Louisville Hoops, Head Coach in More Hot Water
The first college basketball game I ever saw was at Freedom Hall. It was in February of 1972 and I was six years old. The University of Louisville stomped the Drake Bulldogs that evening and I was having a blast.
Those were heady times under former coach and Hall of Famer Denny Crum. I'd imagine Cardinal fans would love to see a return to those halcyon days instead of the headlines they HAVE been reading over the last few months.
Following the dismissal of former assistant coach Dino Gaudio and his subsequent arrest and indictment on extortion charges, head coach Chris Mack was suspended for six games during the upcoming 2021-2022 season.
Well now the waters have gotten even deeper for Mack, an outstanding coach whose incredibly successful run at Xavier made him the obvious choice to take up the reins at Louisville just a few miles down the road.
A legalese-laden Notice of Allegations against the Cardinals' program has been amended by the NCAA and now includes additional, more damning charges against Louisville and Coach Mack who is accused of "not promoting an atmosphere of compliance."
Allegations against the university itself include, among other things, a charge of impermissible activities conducted by noncoaching staff members, managers, and graduate assistants.
ESPN lists all of the charges and indicates that the university will not respond until after it has reviewed all of the allegations handed down by the NCAA.
You know, as a fan who splits his loyalties between Western Kentucky University, UK, and Louisville, I hate seeing anything like this happen to any of my teams. I look forward to the day when Louisville and its fan base can anticipate a season without worrying about a potential cloud of scandal getting ready to rain on the Cardinal parade.