LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — After five agonizing years, Louisville finally gets to look forward.
An independent panel placed the Cardinals’ basketball program on two years of probation and fined it $5,000, but spared the school major penalties from NCAA allegations leveled in the aftermath of a federal investigation into corruption in college basketball.
The Independent Accountability Resolution Process (IARP) also declined on Thursday to penalize former Cardinals coach Rick Pitino, whom the NCAA initially cited for failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance. Chris Mack, Pitino’s successor who was fired in January, also was not penalized for additional allegations announced last year by the NCAA.
“The panel views this decision as exonerating both coaches,” IARP chief panel member David Benck said in a conference call with reporters.
Pitino, now the coach at Iona, thanked the IARP for its fairness and reiterated his adherence to the rules.
“So, do I feel vindicated? It’s not really that important anymore because it’s been five years,” Pitino said in a conference call.
Former Cardinals assistant coach Jordan Fair and associate head coach Kenny Johnson, now a Rhode Island assistant, received two-year show-cause orders for Level I violations. The IARP concluded that Fair “was knowingly involved” in arranging a cash payment in exchange for a player enrolling at Louisville.
The IARP, created to decide complex cases, also restricted Louisville’s recruiting visits for this academic year and issued a public reprimand.
“We were hopeful of a successful outcome through this process, and that’s what we received,” Cardinals athletic director Josh Heird said in a news conference with Louisville’s acting president, Lori Gonzalez.
The IARP was created out of proposals from a commission led by former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2018 to reform college basketball. The panel’s decision cannot be appealed.
The NCAA in May 2020 accused Louisville of committing a Level I violation for an improper recruiting offer and several Level II violations. Pitino was accused of failing to promote an atmosphere of compliance — an accusation the IARP concluded was unfounded.
The NCAA case followed a federal investigation announced in September 2017 that involved numerous college basketball programs accused of giving illicit cash to recruits. The school acknowledged it was the subject of allegations related to the recruitment of Brian Bowen II.
Louisville had previously been placed on NCAA probation because of a sex scandal. Thursday’s decision by the IARP put the latest disciplinary matter to rest for a school that has endured several scandals since 2015.
“The panel felt that the institution and the coach were hypersensitive on compliance issues coming right on the heels of the prior case,” Benck said.
The IARP also recently announced minor sanctions against Memphis in a similar case, signaling that the era of harsh NCAA penalties may be coming to an end with college athletes now allowed to make money off their name, image and likeness. Kansas is still under investigation by the IARP as a result of the federal probe, and this week it self-imposed a four-game suspension on coach Bill Self while reiterating the program’s commitment to the Hall of Famer.
Cases tied to the federal probe involving Arizona and LSU are still pending with the IARP. NCAA vice president of hearing operations Derrick Crawford expects those to be completed by next spring or early summer.
