Louisville AD Tom Jurich and men's basketball coach Rick Pitino are both "out" after the program was "linked to a federal investigation into fraud and corruption in recruiting" in college hoops, according to sources cited by Eaves & Goodman of ESPN. Jurich and Pitino met this morning with Louisville interim President Greg Postel, though neither will attend a scheduled news conference at 1:00pm ET (ESPN.com, 9/27). Louisville-based WAVE-NBC's Kent Taylor cites sources as saying that Jurich was "asked to fire" Pitino, but "refused," and both were fired (TWITTER.com, 9/27). ESPN’s Rece Davis said “sometimes when you have a number of things stacked on top of each other, each one seemingly more serious than the previous one, then there comes a point where no matter how beneficial you have been to the university or to the program that you can no longer stay.” Davis said Jurich has “elevated Louisville to a status that they never dreamed of being prior to his arrival,” but if “you can’t keep a handle on all of these other things, then ultimately a price has to be paid.” Davis said of Jurich and Pitino: “I didn’t see any way that either could come out of this" (“SportsCenter,” ESPN, 9/27).
CHANGE NEEDED: In Louisville, Joseph Gerth writes Jurich has been Pitino's "chief enabler," allowing him to "get away with his slimy shenanigans for far too long." For Jurich, "butts in the seats were always more important than butts who knows where." It has always been the "dollars from ticket sales, the dollars for television deals, the dollars for shoe contracts and the dollars for himself that have driven Jurich." Gerth: "He built an athletic department at the University of Louisville that wins, but at what cost?" The latest scandal "imperils the entire athletic department, brings shame" on UL and "puts the city and the KFC Yum Center at risk." UL's basketball program is now the "gold standard for sleaze in a business that almost defines the word" (COURIER-JOURNAL.com, 9/27).
