Coach Rick Pitino said Tuesday morning that he is still waiting to be interviewed by the NCAA about an escort\u2019s book allegations that a former Louisville staffer hired her and other dancers for sex parties at the team\u2019s dormitory.<\/p>\n
Pitino has said repeatedly that he did not know about the incidents, and Tuesday took that a step further, saying that athletic director Tom Jurich does not believe he was aware of the activities.<\/p>\n
The coach said on ESPN\u2019s \u201cMike & Mike\u201d that if Jurich \u201cthought for one second I had one percent knowledge of hearsay in this case, I would have been gone a long time ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
The university has announced a self-imposed one-year postseason ban for the men\u2019s basketball team after the school\u2019s investigation into allegations revealed violations did occur.<\/p>\n
The coach said he has been kept in the dark about the investigation because he has not been interviewed by the NCAA. The university investigation is ongoing and it\u2019s unclear if more self-imposed penalties are possible.<\/p>\n
Pitino also has stated that he has no plans to step down, and Tuesday he indicated he position has not changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy future is really irrelevant and unimportant, it\u2019s the University of Louisville that I care about,\u201d Pitino said. \u201cI do the same thing every single year. I go away, I take my time and say, \u2018Did you have fun? Do you still have great passion?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cI have more passion today with coaching, I love teaching more than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Powell alleged in the book \u201cBreaking Cardinal Rules: Basketball and the Escort Queen\u201d that Andre McGee paid her $10,000 for 22 shows from 2010-14 with many taking place in the Cardinals\u2019 Billy Minardi Hall dormitory. The allegations led to several investigations: one by the athletic department; the University of Louisville Foundation; the NCAA; and university and Louisville Metro Police in cooperation with the Commonwealth\u2019s Attorney\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n
She also spoke out on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Powell wouldn\u2019t say how she felt about Pitino being disciplined in a radio interview, but did say that the school should be punished because it tried to damage her reputation after the book\u2019s release in October. During an appearance on Kentucky Sports Radio, she also said she didn\u2019t think much of Louisville\u2019s self-imposed penalty and suggested it was the school\u2019s way of heading off possible NCAA sanctions.<\/p>\n
The No. 13 Cardinals (19-5, 8-3 ACC) are 1-1 since the ban but would have been a lock for the NCAA Tournament without winning the conference title.<\/p>\n
Asked if she felt vindicated by Louisville\u2019s action, she added, \u201cI knew all along I was telling the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Powell was interviewed by the NCAA last fall. A Jefferson County grand jury is looking into her allegations.<\/p>\n
A message left with the NCAA was not immediately returned.<\/p>\n
Powell\u2019s attorney, Larry Wilder of Jeffersonville, Indiana, said Louisville\u2019s decision vindicates his client\u2019s allegations and added, \u201ca 19-5 team wouldn\u2019t self-ban itself if any part she had mentioned was just a broken fingernail.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pitino said on ESPN Tuesday that he talked to McGee after being made aware of the allegations and was told only that parties took place. The coach said McGee misled him about what went on.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said it was just women coming over and listening to music,\u201d Pitino said. \u201cThen, he got a lawyer and that was the last I spoke to Andre McGee.\u201d The coach added that since that exchange, he has sent McGee a text asking that he \u201cjust tell the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pitino has described the decision not to play in postseason \u201cas harsh as anything\u201d he has experienced and criticized the NCAA for a system he said unfairly penalizes people unconnected to any infractions. He has been particularly outspoken in support of leading scorers Damion Lee and Trey Lewis, graduate transfers who came to Louisville this season with hopes of playing in the NCAA Tournament.<\/p>\n
Powell said she regrets that Lee and Lewis are being punished for something they weren\u2019t part of and even feels bad about the allegations impact on McGee\u2019s career. She initially wouldn\u2019t say if she feels bad for Pitino, pausing before eventually saying she did not.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Coach Rick Pitino said Tuesday morning that he is still waiting to be interviewed by the NCAA about an escort\u2019s book allegations that a former Louisville staffer hired her and other dancers for sex parties at the team\u2019s dormitory. Pitino has said repeatedly that he did not know about the incidents, and Tuesday took that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-12633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12633\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12633"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=12633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}