The Louisville basketball "escort scandal" continues to escalate as more names are being dragged, and Rick Pitino may not be able to survive.
At this point, some quarters are calling the situation "unfixable" and it has also been suggested that head coach Rick Pitino should resign or be dismissed. For one thing, it seemed like the institution is throwing him under the bus as USA Today pointed out.
"It seems Louisville President James Ramsey has already figured that out. In an Oct. 8 statement, he pledged to get to the bottom of the embarrassing allegations while praising athletic director Tom Jurich. Nowhere did he mention Pitino, his Hall of Fame coach."
The article points out that Ramsey has good reason to oust Pitino because the scandal constitutes violation of his contract.
"Pitino's contract, which runs through 2026, contains language requiring him to 'diligently supervise compliance of assistant coaches and any other employees for which (Pitino) is administratively responsible.' It also requires him to 'demonstrate acute sensitivity to and support of the core values of the academic institution.' A staffer facilitating sex parties on campus wouldn't seem to square with either of those objectives."
Pitino is calling out Andre McGee, Cardinals director of basketball operations to "tell the truth" and validate his claim that he did not have knowledge of the incident in a conversation with ESPN.
"I don't know if any of this is true or not," Pitino told ESPN via phone. "There's only one person who knows the truth, and he needs to come out and tell the truth to his teammates, to the University of Louisville, to his fans and to his coaches that have taught him to do the right thing for years and allowed him to be part of something special here.
He reiterated: "He's the only one with any answers. Whether it's true or not, I don't know. Everything else is absurd. I don't care about the legal issues. If he's done something wrong, he has to own up to it and do his penance."