A dark day for Cardinal athletics.
The Rick Pitino era at Louisville is over.
Pitino met with U of L interim president Greg Postel Wednesday morning and was put on administrative leave. Pitino’s attorney, Steve Pence, told the Courier-Journal that his client had been “effectively fired.” Pitino’s contract dictates that he must be given 10-days notice before being terminated.
Over 16 seasons as Louisville’s head coach, Pitino led the Cardinals to an overall record of 416-141 (74.7 percent) and 13 trips to the NCAA tournament. The Cardinals advanced to three Final Fours under Pitino’s watch, and won the national championship in 2013.
Pitino, who was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013, owns the distinction of being the only coach to lead two different Division-I men’s basketball programs to the national championship. Before today’s news, Pitino had the second-highest NCAA tournament winning percentage of any active head coach, going 51-18 over 20 tournament appearances.
The firing comes just a day after an FBI indictment revealed that two U of L assistants had been involved in the payment of $100,000 to a current player on Louisville’s roster.
Pitino is scheduled to meet with his team at 12:30 p.m., while Postel will address the media at 1 p.m.
More to come.
