By Russ Brown
NKyTribune correspondent
LOUISVILLE — Rick Pitino thought he had a special University of Louisville basketball team this season, but the Cardinals won’t get a chance to justify his optimism or prove their worth.
In a shocking move that came out of the blue, UofL officials announced Friday afternoon that the school is instituting a self-imposed ban on postseason play in the midst of several ongoing investigations of a sex scandal involving the program.
That means the No. 18/17 Cardinals (18-4) will miss the ACC and NCAA Tournaments, with their season ending after nine more games, including four in the KFC Yum! Center.
Now the question for UofL is whether the NCAA will accept the self-imposed ban as punishment enough or hit the school with further sanctions, such as recruiting limitations or a reduction in scholarships.
It’s difficult to overstate the seriousness of the penalty, given UofL’s chances for a deep run in the NCAAs with no dominant team in sight on the college basketball landscape. The ban will end Louisville’s string of nine straight NCAA Tournament appearances, sixth-longest in the country.
“We knew we had a special group,” Pitino said. “I compared it to the 1987 Providence team, which is probably as close to my heart as any team I’ve ever coached. This team had great promise. It is a team that could go very far in the NCAA Tournament, so this penalty is quite substantial.”
The Cards definitely looked like a Final Four contender in upsetting No. 2/1 North Carolina 71-65 on Monday night, and they are in second place in the ACC with a 7-2 record heading into Saturday’s home game against Boston College.
The NCAA, university and law enforcement officials are investigating claims in a book written by Katina Powell, a former escort, who has alleged that former UofL basketball staff member Andre McGee was paid $10,000 over a four-year period to provide strippers for UofL players and recruits.
McGee later resigned from his assistant coaching position at Missouri-Kansas City, a job he left Louisville for in 2014.
“Based upon available information, we determined it is reasonable to conclude that violations had occurred,” UofL president Jim Ramsey said, reading a statement at the press conference on campus. “While this was a difficult decision, it was made in the best interest of the University of Louisville.”
Ramsey declined to provide any details of the case, and the NCAA doesn’t comment on ongoing investigations. He added that Pitino and athletics director Tom Jurich still have his “full support.”
“We found out yesterday (Thursday) that we had a problem,” Jurich said. “So we wanted to deal with this in the most rapid way we possibly can. When the allegations first broke we said if there’s some wrongdoing we’re going to get to the bottom of it.
“We want the truth and we will deal with it. We’ll own our problems. Although it’s a very disappointing day, extremely sad for all of us, it’s extremely sad for our players, who are a great group of young men, we want to do what’s right. It’s going to be very painful, as we all know, but will move forward.”
A midseason, self-imposed ban is virtually unheard of, and Pitino said the news came as a “complete shock” to him when he was informed Thursday. He said he spent a “night of extreme pain.”
“Tom and I have been in the dark on this since day one,” Pitino said. “I cannot fathom why. . .I know why someone robs a bank, they want the money. None of this, to this day, makes any sense to me at all.”
Pitino told his players about the ban in an emotional meeting Friday morning and said they hugged and cried. None of the current players was implicated in the scandal.
“Painful probably I could characterize it as one of the best understatements I could make,” Pitino said of the team meeting. “They were hit over the head with a sledgehammer, and they’re devastated, for actions they weren’t involved with. They are totally innocent. I’ve had my share of crying and I certainly didn’t want to go through it anymore.”
The ban is especially bitter for UofL’s only two seniors, Damion Lee and Trey Lewis, graduate students from smaller colleges who transfered to Louisville for a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament, Lee from Drexel, Lewis from Cleveland State.
“Damion and Trey told me when they came here that they just wanted the experience of playing in the tournament and seeing how far they could go,” Pitino said. “I’s never easy for the ones who don’t deserve it.
“Damion and Trey have nothing to look forward to, future-wise, right now. The final four home games is all they have left. This is a punishment I thought would never happen this season.”
Lee and Lewis requested to speak to the media, and were to be made available after practice early Friday evening.
The tension at the table where Pitino, Ramsey, Jurich and Chuck Smrt — who is conducting the university’s investigation — sat was palpable and Pitino obviously didn’t agree with the ban.
“This is a decision that’s as harsh as anything I’ve seen,” he said. “But I’m a soldier in this army and I will go along with Dr. Ramsey. And certainly there’s no one in life I have more respect for than Tom Jurich. So we will go along with this and we will play the last nine games of the season as if they’re the last nine games we’ll ever play.”
Ironically, this is the second postseason ban Pitino has been involved in as a head coach. He took the Kentucky job in 1990 when the Wildcats were on probation for NCAA violations and ineligible for the SEC and NCAA tournaments for two seasons. In his third year, Pitino guided UK to a regional final, then won the national championship in 1996.
“I got Kentucky through it,” Pitino said. “I’ll get these guys through it.”
After Saturday’s game against BC, UofL will have home games remaining against Syracuse on Feb. 17, Duke on Feb. 20 and Georgia Tech on March 1. The Cards’ final game of the season will be at Virginia on March 1. Then they’ll become frustrated and saddened spectators for the ACC and NCAA tourneys.