NCAA Charges Louisville Basketball Program with Four Top-Level Violations

Last fall, an investigation into the Louisville basketball program began as a result of the publication of a book by Louisville madam Katina Powell.

Breaking Cardinal Rules: Basketball and the Escort Queen revealed that strippers and escorts had been paid to entertain recruits and players inside a dormitory on the U of L campus.

Today, we're learning of four Level One violations with which the Cardinal hoops program has been charged.

In the Notice of Allegations released Thursday, the NCAA alleges that former basketball staff member Andre McGee "arranged for and/or provided impermissible inducements, offers and/or extra benefits in the form of adult entertainment, sex acts and/or cash.”

The NCAA says these incidents took place between December 2010 and April 2014.

McGree incurred two Level One charges.

Yahoo! Sports' Pat Forde also reports that Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino's charge stemmed from his "failure to frequently spot-check the program to uncover potential or existing compliance problems, including actively looking for and evaluating red flags, asking pointed questions and regularly soliciting honest feedback to determine if monitoring systems were functioning properly regarding McGee’s activities and interactions with then men’s basketball prospective and current student-athletes visiting and attending the institution.”

The fourth violation involves former assistant Brandon Williams, who helped with on-campus recruiting.

The NCAA alleges that Williams "violated the principles of ethical conduct when he refused to furnish information relevant to an investigation of possible violations of NCAA legislation. Specifically, Williams refused to provide telephone records after the institution and NCAA enforcement staff requested him to do so during the institution and enforcement staff’s investigation of NCAA violations.”

The NCAA issued no charges against the university itself, nor did it allege that Pitino had any knowledge of anything that happened.

The University of Louisville now has 90 days to respond to these allegations, after which the NCAA will have 60 days give its reply to that response.

The Cardinals self-imposed a post-season ban after the investigation began last year and finished 2015-2016 at 23-8 and 12-6 in the ACC.