Louisville Sex Party Sanctions May Wipe Out 2013 National Title

The NCAA announced the sanctions levied against the Louisville basketball program as a result of recruitment enticement that involved strippers and sex parties at campus dorms, and they are quite severe. Louisville has been handed a four-year probation, effective today. Coach Rick Pitino has been suspended for five conference games, and the school confirmed that its 2013 national title is in jeopardy. This is on top of penalties the university levied on itself already, including a self-imposed ban for the 2016 postseason, a season during which the Cardinals were a top-25 program.

The sanctions stem from parties thrown between 2010 and 2014 by then graduate assistant Andre McGee, who paid an escort, Katina Powell, to bring strippers to dorms while recruits were visiting. Powell claims she was involved in nearly two dozen parties, at $10,000 per party, and McGee arranged "side deals" for sex between the strippers and recruits.

The NCAA held that these parties were impermissible benefits and that Pitino failed to properly monitor the program. As a result, the school will have to vacate all wins in which ineligible players participated between December 2010 and July 2014. The NCAA did not specifically state that the 2013 national championship and 2012 Final Four appearance were included, but the school has since confirmed that they are.

The school also said it will be appealing the sanctions; Pitino was particularly incensed, saying he "lost a lot of faith in the NCAA with what they just did." If the appeal is denied, however, there will be no official champion for the 2013 season. Louisville would become the first program ever to have a national title wiped out.