Jeff Goodman breaks down how the NCAA's decision to have Louisville vacate multiple accomplishments, including its 2013 men's basketball title, will affect the program. (1:40)

The Louisville men's basketball program will have to vacate its 2013 national championship and 2012 Final Four appearance after the NCAA denied its appeal of what the school described as "Draconian penalties" levied against the team last year.

The NCAA announced its ruling Tuesday. Louisville interim president Greg Postel said in a statement Tuesday that the school still disagrees with the NCAA's ruling.

"I cannot say this strongly enough: We believe the NCAA is simply wrong," Postel said. "We disagree with the NCAA ruling for reasons we clearly stated in our appeal. And we made a strong case -- based on NCAA precedent -- that supported our argument."

The Cardinals will become the first NCAA Division I men's basketball program to vacate a national title during the Final Four era, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

"We'll remove the official recognition, but it won't remove it from our hearts and minds," Louisville interim athletics director Vince Tyra said during a news conference held shortly after the NCAA's announcement. "It brings closure to one of these situations. It's not going to bring closure to the successes and memories our teams had. I'm sad for our players and certainly our staff members."

The NCAA penalties are the result of an investigation that included allegations that a former Louisville staff member arranged for striptease dances and sex acts for players and recruits during parties at an on-campus dormitory from 2011 to 2015.

"This dark cloud has hung over our heads for more than two years, and it has had a negative impact on our athletics program, our fans and the entire university family," Postel said in his statement. "While we disagree with the NCAA's decision, it is time for the university to close this chapter and move forward with a stronger commitment to excellence on and off the court."

Former Louisville coach Rick Pitino has denied knowledge of the parties.

The NCAA penalties, which were announced on June 15, included the vacation of basketball records in which ineligible student-athletes competed from 2011 to 2015. The school had previously said the penalties would affect 123 victories, including 15 NCAA Tournament wins and the 2013 national title.

The Cardinals also were placed on NCAA probation for four years, which includes scholarship reductions and recruiting restrictions, a $5,000 fine and the forfeiture of any money received through conference revenue sharing from the 2012-15 NCAA tournaments. Postel said Tuesday that he expects the sum to be less than $1 million, though there were some reports that the sum could be as much as $15 million.

The Cardinals had already self-imposed a postseason ban for the 2015-16 season.

At the time the penalties were announced, Postel said in a statement that the NCAA penalties "went beyond what we consider to be fair and reasonable."

Louisville sent a 68-page appeal to the NCAA on Aug. 11, in which it said college sports' governing body imposed "Draconian" penalties and ignored the school's self-imposed punishment.

The NCAA investigation centered around allegations made by Katina Powell, a self-described former escort, who alleged in a book, "Breaking Cardinal Rules: Basketball and the Escort Queen," that former Louisville staffer Andre McGee paid her $10,000 for 22 shows at the Cardinals' dormitory from 2010 to 2014.

Pitino, who held the distinction of being the only coach to guide two Division I men's programs to national titles (Kentucky in 1996 and Louisville in 2013), denied knowledge of what McGee was doing. But the NCAA committee on infractions ruled that Pitino violated NCAA head-coach responsibility rules by failing to monitor McGee's activities.

Pitino, who was fired as Louisville's coach on Oct. 16, faced a five-game suspension at the start of ACC play this season.

"For 35-some-odd years I've had a lot of faith in the NCAA and have reacted that way accordingly as a head basketball coach in the belief of their rules," Pitino said during a news conference on June 15. "Not only is it unjust ... over-the-top severe, but personally I've lost a lot of faith in the NCAA that I've had over the last 35 years with what they just did.

"I'm gonna put all my faith in the appeals committee that they will do the right thing. ... We believe we will win the appeal because it is right, it is just. What went on [the NCAA's ruling] was unjust, inconceivable."

McGee, who never talked to NCAA investigators, was given a 10-year show cause.

The escort scandal was only the beginning of Louisville's off-court troubles. On Sept. 26, the FBI arrested 10 men, including four assistant coaches from across the country, after a three-year investigation into college basketball corruption.

The allegations in the federal complaint included an accusation that Adidas executives Jim Gatto and Merl Code conspired with former sports agent Christian Dawkins and financial planner Munish Sood to funnel $100,000 to the father of Louisville recruit Brian Bowen to ensure that his son signed with the Cardinals.

The FBI said telephone records show Gatto spoke directly with an unnamed Louisville coach multiple times in the days before Bowen committed to play for the Cardinals. Pitino was not named in the federal complaint.

