{"id":13149,"date":"2017-09-27T17:09:00","date_gmt":"2017-09-27T17:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/2017\/09\/27\/rick-pitino-is-put-on-unpaid-leave-as-university-of-louisville-reacts-to-scandal\/"},"modified":"2017-09-27T17:09:00","modified_gmt":"2017-09-27T17:09:00","slug":"rick-pitino-is-put-on-unpaid-leave-as-university-of-louisville-reacts-to-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/rick-pitino-is-put-on-unpaid-leave-as-university-of-louisville-reacts-to-scandal\/","title":{"rendered":"Rick Pitino Is Put On Unpaid Leave As University Of Louisville Reacts To Scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Bill Chappell<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
\n
\n
Enlarge this image<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n

\n The University Of Louisville has put men’s head basketball coach Rick Pitino on unpaid leave, after the program was mentioned in a wide-ranging federal fraud investigation.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Joe Robbins\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

<\/b>hide caption<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

toggle caption<\/b><\/b><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Joe Robbins\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The University Of Louisville has placed men’s head basketball coach Rick Pitino on unpaid administrative leave, with his employment to be reviewed. The school’s interim president, Gregory Postel, called it “a dark day” for the university.<\/p>\n

The move comes after Pitino’s program was implicated in a wide-ranging federal fraud investigation that was unveiled on Tuesday. The FBI says it caught coaches, Adidas employees and players in a network of bribes.<\/p>\n

Postel said Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich is being placed on paid administrative leave.<\/p>\n

Member station WFPL<\/a> reports about the allegations that touch on Louisville in the FBI’s bribery case:<\/p>\n

\n
\n

“In one instance, an Adidas employee arranged for $100,000 and ongoing monthly payments allegedly funneled through a third-party company for a high school player, who is currently a freshman athlete at the school. That athlete is widely believed to be star recruit Brian Bowen.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Announcing Pitino’s reduced status Tuesday, Postel also said that one athlete on the basketball team won’t be allowed to practice or play with the team \u2014 an apparent reference to Bowen.<\/p>\n