The University of Louisville men’s basketball program is grappling with the fallout from explosive allegations made public over the weekend.
In a new book entitled "Breaking Cardinal Rules: Basketball and the Escort Queen," co-author Katina Powell alleges that during a four-year period, she provided strippers and escorts to entertain and have sex with Cardinal players, recruits and others.
Powell says the services were arranged and paid for by former U of L director of basketball operations Andre McGee and that many of the parties took place in the U of L players’ dorm.
Athletic Director Tom Jurich announced Friday night that the school is conducting an internal investigation and has notified the NCAA of the allegations. And coach Rick Pitino said he was heartbroken over the allegations.
I spoke with WDRB sports columnist Eric Crawford about the claims, which have rocked one of the country’s most prestigious basketball programs.
"To me, there's only one thing that matters, and that's whether these alleged text messages from Andre McGee to Katina Powell ... are authentic or not," Crawford says. "Because those text messages spell out agreements from McGee to her to come meet with players, and they talk about price and tickets and everything else. If those are authentic, then something happened — whether or not it was the full extent she said or not, I don't know."
Listen to the full interview:
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