A new book is alleging a staff member at Louisville “paid escorts to dance for and have sex with players and recruits,” according to a report by Pat Forde of Yahoo! Sports. The allegations appear in a book co-authored by Louisville escort Katina Powell and journalist Dick Cady titled, “Breaking Cardinal Rules: Basketball and the Escort Queen.”
Louisville staff member paid escorts to have sex with recruits, according to report
Louisville basketball is at the center of a sex scandal, according to allegations made in a new book.
Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
The staffer is alleged to be Andre McGee. McGee, now an assistant at Missouri-Kansas City, has been placed on administrative leave. The NCAA is aware of the allegations and has already interviewed former Louisville players and one-time Cardinals recruit Antonio Blakeney, according to ESPN’s Jeff Goodman. Blakeney was a McDonald’s All-American in the class of 2015 who committed to Louisville on an official visit last year, then decommitted 10 days later. He would go to choose LSU, where he’ll play this season.
Here’s a section from Forde’s story detailing the allegations:
The book alleges that over a four-year period, Powell brought women into Billy Minardi Hall - the basketball dormitory on the Louisville campus that is named after Pitino’s late brother-in-law - through a side door to entertain players and recruits. Powell also says her dancers - which included her daughters - also entertained Louisville players at other locations off-campus. After the women danced for the players for an agreed-upon sum, Powell alleges that she would negotiate a second payment for the women to have sex with the athletes.
Powell writes in the book, after Louisville won the national championship in 2013, “I felt like I was part of the recruitment team. A lot of them players went to Louisville because of me.”
The operation, which was reportedly taking place at dorms and off-campus houses and apartments, was allegedly making at least $10,000 in cash exchanged hands.
Rick Pitino and Tom Jurich spoke to the media on Friday. Pitino said he had no knowledge of the allegations.
Jurich: "I have no idea" if Louisville's 2013 national title is in danger as a result of this. "Coach Pitino wouldn't condone this, either."
— Jeff Greer (@jeffgreer_cj) October 2, 2015 Pitino: "I questioned everybody," over 15 staffers, and "to a person," said they had no idea or knowledge of it. http://t.co/mMOFMyGZMF
— Jeff Greer (@jeffgreer_cj) October 2, 2015 REPORTER: "You've mentioned that you don't believe these allegations are true." PITINO: "I didn't say that."
— Luke Winn (@lukewinn) October 2, 2015 UPDATE: Zach Osterman of the Indy Star has some details on how Indiana alerted Louisville to the allegations:
On Aug. 28, Mickey Maurer -- for whom the IU-Bloomington law school is named -- contacted Scott Dolson, IU's deputy director of athletics.
— Zach Osterman (@ZachOsterman) October 2, 2015 In an email, Maurer asked Dolson to connect him with a UofL counterpart. Maurer said: "I have a photo and I need a player ID.
— Zach Osterman (@ZachOsterman) October 2, 2015 Dolson forwarded that email on to Louisville Executive Senior Associate Athletic Director Kevin Miller, who then sent it to Kenny Klein.
— Zach Osterman (@ZachOsterman) October 2, 2015 Flatly rejected suggestion that his publishing company pursued the book because he's an IU fan.
— Zach Osterman (@ZachOsterman) October 2, 2015 Indiana coach Tom Crean has responded to the public interest in IU’s role in the situation:
Tom Crean: "Any assertion our basketball program had anything to do with the situation at Louisville is flat-out wrong."
— Pete Thamel (@SIPeteThamel) October 2, 2015 
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