanctions and taking away their championship would be more surprising to me than seeing an NCAA org chart and finding that compliance reports to the head of marketing.

UMChick77

March 23rd, 2017 at 4:42 PM ^

It just blows my mind how Louisville fans are backing Pitino 100% and believe he "knew nothing" and think it's perfectly ok that he knew nothing.

He's the HC--if he is this oblivious, he shouldn't be a HC.

He was caught having sex with his mistress in a bathroom at a restaurant. If the stories are true, he also convinced his mistress to get an abortion when she ended up pregnant. Of course he'd be ok  (or look the other way) with hookers. Apparently, the cheating rumors were rampant in Lexington when he coached at UK. I also heard his wife was living back in NY now.

Perkis-Size Me

March 23rd, 2017 at 4:47 PM ^

There's one reason and one reason alone that he gets away with it: he wins. 

If he was a subpar coach, he would've been run out of town the minute all this stuff surfaced. But winning has a way of shutting a lot of people up and getting them to tow the line. Pitino can sit there and say "Okay fire me. But who are you going to get that's any better? Do you want to risk hiring a loser who tanks this program for years?"

Not saying I don't agree with you in all of this, but this is why he's still there and why people support him. People don't want to deal with the possibility of their beloved basketball program being destroyed and left behind in the dust. So they will fight tooth and nail to keep it at the top. Sacrificing its dignity along the way.

The sad part is that this can happen anywhere. I know there are sects of this fanbase who would do the exact same thing if the football team came under this kind of scrutiny. 

GoBlueMAGNUS

March 23rd, 2017 at 4:50 PM ^

Most high level coaches leave the shenanigans to the lower level assistants so this situation is far from unique. Good for the NCAA to finally go after the plausible deniability defense

StephenRKass

March 23rd, 2017 at 4:54 PM ^

Wow. What a huge difference from the current culture at Michigan. I love Beilein, and the current student athletes, and how they conduct themselves. And yeah, if Louisville antics are what it takes to get 5 star athletes, I don't want them.

reshp1

March 23rd, 2017 at 5:25 PM ^

My wife doesn't pay attention to sports at all and when I was watching the Louiville game last week and they showed Pitino, she asked me "Isn't this the guy that bought hookers and blow for his recruits?"

Yes, honey. Yes it is.

MGOBLUEDO

March 23rd, 2017 at 7:07 PM ^

UL has no morals, they hired Bobby Petrino back. Why wouldn't they defend Pitino. Maybe if they show that UL and Pitino support human sex trafficking it would be more of an issue for their fans. Most protitutes are part of human trafficking rings.