Rick Pitino allegedly directed payments to players according to unsealed FBI documents

New unsealed documents regarding the investigation into college basketball bribery schemes reveal a narrative of the events which are very different in comparison to what former Louisville head coach Rick Pitino has stated.

According to Rick Pitino, he did not even have knowledge of, much less participate in, the infamous college basketball bribery scheme that led to the dismissal from his job as the head coach of the men’s basketball team at Louisville. Newly unsealed documents from the FBI’s investigation, however, reveal quite a different account.

There are two things that are important for people following this story to remember. First, even if these allegations are true, Pitino hasn’t done anything that amounts to a violation of Kentucky or United States laws. There is nothing illegal about acting as a facilitator for parties who are willingly conducting a financial transaction. Pitino would simply be in violation of NCAA by-laws that ban monetary gifts to recruits coordinated by member institutions.

Secondly, these allegations are based on the testimony of Christian Dawkins, a sports management executive who has been named as one of the defendants in the FBI’s case. In a court of law, his testimony could fall quite short of a “smoking gun” to prove that Pitino participated in the payments to Louisville recruits.

With those things understood, the language of the indictment is quite clear that the FBI believes Pitino not only knew of but directed payments from Adidas to Louisville recruits.

While Pitino to this point is not facing any criminal charges, the matter of his dismissal from his job will be a point of contention in a civil court unless Adidas and he can agree to a settlement. In that regard, the question of whether or not Pitino was complicit in this activity has great importance.

Pitino will likely continue to deny he either had knowledge of or played a part in the payments, as he did in an October interview with Jay Bilas. In order to prevail in the case, it would be huge if Adidas was able to substantiate Dawkins’ testimony.

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The unsealing of these documents don’t really reveal anything earth-shattering, but they do specify exactly what role Pitino played in the scandal in the eyes of the FBI. How that will affect Pitino’s future remains to be seen.