Rick Pitino Responds to Recruiting Allegations Made by Former Adidas Exec Merl Code

Iona men’s basketball head coach Rick Pitino denied any involvement in allegations levied by former Adidas executive Merl Code, who claims that the 69-year-old signed off on a $100,000 payment in 2017 to the father of 5-star recruit Brian Bowen when he led Louisville’s program.

Code reiterated those allegations in his upcoming book, “Black Market: An Insider’s Journey Into the High-Stakes World of College Basketball.”

Those claims are part of the FBI’s investigation into a wide-ranging college basketball corruption scandal primarily involving bribes for players to suit up for various schools.

As relayed by Matthew McGavic of Louisville Report, the NCAA’s notice of allegations against Louisville states that “Code and fellow Adidas executive Jim Gatto arranged a $100,000 payment in the summer of 2017 to Bowen’s father through agent Christian Dawkins in exchange for Bowen II to commit to Louisville.”

Code claims that Pitino “signed off” on the transaction.

“The gist of the prosecution was that, as it related to me, my actions made Brian Bowen ineligible, thus defrauding the University of Louisville,” Code said. “As a consultant with Adidas, I did not act on my own, nor could I have done so. I simply ran the proposition by my bosses, who did the same after consulting with Rick Pitino, and the answer that came back from up high was, ‘Rick wants our help. Get it done.'”

Pitino has denied the allegations numerous times, including once in an interview with ESPN’s Jay Bilas in October 2017. He said that he passed a lie detector test when asked whether he knew of any payment to the Bowens.

The notice of allegations includes more claims than the one involving the Bowens. ESPN’s Mark Schlabach and Jeff Borzello provided an overview in May 2020:

“Louisville received a notice of allegations from the NCAA on Monday, including one Level I allegation involving improper recruiting offers for former signee Brian Bowen II and the coach of another prospect and three Level II allegations, including one against former basketball coach Rick Pitino.

“Louisville also is accused of failing to adequately monitor the recruitment of an incoming, high-profile student-athlete.

“The NCAA alleges that Pitino, who recently was hired at Iona, did not satisfy his head coach responsibility when he failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance. Former assistant coaches Kenny Johnson and Jordan Fair are accused of providing impermissible benefits and transportation and having impermissible contact with a recruit.”

The University of Louisville Athletic Association board fired Pitino for cause in October 2017 after news of the scandal broke. Pitino filed a breach of contract lawsuit in response. Two years later, he and Louisville settled. His departure from the school was officially changed from a firing to a resignation.

Pitino’s lengthy coaching resume includes the 1996 and 2013 national championships and seven Final Four appearances. A 2013 inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame, he is in his second season at the New Rochelle, New York, school. Iona (21-5) made the NCAA tournament last year and currently leads the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference with a 13-2 record this season.