Rick Pitino is not fazed by the current scandal that one of his staff members is tied in and believes that he is still the right man at the helm for the Louisville Cardinals.
Pitino made it clear that he doesn’t see a possible departure from his current post as the solution to address the issue.
For those who are unaware, that celebrated scandal involved one of his former assistant coaches (Andre McGee) who reportedly paid for sex and stripper parties for the Louisville basketball players and recruits on campus.
Katrina Powell made the revelations in a book which was published by Powell and Dick Cady titled “Breaking Cardinal Rules: Basketball and the Escort Queen”.
It was here where Powell bared that she was paid $10,000 for supplying dancers to the Louisville basketball team. That included her paying one of the escorts to have sex with one of the team’s former player.
McGee has denied the allegations and is on paid administrative leave while investigation on the matter is ongoing.
Powell went as far as alleging that Pitino was aware of such though he stands firm of having no knowledge of the allegations.
Pitino posted a letter to the fans explaining yet again that he has was not aware nor involved in the scandal via his personal website. The letter can be viewed here.
In the letter, he starts off by apologizing once again for the issues tied up with his basketball programs and stressing that he is not resigning. Though he would eventually come to that point, the time to step down is not yet now.
He adds that while he has kept mum on the allegations, he would leave that part to the jurisdiction of the investigators and focus on his main concern – basketball.
Despite a dark cloud on the basketball program, he bares optimism on his ballclub and details the improvements of each player from there.
Ultimately, however, the decision on whether he stays or goes could be at the hands of the NCAA.
While Pitino does not have a clear hand in the scandal, the NCAA does hold coaches liable for any violations, plausible or not.
As far as Lousville is concerned though, no one on their end has talked to Pitino about the whole thing. In fact, athletic director Tom Jurich has pledged his support to back Pitino during these times.
Pitino knows that the setback has made it harder for him to fire up the fans for a hopefully great season. Despite all these distractions, he is hoping to weather the storm which seems to be far from being resolved.
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