NCAA Basketball: Programs currently in danger of facing NCAA sanctions
By Bryan Mauro
NCAA Basketball program in trouble – Louisville Cardinals
Rick Pitino is going to be remembered for a lot of things while he was a head coach. He is likely going to be a coaching Hall of Famer for his time on the court. He has won everywhere he has ever gone in college and seems to get the most out of his players. One other thing Pitino is going to be remembered for is that he will be remembered as the face of scandal. Pitino was at the center of a controversy a lot in his last couple of seasons in Lousiville. There was the incident in the booth at Denny’s, the scandal involving the escorts, and now the impermissible benefits to a recruit. The NCAA and the university were understandably fed up.
Louisville’s allegations all stem around the actions of former coach Rick Pitino and the illegal recruitment of Brian Bowen. The Cardinals received a level I allegation for the recruitment of Brian Bowen and to another coach of an unnamed recruit. Bowen’s family received $100,000 for his enrollment with Louisville. Bowen never played a game in college and was not in college for a very long time as he was never going to be eligible due to the amount of money that was exchanging hands regarding his recruitment.
The other allegations that Louisville received were three level II allegations against Pitino. The former coach was hit with a failure to monitor and comply with the NCAA. Two former assistants were responsible for the other allegations by providing impermissible benefits and a failure to monitor. Louisville no longer has any individuals involved with these allegations on a coaching staff or in a position of power at the university. So once again the NCAA is going to punish a coaching staff and players that were not involved in the original scandal.
The one thing to watch here is what the punishment for Pitino is going to be. He was recently hired as the coach of the Iona College Gaels. He could be looking at a long show-cause penalty and maybe even a ban from the college game. Iona knew all of this and still pulled the trigger. Iona fans will want to monitor that closely. The Cardinals did not have as serious of allegations as Kansas did, but they are still very serious by NCAA standards, and given the seriousness of the scandal don’t expect Louisville to get off lightly.