Reports: Rick Pitino, AD out at Louisville

Rick Pitino has been fired as the head men’s basketball coach at Louisville, ESPN is reporting.

Louisville on Tuesday acknowledged that it is included in the investigation “involving criminal activity related to men’s basketball recruiting.” On Wednesday morning, athletic director Tom Jurich was fired, followed by Pitino, ESPN reported.

The FBI’s investigation is another black eye for a Louisville program that’s still recovering from its last scandal. In 2015, an investigation found that a former Louisville player paid for strippers and prostitutes to entertain more than a dozen recruits and former players. The university lost four scholarships over the course of four seasons, and the program vacated all wins from 2011-14 that included ineligible players. Pitino was suspended five games to be served during the 2017-18 season.

Pitino won national championships in 1996 with Kentucky and in 2013 with Louisville. He was the first coach to win national titles at two schools, and the first to lead three different schools to the Final Four.

Pitino’s résumé includes seven Final Fours, and in 16 seasons at Louisville, he compiled a 416-141 record. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.

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