By Marcus R. Fuller
St. Paul Pioneer Press
CHICAGO - Gophers men’s basketball coach Richard Pitino was shocked when he heard about the allegations that a former staff member in his father’s University of Louisville program, where he worked as an assistant, had paid for an escort service to entertain players.
Pitino said his father, Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino, didn’t not know anything about the situation.
“The truth will come out eventually,” Pitino said. “I don’t really know. Everybody is kind of guessing right now. They’re all allegations. I think the biggest thing that I know for a fact is my dad knew nothing about any of that. Even the thought that he would it just makes no sense.”
Rick Pitino had to answer questions recently about former Louisville director of basketball operations Andre McGhee allegedly paying $10,000 over a four-year span for dancers to strip and have sex with recruits and players, according to Katrina Powell’s book, “Breaking Cardinal Rules: Basketball and the Escort Queen.”
Powell, who was in charge of the dancers, published the book on Oct. 2, forcing the NCAA to investigate her claims.
The book stated that the escort incidents occurred from 2010-14.
Richard Pitino, who was a Louisville assistant from 2007-09 and 2011-12, said he hasn’t been interviewed by the NCAA about the time he worked for his father.
“I know what he stands for when it comes to running a basketball program,” he said. “He holds everybody accountable, players and coaches, to do the right thing. So hopefully when the truth does come out it’ll be good. I told him: ‘Put your head on a pillow at night knowing you did nothing wrong.’ I know that to be a fact.”
McGhee, who works as an assistant at University of Missouri-Kansas City, was put on administrative leave.
The Gophers play UMKC on Nov. 13 in their regular-season opener at Williams Arena.
Pitino said the game was scheduled because of his relationship with Kangaroos coach Kareem Richardson, who was a Louisville assistant coach in 2012-13.
The Pioneer Press is a media partner with the Forum News Service