Pitino was placed on administrative leave on Sept. 27 and then fired with "just cause" on Oct. 16. Athletics director Tom Jurich was fired with cause two days later. Associate head coach Kenny Johnson was also placed on administrative leave and later fired as a result of the FBI investigation.

In a wide-ranging interview with ESPN's Jay Bilas on Oct. 19, Pitino said he takes "full responsibility" for any staff member he hires but also emphasized that he thoroughly vetted his assistant coaches. On multiple occasions during the interview, Pitino, 65, referred to a lie detector test, which he volunteered to take as a way to again say he was not aware that Bowen's father received payments of $100,000, as alleged.

Adidas, which sponsored the Cardinals, promptly terminated its personal services agreement with Pitino. The Louisville Courier-Journal reported last year that Pitino received 98 percent of the $39 million the Cardinals were owed from the sponsorship deal with Adidas.

Pitino filed a federal lawsuit against Adidas in October, alleging the company deliberately damaged his reputation by ending their agreement. Pitino also sued the University of Louisville Athletics Association for breach of contract in federal court on Nov. 30. His lawyers claimed the school wrongfully suspended and then fired him, and they argued that he is owed $38.7 million for the remainder of his contract through 2026.

The university filed a countersuit against Pitino on Dec. 13 for "wrongful conduct" and argued that he is financially responsible for damages caused by the recent scandals. The federal complaint requests that Pitino repay monetary losses that might arise from vacated games and bonuses.

Bowen, a five-star recruit from Saginaw, Michigan, was indefinitely suspended by Louisville officials in September and never played in a game for the Cardinals. He has denied knowledge of the pay-for-play scheme and transferred to South Carolina on Jan. 10.</s>Louisville will lose its national championship banner for men’s basketball in 2013.

The NCAA’s Infractions Appeals Committee announced on Tuesday that it upheld the Committee on Infractions’ ruling that Louisville must vacate 123 wins under former coach Rick Pitino, including the 2013 title and the 2012 Final Four appearance, as punishment in the school’s escort case.

It is the first time in modern Division I men’s basketball history that a championship was vacated.

The decision, released via the NCAA’s website, was the last step in an infractions process that lasted more than two years after Katina Powell’s bombshell book prompted an NCAA investigation in October 2015.

FIVE THINGS: The impact of Louisville is losing its 2013 NCAA title

TIMELINE: The Louisville basketball investigation from 2015 to 2018

Louisville self-imposed a postseason ban for the 2016 ACC and NCAA tournaments, and later added self-imposed recruiting sanctions after confirming Powell’s allegations that former Cards basketball staffer Andre McGee paid women thousands of dollars and gave them game tickets in exchange for them dancing for and having sex with players and recruits.

In June 2017, two months after a hearing in Cincinnati, the Committee on Infractions added more penalties to Louisville’s case, ordering the school to repay shared NCAA tournament revenue from 2012-15 and any future payments related to those appearances. They also said Louisville must vacate as many as 123 wins, including the 2013 title and the 2012 Final Four appearance.

“The COI has not previously dealt with a case like this,” the panel said in the original ruling. “… The violations were serious, intentional, numerous and occurred over multiple years.”

Louisville appealed those two punishments, saying they were excessive and “draconian.” The school accepted four years of probation for the school’s men’s hoops program, plus scholarship reductions and the lesser financial penalties.

Pitino was also suspended for five conference games. He originally appealed the suspension but did not continue pursuing the appeal after he was fired by the school in October in the wake of the FBI investigation into college basketball recruiting ensnaring Louisville.

IMAGES FROM THE WEEK IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL</s>The University of Louisville men's basketball team has been stripped of its 2013 national title over a sex scandal that included using strippers and prostitutes to recruit players.

The move marks the first time that the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which regulates the big business of university sports in the United States, has forced a Division I basketball team to relinquish a championship.

The penalty is the result of an NCAA probe that found that a former Louisville assistant coach had organized "sex parties" for recruits, rendering them ineligible.

Louisville appealed but the NCAA's Infractions Appeals Committee on Tuesday upheld a ruling that the men's basketball team, one of the most storied squads in the country, must give up 123 victories between 2011 and 2015.

This includes the 2013 championship and an appearance the previous year in the tournament semi-finals known as the "Final Four."

Greg Postel, the university's interim president, said the Kentucky school disagreed with the decision but it was time to turn the page.

"I cannot say this strongly enough: We believe the NCAA is simply wrong," Postel said in a statement.

"From Day One, the university has admitted that the actions of the former operations director and any others involved under previous leadership were offensive and inexcusable," Postel said.

"While we disagree with the NCAA's decision, it is time for the university to close this chapter and move forward with a stronger commitment to excellence on and off the court," he said.

