Adidas says in a court filing that former Louisville head coach Rick Pitino was “aware and supported” an alleged recruiting scheme to funnel money to recruits.
Here are details from WDRB:
Adidas has asked a federal judge to dismiss former University of Louisville men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino’s lawsuit against the apparel maker, arguing evidence suggests Pitino was “both aware and supported the scheme” to pay players.
Pitino sued Adidas in October and claimed he was damaged by the company’s “outrageous conduct in conspiring to funnel money to the family of a college basketball recruit.” The FBI is leading a federal investigation into college basketball recruiting that was made public in a criminal complaint in September.
But that criminal complaint suggests the alleged “fraudulent actions were directed at the University of Louisville,” not at Pitino, according to the Adidas response filed last Friday in a federal case in Louisville.
And none of the statements in the criminal complaint that “appear to implicate Pitino in the alleged conspiracy are said to have been made by employees of adidas,” according to the response.
