Univ. of Louisville men's basketball coach Rick Pitino said there is a "need to get the shoe companies out of the lives of young athletes," according to Jeff Greer of the Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL. Pitino: "I never thought that shoes would be the reason you wouldn't recruit players. It's a factor. I think we need to deal with that." He was asked if UL's apparel contract with adidas instead of Nike or Under Armour "hurt the Cardinals' recruiting." Pitino responded, "Our pool shrinks. But, that being said, in the last few years we're having some of the best recruiting classes that we've had in the last 13." He added, "Why nobody wants to talk about that is because it's money related. The University of Louisville makes a lot of money through Adidas ... I think it needs to be cleaned up." Greer: "I am 100-percent certain that someone at Adidas heard about Pitino's comments ... and wasn't thrilled about it." Pitino "did say, multiple times, that he was talking about all shoe companies, including Adidas, and that he himself collects checks from Adidas, too." He said, "I wish it wasn't there. I think it's going to be there a long, long time, as long as we're getting paid by those schools ... It's very tough to address because our pockets are lined with their money." Pitino added, "I have my own choices to make for which shoe company. I'm sort of separate from the university in that regard, though we're sort of tied in together. I'm very comfortable where we are with Adidas because we're having great success" (Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL, 10/10). Pitino said that what is at issue is the "relationship between major sportswear makers and basketball programs for high-school students, from which top-flight colleges and universities recruit players" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 10/10).
