“We’re going to get to the bottom of this being totally transparent”, head coach Rick Pitino said in an interview with 93.9 The Ville on Tuesday.
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The statement comes a day after Commonwealth’s Attorney Thomas Wine announced his office was working with LMPD’s Crimes Against Children Unit regarding the possible criminal violations revealed in Katina Powell’s book, “Breaking Cardinal Rules: Basketball and the Escort Queen”.
Pitino again reiterated that he had no prior knowledge of any of Powell’s claims, saying he first heard of her allegations and the impending book about a month ago. But the coach said he talked to other assistants about the allegations and all of them denied knowing of the activities outlined in Powell’s book.
“I wish one person would have come to me to tell me that something like this was going on”, Pitino said.
Upon hearing of the allegations, Pitino said he did a few investigating on his own before being told by the school’s compliance department not to talk to players. It alleges a UofL men’s basketball staff member supplied prostitutes for players and recruits.
Additionally, Andy Wolfson of the Courier-Journal reports that, if the allegations in the book are proven to have merit, both Powell and Andre McGee could face a criminal probe.
“I do not have any respond to how it is at all”. “I know I’m telling the truth”, Pitino said. “Not two hours later, two seconds later'”.
“We’ve got to find the solutions to what’s true and not true”, Pitino said.
The Hall of Fame coach spoke at length about his sadness at the book’s persistent mention of Billy Minardi Hall, the dormitory named after his brother-in-law and close friend who was killed in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
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Powell, 43, also said McGee offered recruits alcohol at those parties. “I cried myself to sleep”, Pitino said.
