Louisville has named Vince Tyra as its acting athletic director roughly a week after parting ways with AD Tom Jurich and men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino for their alleged involvement in fraud and corruption schemes. Louisville interim president Greg Postel announced the move Tuesday, per ESPN’s Myron Medcalf.
Louisville names Vince Tyra athletic director
Tyra replaces Tom Jurich as the acting AD for the Cardinals.
Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Tyra, the son of Louisville basketball legend Charlie Tyra, grew up in Louisville before becoming a star baseball player at rival Kentucky. Postel was actually asked about that connection, and jokingly responded, “My wife went to Kentucky, so I have no problem with that.”
Louisville fired Pitino and placed Jurich on paid administrative leave last week after an FBI investigation linked them to “an alleged scheme to pay the family of five-star recruit Brian Bowen Jr. $100,000 with cash arranged by Adidas executive Jim Gatto,” per Medcalf. The information came as part of a widespread FBI inquiry into corruption in college basketball, which led to indictments from the Department of Justice last week.
The school isn’t explicitly named in the document released by the Department of Justice, but it’s apparent from the report available that “University-6” is Louisville. The FBI alleges that the school agreed to pay a recruit, believed to be Bowen, $100,000 through Adidas to secure a commitment.
Now Louisville is trying to move on under new leadership. The Cardinals have an interim basketball coach in David Padgett — a former player under Pitino — and an interim AD in Tyra.
Tyra, who has never run an athletic department, may have his hands full with the repercussions from the basketball scandal. Pitino’s lawyers sent a notice of breach of contract to the university Tuesday, claiming it owes him the full $44 million remaining on his deal. Jurich’s situation also isn’t fully resolved, and Bowen has retained a lawyer to fight for his NCAA eligibility this season.
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