Things went from bad to worse is Louisville today, as an Outside The Lines report confirmed with multiple former players and recruits some of the details that Katina Powell wrote about in her book, ‘Breaking Cardinal Rules’.
According to the report, five former players and recruits confirmed that they attended parties that included strippers at Billy Minardi Hall, a dorm on Louisville’s campus, and one confirmed that he had, in fact, had sex with one of the girls.
Some of the quotes are damning:
- “I knew they weren’t college girls. It was crazy. It was like I was in a strip club.”
- Andre McGee “would give us the money, just the recruits. A bunch of us were sitting there while they danced. Then the players left, and the recruits chose which one [of the dancers] they wanted.”
Perhaps just as relevant is that OTL was able to confirm that the damning text messages between Powell and McGee came from McGee’s phone, and they were even able to dig up a wire transfer where McGee sent money to Powell.
In other words, phone records, a wire transfer and five former Louisville players and recruits have confirmed that Powell was telling the truth in her book.
This still doesn’t guarantee that head coach Rick Pitino will lose his job. He’s likely facing NCAA sanctions, depending on what the association is able to prove and who actually decides to talk to them (Powell said she has not spoken with the NCAA yet, but the NCAA doesn’t determine his employment status with the university. As I wrote last month, the only way that I can see Pitino getting fired by the school is if they are able to determine that he knew about or funded the parties and turned a blind eye. And given that McGee’s dealings with Powell began at the same time as the Karen Sypher trial, I find it very hard to believe that Pitino would have orchestrated this mess. This story originally appeared on NBCSports.com
Rob Dauster Recommended
