Louisville avoids major NCAA punishment in Rick Pitino, Chris Mack case as ruling is made public

Louisville has avoided major punishment, as the results of the FBI probe that changed the course of their men’s basketball program has been made public.

According to the report published by the NCAA’s Independent Accountability Resolution Process (IARP), the Cardinals’ discipline will include a $5,000 fine, some minor recruiting limitations and being placed on two years of probation.

CLICK HERE to subscribe for FREE to the On3 YouTube channel

Moreover, Rick Pitino and Chris Mack — the coaches who oversaw the program when the allegations were made — have received zero punishment from the IARP for their role in the process, or lack thereof.

Additionally, there’s no appeal process for the NCAA’s Independent Accountability Resolution Process, so the result of the investigation is final. 

Continuing, Vince Tyra — Louisville’s Athletic Director — provided Matt Fortuna of The Athletic with his immediate reaction to the announcement.

“We provided a plan to the NCAA for Immediate and strong change within our athletic department, a voice of reason on the allegations, and the need for change on how the NCAA manages penalties globally,” Tyra told Fortuna. “All due to respect to the Rice Commission, greater prospective penalties was not the answer. I would like to think our approach was good for all of college athletics and not just Louisville.

“The time lag for the decision wasn’t ideal and very damaging to the program, but Kenny Payne and our athletic leadership will take it from here and put Louisville back in its place as an elite program. They now have definitive answers in hand. A valuable asset.”

Alas, after years of wondering what the final punishment would be, Louisville has to be elated to learn they’ve avoided a major disciplinary action. Moving forward, the Cardinals will look to return to the forefront of the college basketball world under new head coach Kenny Payne.

More on Louisville Cardinals, IARP case

Moreover, the situation goes back to when the Cardinals were forced to clean house in 2017, following alleged infractions during the “pay to play” scandal that was uncovered by the FBI.

The straw that broke the camel’s back for the aforementioned Pitino, athletic director Tom Jurich and assistant basketball coaches Jordan Fair and Kenny Johnson was when the FBI unsealed the indictments in the case, which led to Louisville signee Brian Bowen immediately being suspended by the school. According to the indictment, several adidas executives allegedly funneled money to Bowen’s family for him to join the Cardinals.

After Pitino was replaced by Chris Mack and Louisville attempted to rebuild their brand, the latter was hit with some violations as well, including using graduate assistants for on-court activities and “producing and showing, playing or providing personalized recruiting videos and recruiting aids to basketball prospects containing the recruits’ names, pictures and/or likenesses,” per the Louisville Courier Journal.

Unceremoniously let go by the Cardinals, Pitino has had one of the more interesting journeys of any coach in the nation, leading Panathinaikos B.C. in Greece and now the current head coach of the Iona Gaels. As for Mack, he’s still waiting for his next gig after being canned in January of 2022.