Louisville coach Rick Pitino, who has denied any knowledge of the "sex parties," was fired in October in connection with a separate recruitment scandal.</s>LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The NCAA ruled Tuesday that the Louisville men’s basketball program will have to vacate its 2013 national championship and 2012 Final Four appearance.

The decision came after an investigation into allegations that a former Louisville staff member arranged for strippers to entertain players and recruits at an on-campus dormitory from 2011 to 2015.

“I cannot say this strongly enough: We believe the NCAA is simply wrong,” Louisville interim president Greg Postel said in a comment. “We disagree with the NCAA ruling for reasons we clearly stated in our appeal. And we made a strong case — based on NCAA precedent — that supported our argument.”

The Cardinals are the first NCAA Division I men’s basketball program to vacation a national title during the Final Four era.

Former head coach Rick Pitino was placed on unpaid administrative leave on Sept. 27 and officially fired on Oct. 16.</s>LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville must vacate its 2013 men's basketball title following an NCAA appeals panel's decision to uphold sanctions against the men's program in the sex scandal case.

The Cardinals will have to vacate 123 victories including the championship, and return some $600,000 in conference revenue from the 2012-15 NCAA Tournaments.

The decision announced on Tuesday by the governing body's Infraction Appeals Committee ruled that the NCAA has the authority to take away championships for what it considers major rule violations. It also refuted Louisville's position that the NCAA exceeded its boundaries and didn't follow its own precedent established in other cases and said in an eight-page decision that ended, "the penalties are upheld."

"I cannot say this strongly enough: We believe the NCAA is simply wrong," Louisville interim President Dr. Greg Postel said in a statement. "We disagree with the NCAA ruling for reasons we clearly stated in our appeal. And we made a strong case — based on NCAA precedent — that supported our argument."

Louisville now must forfeit its third NCAA title, victories and income from 2012-15, part of the time frame during which the violations occurred. The decision culminates the governing body's investigation that followed allegations in a 2015 book by escort Katina Powell that former Cardinals basketball staffer Andre McGee hired her and other dancers to strip and have sex with recruits.

"From Day 1, the university has admitted that the actions of the former operations director and any others involved under previous leadership were offensive and inexcusable," Postel said in the statement. "That is why we apologized immediately, co-operated fully with the NCAA, self-imposed penalties that were appropriate to the offences and made significant changes to ensure incidents like this never happen again.

"Under the NCAA's own rules, this co-operation should have been a factor in the severity of the punishment. Instead, it was ignored."

The school's own investigation into the allegation revealed that violations occurred and resulted in a self-imposed post-season ban nearly two years ago. Louisville later imposed scholarship and recruiting restrictions in an effort to mitigate further NCAA discipline.

While the NCAA accepted Louisville's actions, it went further with harsher sanctions last June that included:
•A five-game suspension of former Cardinals coach Rick Pitino, who was fired in October following Louisville's acknowledgement that it was being investigated in a federal bribery probe of college basketball. That measure included a show-cause penalty for Pitino, whom the NCAA criticized for failing to monitor McGee and ignoring multiple red flags;</s>The Louisville men's basketball team has been stripped of its 2013 national championship title as well as its 2012 Final Four appearance after the NCAA denied the school's appeal on Tuesday.

The penalties, which were originally announced in June, stemmed from an investigation into allegations that a former Louisville staff member provided strippers and prostitutes to entertain players and recruits during on-campus dormitory parties between 2011 and 2015.

Louisville is the first Division I men's basketball program to vacate a national title during the Final Four era, according to ESPN.

The Cardinals will have to vacate 123 victories including the championship, and return some $600,000 in conference revenue from the 2012-15 NCAA Tournaments. However, according to ESPN analyst and Indianapolis radio show host Dan Dakich, the fine could be as much as $15 million.

The decision announced on Tuesday by the governing body's Infraction Appeals Committee ruled that the NCAA has the authority to take away championships for what it considers major rule violations. It also refuted Louisville's position that the NCAA exceeded its boundaries and didn't follow its own precedent established in other cases and said in an eight-page decision that ended, 'the penalties are upheld.'

University interim president Greg Postel said the the school emphatically disagrees with the NCAA's ruling, which he referred to as 'draconian' in a letter to the organization back in August.

'From Day One, the university has admitted that the actions of the former operations director and any others involved under previous leadership were offensive and inexcusable,' read Postel's statement on Tuesday. 'That is why we apologized immediately, cooperated fully with the NCAA, self-imposed penalties that were appropriate to the offenses and made significant changes to ensure incidents like this never happen again.

