The University of Louisville is being investigated over claims made by a self-confessed madame who says she was hired by a staffer to provide escorts for basketball recruits and athletes.
Katina Powell made the claims in her new book, Breaking Cardinal Rules: Basketball and the Escort Queen, which was co-written by journalist Dick Cady. The book reveals that Powell was hired by Andre McGee, a graduate assistant who worked under coach Rick Pitino and was promoted to director of basketball operations before leaving the school in 2014.
Powell claims she was paid $10,000 by McGee to supply girls, including her three daughters, to sleep with and dance for the student athletes over a four-year period. McGee has since been put on leave as of Friday from his assistant coaching position at Missouri-Kansas City amid the claims.
Yahoo Sports posted an excerpt from the book, which read, "At the peak of the dormitory and off-campus entertainment more than $10,000 cash changed hands to Katina for supplying the women. This does not include the hundreds of one dollar bills thrown at the dancers at each party by McGee, the recruits and players. Nor does it include the money paid to the women who had sex with the recruits afterward."
Coach Rick Pitino spoke at a press conference on Friday, and when addressing the claims he said, "It really, really has gotten to me." The famed coach also revealed that he spoke to several staffers that were employed on the dates in question, including McGee, whom "at no time, did he own up to what's being printed."
Source: Yahoo Sports /IBJ
