The University of Louisville put legendary basketball coach Rick Pitino and its athletic director on administrative leave Wednesday, a day after learning the school is part of a sweeping federal investigation into bribery.
Pitino’s attorney told the Louisville Courier-Journal that the 65-year-old had been “effectively fired,” but the university said his “employment will be reviewed at a different date.”
“Doing nothing would be a tacit endorsement of ethical and criminal behaviors,” Louisville interim president Greg Postel said at a press conference.
Pitino and athletic director Tom Jurich were not named in criminal complaints filed Tuesday, but if the allegations are true, they oversaw assistant coaches who conspired with an executive at Adidas and a cabal of athletic middlemen to lure high-schoolers to Louisville by funneling payoffs to their families.
It wasn’t the first scandal for Pitino, who has been head coach of the men’s team since 2001 and led it to a championship title in 2013.
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In June, the NCAA hit him with a five-game suspension after investigating allegations that a former staffer supplied escorts to recruits and players.
In 2010, the married father of five admitted in court that he had sex in a restaurant with a former model who later went to prison for trying to extort him.
He had eight years left on a contract that pays him more than $5 million a year. He also earned more than $2 million from Adidas.
On Tuesday night, Pitino issued a statement through his personal attorney saying he was in “complete shock” over the bribery allegations and blaming “a few bad actors.”
“Our fans and supporters deserve better and I am committed to taking whatever steps are needed to ensure those responsible are held accountable,” the statement said.
Hours later, the university announced he was out of a job.
Related: Rick Pitino Denies Flipping Off Kentucky Fans
The probe into what prosecutors called the “dark underbelly” of college basketball began in 2015 with the help of a financial adviser who agreed to wear a wire for the feds after being caught siphoning money from the accounts of pro athletes.
It uncovered a scheme in which college coaches allegedly took bribes to steer top players to certain advisers, managers and even a suit-maker who stood to make a fortune if those players signed with the NBA.
It also revealed a related conspiracy in which Adidas executive Jim Gatto allegedly bankrolled bribes used to lure high-school standouts to colleges the sportswear giant sponsored.
A criminal complaint made clear one of the schools was Louisville, which then confirmed that it was the target of a federal probe. The court documents outline efforts to funnel more than $100,000 to the family of a recruit who then made a surprise last-minute decision to play for Louisville this summer.
“Basically we just need to take care of his dad with two grand monthly,” Christian Dawkins, a former recruiter for a top sports agency, was recorded telling an undercover agent.
According to federal prosecutors, surveillance of the defendants also gathered evidence they were plotting to funnel money to another high-school player in exchange for a commitment to attend Louisville in 2019.
“The mom is like…we need our f—ing money. So we got to be able to fund the situation,” Dawkins was allegedly recorded saying during a meeting in a Las Vegas hotel room attended by an unnamed Louisville assistant coach.
Dawkins was also captured on tape talking about a second coach’s involvement in securing cash for a player’s family, prosecutors said. Phone records then showed that coach making calls to the Adidas executive at the center of the case.
In a statement Wednesday, Adidas said Gatto has been placed on administrative leave and the company has hired a lawyer to conduct “a thorough investigation.”
Prosecutors said Tuesday that they were charging 10 people in the pay-to-play probe but that the investigation wasn’t over. Federal agents raided the offices of ASM Sports, where Dawkins worked until he was fired for using a player’s credit card for hundreds of Uber rides. ASM, which represents 30 NBA players, did not return a call for comment.