Source: 'Coach-2' in federal complaint is Rick Pitino.
Louisville men's basketball coach Rick Pitino, who has been placed on
unpaid administrative leave amid a federal investigation into fraud and corruption, is the "Coach-2" who played a role in funneling money to a recruit, a source confirmed to ABC News on Thursday.According to court records, Christian Dawkins, the former agent for ASM Sports who was charged in both parts of the college basketball case, told the cooperating witness, Marty Blazer, that he helped funnel $100,000 to the family of recruit Brian Bowen "at the request of a coach," identified as "Coach-2."
CBS first identified Pitino as "Coach-2" on Thursday.
Court records also said Adidas executive Jim Gatto "spoke directly with Coach-2 multiple times in the days before [Bowen] publicly committed" to Louisville.
During a meeting in a hotel room in Las Vegas on July 27, which was recorded by video cameras placed in the room by the FBI the day before, Dawkins, Jonathan Brad Augustine (the director of a Florida-based AAU program) and an undercover agent discussed how to pay $100,000 to the family of Bowen, a highly recruited player from LaPorte, Indiana, who had recently committed to play for Louisville, which has a shoe and apparel contract with Adidas.
Because two Adidas employees involved in the scheme were having difficulty getting the money, they wanted to funnel the payments through Augustine's AAU program, which was sponsored by Adidas. At one point during the conversation in the hotel room, according to FBI documents, Augustine allegedly said, "No one swings a bigger [expletive] than [Coach-2] at [Adidas]" and added "all [Coach-2] has to do is pick up the phone and call somebody, [and say], 'These are my guys, they're taking care of us.'"
According to the sealed complaint against Gatto, Adidas employee Merl Code, Dawkins, Augustine and financial adviser Munish Sood, "Coach-2" also had two phone conversations with Gatto on May 27 and a third call on June 1. The FBI did not have a wiretap on Gatto's phone, so what they talked about is not known.
"On or about June 3, 2017, [Bowen] officially committed to [Louisville] in return for the commitment by Gatto and [Adidas] to pay $100,000 for his family," the FBI complaint says.
Interim Louisville president Greg Postel said Wednesday that one Cardinals player has been suspended indefinitely and withheld from practices and workouts. Sources told ESPN that Postel was referring to Bowen, who is featured prominently but not named in federal prosecutors' allegations of corruption in college recruiting.
Postel said Wednesday that the school's board of trustees will make the final decision on Pitino and athletic director Tom Jurich no later than their next scheduled meeting on Oct. 18.
According to his contract, Pitino must be given 10 days' notice before any firing can be official.
On Tuesday, 10 men -- including a top Adidas executive and four college assistant coaches -- were charged with using hundreds of thousands of dollars in
bribes to influence star athletes' choice of schools, shoe sponsors, agents and even tailors. Federal prosecutors said at least three top high school recruits were promised payments of as much as $150,000, using money supplied by Adidas, to attend two universities sponsored by the athletic shoe company.
The allegations in the federal documents against the unnamed school in Kentucky -- later identified as Louisville -- include payments of $100,000 from Adidas to the family of an unnamed player, identified as "Player-10," to ensure he signs with the school.
Pitino, 65, released a statement after news of the charges was announced Tuesday, saying, "These allegations come as a complete shock to me."
"If true, I agree with the U.S. Attorneys Office that these third-party schemes, initiated by a few bad actors, operated to commit a fraud on the impacted universities and their basketball programs, including the University of Louisville," he said. "Our fans and supporters deserve better and I am committed to taking whatever steps are needed to ensure those responsible are held accountable."
The case was the latest instance of Pitino and his Louisville program being in the news for impropriety.
In 2010, the coach testified in a federal extortion trial involving Karen Sypher, who went to prison after trying to get money and gifts from him in exchange for silence. The married Pitino admitted to having sex with the woman in a closed Louisville restaurant in 2003.
In 2015, the NCAA launched an investigation into a sex-for-pay scandal organized by former Louisville assistant coach Andre McGee that could force the Cardinals to vacate their 2013 national title and dozens of victories. For that, Pitino would have been suspended for Louisville's first five ACC games this season. That all came after the school, hoping to soothe the NCAA and temper the sanctions, self-imposed a 2016 NCAA tournament ban.
Pitino and his family are going through a "difficult time," his son Richard Pitino, who is the men's basketball coach at Minnesota, said Thursday.
"Like any son, I want what's best for my dad and I will always support him," Richard Pitino said.
Rick Pitino has won two national championships (his first was with Kentucky in 1996), reached seven Final Fours and won 770 career games. He is in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
He has been especially successful at Louisville. Since taking over in the 2001-02 season, the Cardinals have a .744 winning percentage (sixth nationally), 28 NCAA tournament wins (ninth) and three Final Four appearances (tied for sixth).