'Under the NCAA's own rules, this cooperation should have been a factor in the severity of the punishment,' Postel continued. 'Instead, it was ignored.'

According to the 2015 book 'Breaking Cardinal Rules: Basketball and the Escort Queen,' former Louisville player and then-director of basketball operations Andre McGee arranged and paid for strippers and prostitutes to dance and perform sex acts for 17 recruits and Cardinals players between 2011 and 2015.

In the book, self-described escort named Katrina Powell gave detailed accounts of striptease dances and acts of prostitution that she and McGee had arranged.

As a result of the NCAA investigation into to the matter, the university previously banned itself from the 2016 NCAA Tournament.

Despite the school's self-imposed sanctions, the NCAA still decided to suspend Cardinals head coach Rick Pitino for the first five conference games of the 2017-18 campaign. However, before the season began, the Hall of Famer was fired for cause in connection to another scandal – this one involving the alleged payments to recruits in exchange for their commitment to particular schools.

The NCAA also docked Louisville four scholarships over a four-year period.

Pitino was never charged or arrested in connection to the case, which has been investigated by the FBI and Department of Justice, but he allegedly had knowledge and directed payments to potential recruits, according to an indictment that unsealed on November 8.

'I cannot say this strongly enough: We believe the NCAA is simply wrong,' Postel said. 'We disagree with the NCAA ruling for reasons we clearly stated in our appeal. And we made a strong case -- based on NCAA precedent -- that supported our argument.'

The NCAA Division I Infractions Appeals Committee released its decision on Tuesday, detailing some of the governing body's reasoning in the matter.

'The COI has not previously dealt with a case like this,' read Decision No. 473. 'A team staff member arranged striptease dances and acts of prostitution for enrolled student-athletes and prospects who eventually enrolled at the institution. Some of the prospects were minors. By his actions, the former operations director rendered those student-athletes and prospects ineligible for competition. The violations were serious, intentional, numerous and occurred over multiple years.

'... [T]he institution shall vacate all regular season and conference tournament wins in which ineligible student-athletes competed from the time they became ineligible through the time they were reinstated as eligible for competition through either the student-athlete reinstatement process or through a grant of limited immunity.'

In his statement, Postel complained about the effect the investigation has had on the school and its athletic department.

'This dark cloud has hung over our heads for more than two years, and it has had a negative impact on our athletics program, our fans and the entire university family,' Postel said. 'While we disagree with the NCAA's decision, it is time for the university to close this chapter and move forward with a stronger commitment to excellence on and off the court.'

Postel, then-athletic director Tom Jurich and Pitino said last summer they planned to fight the sanctions. Pitino, who repeatedly denied knowing about the activities described in Powell's book, was particularly frustrated with his penalties.

The NCAA did not find him directly responsible, but ruled that violated head coach responsibility rules by failing to oversee McGee's activities.</s>LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville officials are not happy with the NCAA’s decision that mandates the school vacate its 2013 men’s basketball championship in the wake of an embarrassing sex scandal, and interim President Greg Postel did not hide his disappointment.

It’s the first time a Division I men’s basketball program has been stripped of a national title. While acknowledging the scandal was unacceptable, Postel believes the school’s cooperation with the NCAA should have counted for more than it did.

But Tuesday Louisville announced that an NCAA appeals panel had upheld sanctions against the men’s program. As a result, the Cardinals have to vacate not only the championship, but 122 other victories and return about $600,000 in conference revenue from the 2012-15 NCAA Tournaments.

“I cannot say this strongly enough: We believe the NCAA is simply wrong,” Postel said Tuesday. “We disagree with the NCAA ruling for reasons we clearly stated in our appeal. And we made a strong case — based on NCAA precedent – that supported our argument.”

Louisville may have presented a strong case, but the NCAA had its own convictions.

The decision by the governing body’s Infraction Appeals Committee ruled that the NCAA has the authority to take away championships for what it considers major rule violations. In the eight-page decision, the NCAA also refuted Louisville’s position that the governing body exceeded its boundaries and didn’t follow its own precedent established in other cases.

Louisville now must forfeit its third NCAA title, victories and income from 2011-15, part of the timeframe during which the violations occurred. The decision is the culmination of the NCAA’s investigation that followed allegations in a 2015 book by escort Katina Powell that former Cardinals basketball staffer Andre McGee hired her and other dancers to strip and have sex with recruits.

Former coach Rick Pitino repeatedly denied knowing about the activities described in Powell’s book, but the blemish on the program will never be forgotten — not after Tuesday’s sanctions.

