The University of Louisville has placed athletic director Tom Jurich and basketball coach Rick Pitino on administrative leave amid a federal investigation involving bribes in basketball.
Interim University of Louisville President Greg Postel announced the decision in a press conference this afternoon.
Neither Jurich nor Pitino were in attendance.
Postel referred to “troubling allegations,” though there are no charges.
“Doing nothing would be a tacit approval of the behavior,” said Postel.
Pitino has been placed on unpaid administrative leave. Zurich is on paid administrative leave.
One athlete, unnamed, has been notified that he cannot participate in NCAA activities.
Final decisions on both Pitino and Zurich will be made by the university’s board of trustees.
The future of other coaches will be decided by the interim athletic director.
Calling it a “dark day” for the university, Postel said the university would honor contracts, according to university policies.
Louisville won the 2013 NCAA championship with Pitino as the head coach. He also led the University of Kentucky to the 1996 championship and runner-up finish in 1997.
Louisville made the NCAA Tournament 13 out of the 16 years that Pitino was the head coach.
Pitino has been involved in a series of scandals, including an NCAA probe into the use of strippers and prostitutes to attract players to the program. Louisville was hit with strong sanctions and the program h ad to vacate wins that included the 2013 national championship.
The university is appealing that action.
Pitino had a personal scandal in 2009 when he admitted to having sex with Karen Sypher, the wife of a University of Louisville equipment manager, after paying her $3,000 tpo have an aborition. Pitino said he was being extorted and Sypher was later convicted. Pitino was the coach of the Boston Celtics for four seasons prior to coming to Louisville in 2001. He left Kentucky after the 1997 season to go to the Celtics, but never enjoyed the success he expected in the NBA.
Pitino has won 770 games at the college level, two national championships and seven Final Fours. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013. Pitino is also the highest paid coach in basketball, making $7.8 million a year, according to USA Today. Pitino has coached at Boston University, Providence College, UK and Louisville in college and the Knicks and Celtics in the NBA.
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See the NKyTribune’s earlier story about the FBI investigation.