Louisville not reinstating freshman Brian Bowen at center of FBI investigation

Brian Bowen will not play for Louisville basketball this season, the school has announced. Bowen is the five-star freshman widely believed to be involved in the FBI’s investigation into corruption in college basketball.

The FBI alleged that Louisville agreed to pay “Player-10” $100,000 through Adidas for his commitment to the school. Bowen was suspended indefinitely following details of the report, and has since been cleared by the FBI. Louisville reportedly chose not to reinstate him.

While Bowen will not play for Louisville this season, the school announced he will remain on scholarship and is free to transfer.

Here’s the official statement from the school:

There has been major fallout at Louisville since the FBI investigation became public. Head coach Rick Pitino was fired, as was AD Tom Jurich.

Bowen’s commitment to Louisville in early June came as a major surprise throughout college basketball. The McDonald’s All-American was thought to be choosing between Michigan State and Texas before his camp reportedly reached out to Louisville at the last minute to set up an official visit.

Here’s what Pitino said after Bowen pledged:

“We got lucky on this one,” Pitino told Terry Meiners of News Radio 840. “I had an AAU director call me and ask me if I’d be interested in a player (Bowen). I saw him against another great player from Indiana. I said ‘Yeah, I’d be really interested.’ They had to come in unofficially, pay for their hotel, pay for their meals. We spent zero dollars recruiting a five-star athlete who I loved when I saw him play. In my 40 years of coaching this is the luckiest I’ve been.”

Former assistant David Padgett was named interim coach, and has guided the Cardinals to 4-0 start. Louisville has games coming up against ranked teams in Purdue and Seton Hall later this month.