When the FBI hammer dropped on the latest college basketball scandal involving shoe companies funneling cash to elite recruits to secure their enrollment at schools that they sponsor, Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino was one of the first to feel the burn. As soon as he was implicated, Louisville fired him. Pitino proclaimed his innocence and swiftly filed a lawsuit against the school, claiming that he was wrongfully terminated.
Louisville has now filed a counterclaim to their former coach’s lawsuit and they’re coming after his paper, seeking monetary damages from vacated games and bonuses.
What did Rick Pitino know in Louisville basketball scandal?
New information is emerging about what former Louisville coach Rick Pitino knew about alleged payments to recruits in the ongoing college basketball corruption and bribery scandal. CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish joins CBSN with more.
The counterclaim noted that the NCAA ordered the school to return money it received for some basketball tournaments and asserts that the university also wants any bonuses and other compensation “wrongly paid” to Pitino for the tournament appearances.
The counterclaim was filed as part of Pitino’s breach of contract lawsuit against the University of Louisville Athletic Association for $38.7 million.
Pitino’s lawyers argue there is nothing in a federal criminal complaint unsealed in September that ties Pitino to any improper activities. This thing is going to get real ugly before it’s all said and done. Stay tuned.
