Just a couple of months after his deal with Iona, coach Rick Pitino is under intense scrutiny from the NCAA since findings of the scandal investigation dating back to his tenure at Louisville came to light, according to CBS.
On Monday, the NCAA released its long-anticipated notice of allegations related to Pitino and the violations he committed while leading the Cardinals program. NCAA’s allegations include a Level I violation against the university for improper recruiting benefits. According to the reports, Pitino was offering money to the family of the enrollee to join the basketball program he was running. Pitino is also accused of three Level II violations, one of which tags him with failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance.
In its recent findings, the NCAA enforcement staff blames Pitino for compromising “the integrity of the NCAA Collegiate Model,” which falls under the category of a head coach responsibility violation. As part of its discovery, the NCAA alleges that Pitino knew that such recruiting practices were taking place “involving former Adidas rep Jim Gatto, who was helping Pitino recruit a player,” and did not report it to the recruitment staff.
Now, Rick Pitino is facing three possible degrees of punishment for these allegations: “aggravated,” “standard,” or “mitigated.” Per the report, “the punishment for a Level II mitigation violation could result in a suspension of up to 10% of the season; the punishment for a Level II standard violation could result in a suspension of up to 30% of the season; for an aggravated violation at Level II, it carries a suspension of up to 50% of the season.”
Even though Pitino has maintained his innocence, he is currently facing significant punishment. That means there is a serious possibility that the Hall of Famer will miss up to half of the upcoming NCAA season with Iona because of past allegations.
Pitino and Iona College responded on Monday afternoon with their statements:
