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Louisville Hit with Four Level One Violations in Stripper Scandal

The school accepts all the allegations except those against head coach Rick Pitino.
Michael Shroyer-USA TODAY Sports

More than a year ago, the University of Louisville was rocked by a scandal involving recruits being enticed to attend the school by strippers and sex at wild parties in a campus dorm. The allegations came from a book by Katina Powell, the escort who arranged the parties, along with a former graduate assistant Andre McGee. Powell claimed that between 2010 and 2014 she threw nearly two dozen parties with strippers in the dorm and was paid $10,000 for each party. McGee also allegedly arranged "side deals" for sex between the players and the strippers. On Thursday, the NCAA released its Notice of Allegations following a lengthy investigation. The NCAA found four Level One violations—the most serious possible.

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McGee received two Level One violations for his role in the scandal, head coach Rick Pitino was assessed one violation for his failure to "adequately monitor" McGee, and another former assistant, Brandon Williams was hit with the final violation for failure to cooperate with the investigation.

The meat of the allegations are focused on McGee's conduct, and the NCAA went so far as to put a dollar amount on the "impermissible benefits" of "adult entertainment" and "sex acts."

In the Notice of Allegations that was made public by Louisville Thursday, the NCAA alleges that McGee "arranged for and/or provided impermissible inducements, offers and/or extra benefits in the form of adult entertainment, sex acts and/or cash" to at least 17 recruits or current players, two AAU coaches and one friend of a recruit. The NCAA says the value of the impermissible benefits, which occurred between December 2010 and April 2014, was "at least $5,400." The names of the involved recruits, players and AAU coaches in the report have been redacted by Louisville.

Pitino was accused of not "frequently spot-check[ing]" his program to see what McGee was up to and will be subject to a show-cause ruling to determine whether or not he will be suspended. The school is contesting the violation against Pitino—and made sure to note what the school has not been charged with: lack of institutional control—but otherwise has accepted the Notice.

Last year, Louisville announced several self-imposed sanctions, including a postseason ban months before the start of the NCAA tournament, as well as the forfeiture of two scholarships, one for the 2017-2018 year, and one for 2018-2019. If the NCAA deems the self-imposed sanctions are not enough, further punishment could be forthcoming.