2015 University of Louisville basketball sex scandal

The 2015 University of Louisville basketball sex scandal involved National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules violations committed by the University of Louisville men's basketball program.

The scandal centered around improper benefits given by Andre McGee, a former Louisville player who was then serving as Director of Basketball Operations, to prospective players and former Louisville players.^[1] An investigation of the program was joined by the NCAA and the FBI. As a result of the investigation, Louisville's basketball program was punished with sanctions.^[2]

Katina Powell

In October 2015, Yahoo! Sports reported that the University of Louisville was investigating allegations made by Katina Powell, who described herself as a madam. Powell alleged that she had been paid several thousand dollars from 2010 to 2014 to provide women to dance for and have sex with Cardinals players and recruits. Many of the alleged parties took place at Minardi Hall, the men's basketball dormitory; others took place at off-campus locations. The allegations came out in advance of the release of Breaking Cardinal Rules: Basketball and the Escort Queen, a book written by Powell and Indianapolis-based investigative journalist Dick Cady. In the book, Powell named Andre McGee, a former Cardinals assistant, and, in 2015, the team's director of operations, as having paid her for these services.^[3]

Andre McGee

McGee graduated from Canyon Springs High School in Moreno Valley, California, in 2005. That fall, he enrolled at Louisville, where he played for the Cardinals for four seasons.^[4] He helped the 2007–08 Cardinals reach the Elite Eight in the 2008 NCAA tournament. As the starting point guard during his senior year, he led the 2008–09 Cardinals to the Big East regular season and Big East tournament championships. The team earned the No. 1 overall seed in the 2009 NCAA tournament and again advanced to the Elite Eight. He played in 127 career games, including 57 starts, while averaging 5.2 points per game for the Cardinals.^[4]

After his playing career at Louisville, McGee played briefly in the Basketball Bundesliga in Germany.^[5] He then served as a program assistant and Director of Basketball Operations under head coach Rick Pitino from 2010 to 2014. It was during this time that McGee committed NCAA violations by acquiring and paying for striptease dances and sexual acts for prospective players and players on his current roster. The violations occurred from December 2010 until June 2014.^[6]

Findings

The NCAA found Louisville head coach Pitino guilty of a Level I charge. NCAA bylaws 11.1.2.1 and 11.1.1.1^[7]^: 19 require the head coach to monitor all recruiting activities to ensure that they are complied with. Pitino failed to monitor that his director of basketball operations, McGee, complied with NCAA rules when Pitino gave McGee recruiting responsibilities.

The NCAA found that McGee engaged in unethical conduct and failed to cooperate when he refused to participate in interviews or provide relevant information to the enforcement staff during the investigation, which constituted violations of NCAA bylaws 10.01.1, 10.1, 19.2.3, and 10.1-(a).^[7]^: 16

Penalties

Pitino was set to be suspended for the first five games of the 2017–18 Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball season,^[8]^[a] but Louisville fired him in October 2017, before the season started.^[9]

The program also had 123 wins from December 2010 to April 2014 vacated, including the 2012 Final Four and the 2013 national championship.^[7]^[10]^[11] The Cardinals were the first to have a men's basketball national title vacated by the NCAA.^[12]^[13] They also faced a monetary fine for revenue the university made from advertisements during the Final Fours and National Championship.

The university filed an appeal, but the NCAA upheld the findings and punishments on February 20, 2018.^[10]

On September 30, 2019, a group of players on the 2012–13 Cardinals team who were not involved in the rules violations settled a lawsuit they had filed against the NCAA. Most of the settlement was confidential, but one portion was authorized to be revealed—while Louisville's team records (including the national title) remained vacated, all honors and statistics for these players were restored. Most notably, Luke Hancock, a plaintiff in the suit, was once again officially recognized as the Most Outstanding Player of the 2013 Final Four.^[14]

Notes

^ Louisville competed in basketball in the Big East Conference for the 2005–06 through 2012–13 seasons, in the American Athletic Conference during the 2013–14 season, and then joined the Atlantic Coast Conference starting with the 2014–15 season.

