Ex-Louisville coach Rick Pitino was aware of, participated in payment scheme, according to indictment
— -- A new federal indictment against Adidas executive Jim Gatto suggests former Louisville coach Rick Pitino was aware of a scheme to pay Cardinals recruit? Brian Bowen?and even participated in the plan.
The indictment, which was released Wednesday by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, includes a new description of a meeting in a Las Vegas hotel room on July 27. The FBI recorded and videotaped the meeting between former AAU basketball coach Christian Dawkins, a Louisville assistant coach and others as they conspired to pay Bowen's family to ensure the star recruit signed with the Cardinals, an Adidas-sponsored team.
"Dawkins explained that while [Pitino] and the University of Louisville were recruiting [Bowen], Dawkins asked [Pitino] to call James Gatto to request that [Adidas] provide the money requested by the family of [Bowen], which [Pitino] agreed to do," the indictment reads.
A previous description of the meeting, which was included in an FBI complaint against Gatto released on Sept. 26, indicated Dawkins had spoken with Pitino and asked him to call Gatto about Adidas paying Bowen's family. But it didn't include language indicating Pitino agreed to do it.
The original complaint read: "Dawkins said he had spoken with Coach-2 [who has been reported to be Pitino] about getting additional money for [Bowen's] family and informed [Pitino] that 'I need you to call Jim Gatto, who's the head of everything' at [Adidas'] basketball program."
In an interview with ESPN last month, Pitino reiterated that he had "no knowledge" of any payment to Bowen's family, citing a lie detector test that he took in October.
Pitino said of Bowen: "He fell into our lap in recruiting. Obviously, now with the circumstances behind it, there's more to it than meets the eye. But I believe Brian Bowen chose the University of Louisville because he loved the visit, he loved his future teammates and he wanted to play for me. I don't think he's involved in this in any way. Now, am I being naive? I don't know. I just believe in that young man."
The FBI announced on Sept. 26 that 10 men -- including assistant coaches Tony Evans of Oklahoma State, Chuck Person of Auburn, Emanuel "Book" Richardson of Arizona and Tony Bland of USC, along with Gatto -- were charged with crimes relating to the investigation.
Louisville was not explicitly named in court documents, but interim president Greg Postel confirmed that the school was part of the probe.
Pitino, 65, was placed on unpaid administrative leave on Sept. 27 and fired on Oct. 17. He has $44 million remaining in salary and bonuses from a contract extension he signed through the 2025-26 season.
Pitino guided the Cardinals to the 2013 national championship and two other appearances in the Final Four.
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