A sex scandal is enveloping the Louisville basketball program, while head coach Rick Pitino is claiming he had no knowledge of it. A former escort named Katina Powell says she and former assistant coach Andre McGee organized dorm parties for recruits and players involving strippers and “side deals,” which is code for sex.
Several Louisville recruits have confirmed the parties happened to ESPN’s Outside The Lines, and Powell told ESPN that Pitino did know about them.
Rick Pitino Denies Any Knowledge Of Sex Parties On Campus
"I said, 'Does Pitino know about this?' And he said, 'He's Rick. He knows about everything.'" Powell said McGee was feeling like his job was on the line and that he needed to attract higher-profile recruits. Powell also claims she has detailed records and phone call logs "because I knew that this day would come, and I knew that one day they would say, 'She's lying.'"
Powell estimates that about three quarters of the girls who participated in her dorm parties from 2010 to 2014 had sex with recruits or players, including former champions Russ Smith, who now plays for the Grizzlies, and Montrezl Harrell, who is on the Rockets. One of Powell’s daughters, Rod Ni Powell, claimed she was paid $100 to have sex with Harrell. The Rockets reserve big man denies the accusation.
"I don't know anything about it," Harrell said. "I didn't too much stay at the dorm. I stayed off campus. I had a girlfriend off campus. ... It was pretty shocking that took place, if it did. I'm right there with Coach [Pitino], as shocked as he is."
Former player Terry Rozier is another who is named as a player who had sex with a dancer. He defended Pitino, and insisted he did not know about these parties.
"I don't want to talk about it. ... I was already committed before I took my visit. ... I will say, though, Coach P [Pitino], as far as the dorm situations and visits, he'd go out to eat with the recruits and their parents. As far as after that, he wouldn't know. ... I can say his nose is clean."
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