References

^ "University of Louisville Public Infractions Decision June 15, 2017" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 June 2017. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
^ Greer, Jeff (February 20, 2018). "A timeline of the Louisville basketball investigation: From 2015 to 2018". Courier Journal. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
^ Forde, Pat (October 2, 2015). "Louisville investigating allegations basketball staffer paid for prostitutes for players, recruits". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
^ ^a ^b "Andre McGee College Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
^ "Prodigal son McGee returns". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. January 10, 2010. p. C3. Retrieved March 13, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
^ Tracy, Marc (February 5, 2016). "Louisville Men's Basketball Team Is Out of Post-Season". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 9, 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c "UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE PUBLIC INFRACTIONS DECISION" (PDF). ncaa.org. June 25, 2017. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
^ Graves, Gary B. (June 16, 2017). "Pitino suspected five games for sex scandal". The Boston Globe. AP. p. C2. Retrieved March 13, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
^ "As expected, Pitino fired". Kenosha News. Kenosha, Wisconsin. AP. October 17, 2017. p. 13. Retrieved March 13, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
^ ^a ^b Graves, Gary B. (February 20, 2018). "Louisville must vacate basketball title, NCAA denies appeal". ABC News. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2018-02-21. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
^ Note: During the period of the infraction, the NCAA rules were changed, so the rule number designations changed. Pitino was found guilty of violating one rule whose designation number changed. "Former Louisville operations director acted unethically, head coach failed to monitor". ncaa.org. June 15, 2017. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
^ Story, Mark (February 20, 2018). "For U of L and Pitino, vacated NCAA title an ever-lasting stain on reputations". Lexington Herald-Ledger. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
^ Norlander, Matt (February 20, 2018). "Louisville isn't the 1st NCAA champion to vacate a championship -- here are the rest". CBSSports.com. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
^ "Ex-Louisville players' stats, honors restored as part of NCAA settlement". ESPN.com. Associated Press. September 30, 2019. Retrieved October 1, 2019.

[9] Louisville competed in basketball in the Big East Conference for the 2005–06 through 2012–13 seasons, in the American Athletic Conference during the 2013–14 season, and then joined the Atlantic Coast Conference starting with the 2014–15 season.

[NCAADecision20170615-1] "University of Louisville Public Infractions Decision June 15, 2017" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 June 2017. Retrieved 18 June 2017.

[2] Greer, Jeff (February 20, 2018). "A timeline of the Louisville basketball investigation: From 2015 to 2018". Courier Journal. Retrieved May 17, 2024.

[3] Forde, Pat (October 2, 2015). "Louisville investigating allegations basketball staffer paid for prostitutes for players, recruits". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved June 20, 2017.

[SportsRef-4] "Andre McGee College Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved March 13, 2022.

[5] "Prodigal son McGee returns". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. January 10, 2010. p. C3. Retrieved March 13, 2022 – via newspapers.com.

[NYTimes160206-6] Tracy, Marc (February 5, 2016). "Louisville Men's Basketball Team Is Out of Post-Season". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 9, 2016.

[NCAA_Decision-7] "UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE PUBLIC INFRACTIONS DECISION" (PDF). ncaa.org. June 25, 2017. Retrieved 2020-03-19.

[8] Graves, Gary B. (June 16, 2017). "Pitino suspected five games for sex scandal". The Boston Globe. AP. p. C2. Retrieved March 13, 2022 – via newspapers.com.

[10] "As expected, Pitino fired". Kenosha News. Kenosha, Wisconsin. AP. October 17, 2017. p. 13. Retrieved March 13, 2022 – via newspapers.com.

[ap_02202018-11] Graves, Gary B. (February 20, 2018). "Louisville must vacate basketball title, NCAA denies appeal". ABC News. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2018-02-21. Retrieved February 26, 2018.

[12] Note: During the period of the infraction, the NCAA rules were changed, so the rule number designations changed. Pitino was found guilty of violating one rule whose designation number changed. "Former Louisville operations director acted unethically, head coach failed to monitor". ncaa.org. June 15, 2017. Retrieved 2020-03-19.

[13] Story, Mark (February 20, 2018). "For U of L and Pitino, vacated NCAA title an ever-lasting stain on reputations". Lexington Herald-Ledger. Retrieved January 5, 2019.

[14] Norlander, Matt (February 20, 2018). "Louisville isn't the 1st NCAA champion to vacate a championship -- here are the rest". CBSSports.com. Retrieved January 5, 2019.

[15] "Ex-Louisville players' stats, honors restored as part of NCAA settlement". ESPN.com. Associated Press. September 30, 2019. Retrieved October 1, 2019.

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