By Russ Brown
NKyTribune correspondent
LOUISVILLE — ESPN’s Outside the Lines, which has been the leader in reporting on developments in the sex scandal surrounding the University of Louisville basketball program, reported more damaging information Sunday morning.
In a story on its Website, written by John Barr of ESPN.com, the network said that at least three former UofL recruits confirmed to NCAA investigators that they attended parties inside Minardi Hall, where the strippers danced for them and prostitutes were paid to have sex with them. The story said the new information came from a source close to the NCAA investigation.
Barr wrote that the source said the three recruits met with NCAA investigators in October and November and that Chuck Smrt, who was hired by UofL to monitor the progress of the probe and conduct his own investigation, also attended the meetings.
“There’s no question this stuff happened,” the source said. “There’s no question the people at the University of Louisville know this happened. Katina Powell is not an admirable person, but she told the truth.”
Powell, a former escort, detailed the recruiting parties in her book, “Breaking Cardinal Rules: Basketball and the Escort Queen.” She alleges that the parties took place from 2010 to 2014 and that Andre McGee, a former UofL graduate assistant and director of basketball operations, paid her approximately $10,000 to furnish dancers and escorts for the players and recruits.
If the source is correct, it’s no wonder that university officials ordered a postseason ban for the basketball team on Feb. 5. No specific information was given at that time, but UofL president James Ramsey said the school had been made aware that NCAA rules violations had occurred.
“If you’ve got three (recruits), that’s a slam dunk,” ESPN reported its source as saying. “That’s the enforcement staff’s dream.”
In October, five former UofL players and recruits told Outside the Lines that they attended parties. One recruit, who eventually played at UofL, said he had sex with a dancer after McGee paid her.
“It’s a pathetic story,” the source said. “McGee gave the players a stack of dollar bills ranging from $200 to $500. Everybody in the room got the money — the recruits and the current members of the team. Not only that, but McGee himself had his own stack of dollar bills. If this guy’s spending $2,000 to $3,000 on a recruiting weekend, where’s this money coming from?”
Outside the Lines reporters found McGee driving for Uber in Kansas City earlier this month, but he declined to answer questions.
“My name will be cleared. I just need you to talk to my lawyer,” McGee said.
ESPN said McGee’s attorney, Scott Cox of Louisville, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
On Thursday, a source told ESPN that UofL coach Rick Pitino will be interviewed by the NCAA next month. Pitino has questioned Powell’s story, and Powell told Outside the Lines that “Rick made it personal.”
“I may not have come from the same side of the tracks that you come from, but (the) only thing that makes us different is money,” she said.
Powell and her attorney, Larry Wilder, met Monday for a second time with NCAA investigators in Louisville.
“They’ve spent a lot of time trying to, I think, discern who provided the funds to pay for the parties,” Wilder told ESPN. “I think that they conclude, much like Ms. Powell has said, that certainly Mr. McGee did not have the financial wherewithal to fund these events that were taking place in Minardi Hall.”
When asked about the degree to which Pitino has taken responsibility for the apparent issues within his program, the source told ESPN:
“He’s not accepting any responsibility over several years. This is not a guy who is turning his head to academic fraud; this is much worse that that. If any other coach was connected to this story, by now he’d have already been fired.”