Besides taking down the red-and-white banner that hung beside the American flag and two other title flags in the Cardinals’ downtown arena, Louisville must erase wins before and after that championship along with other records.

That process started almost immediately. Basketball spokesman Kenny Klein confirmed by Tuesday evening that both the 2013 title and 2012 Final Four banners were removed from the rafters at the KFC Yum! Center.

“From Day One, the university has admitted that the actions of the former operations director and any others involved under previous leadership were offensive and inexcusable,” Postel said in his statement. “That is why we apologized immediately, cooperated fully with the NCAA, self-imposed penalties that were appropriate to the offenses and made significant changes to ensure incidents like this never happen again.

“Under the NCAA’s own rules, this cooperation should have been a factor in the severity of the punishment. Instead, it was ignored.”

Interim athletic director Vince Tyra said the NCAA process was “unusual” compared to a federal organization such as OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration), where he said guidelines are more black-and-white.

“With the NCAA, there are bylaws which seem to be guidelines and then there’s great discretion on the guidelines,” Tyra said. “It’s very difficult to follow and set precedent. That was certainly an unusual experience.”

The school’s own investigation into the allegation revealed that violations occurred and resulted in a self-imposed postseason ban nearly two years ago. Louisville later imposed scholarship and recruiting restrictions in an effort to mitigate further NCAA discipline.

While the NCAA accepted Louisville’s actions, it went further with harsher sanctions last June that included:

— A five-game suspension of Pitino, who was fired in October following Louisville’s acknowledgement that it was being investigated in a federal bribery probe of college basketball. That measure included a show-cause penalty for Pitino, whom the NCAA criticized for failing to monitor McGee and ignoring multiple red flags;

— Four years’ probation, along with the vacation of those wins and appearances in the 2012 and 2013 Final Fours;

— Show-cause penalties for McGee, who is no longer coaching;

— Postel estimates the return of about $600,000 in NCAA Tournament revenue.

“This dark cloud has hung over our heads for more than two years, and it has had a negative impact on our athletics program, our fans and the entire university family,” Postel said. “While we disagree with the NCAA’s decision, it is time for the university to close this chapter and move forward with a stronger commitment to excellence on and off the court.”

Interim coach David Padgett said he talked to his team about the announcement and texted several former players from that title squad, reminding them of their achievement.

“This doesn’t change what you did. You won 16 games in a row, you went 35-5 and cut down the nets in Atlanta,” Padgett said he told former Cardinals. “You don’t need a banner to know you’re a national champion.”

The NCAA’s decision can’t erase what actually happened, but it does remove some of the tangible reminders at Louisville.

And with the ongoing corruption investigation, more changes could be looming on the horizon.</s>The Louisville men’s basketball program must vacate all its wins from 2011-15, including the 2013 national championship, the NCAA Infractions Appeals Committee determined on Tuesday.

Louisville must also pay back any money it received from appearing in the NCAA Tournament from 2012-15.

It is the first time in modern Division I NCAA men’s basketball history a program has had a championship vacated.

Bronx born Kevin Ware, who suffered a gruesome broken leg in the Elite Eight that season, doesn't sound ready to vacate anything.

"Still got this fat a-- ring which means my guys definitely won a chip, if I'm not mistaken of course," Ware tweeted after the NCAA's ruling was announced.

The ruling upholds the Committee of Infractions original decision in June 2017, which Louisville appealed and also marks the end of a two-plus year investigation that began in October 2015 when the program was accused by former escort Katina Powell that she and others were paid to strip and have sex with recruits and student-athletes.

The NCAA said in its announcement of the decision that “The panel found that a former Louisville director of basketball operations acted unethically when he committed serious violations by arranging striptease dances and sex acts for prospects, student-athletes and others, and did not cooperate with the investigation. The violations in the case resulted in some men’s basketball student-athletes competing while ineligible.”

Louisville interim President Greg Postel expressed his displeasure in the ruling and called the NCAA “wrong” in a statement he made on Tuesday.

“I cannot say this strongly enough: We believe the NCAA is simply wrong,” he said. “We disagree with the NCAA ruling for reasons we clearly stated in our appeal. And we made a strong case – based on NCAA precedent – that supported our argument.

Louisville self-imposed a ban for the 2016 ACC and NCAA Tournaments and recruiting sanctions after they confirmed Powell’s allegations that a Louisville staffer paid women thousands of dollars and gave them tickets to games in exchange for dances and sex for players and recruits.

Louisville hoped the self-imposed punishment would help it win its appeal.

The school had already accepted four years of probation and scholarship reductions, but argued in its appeal that vacating wins and paying back its NCAA Tournament share was excessive.

Former head coach Rick Pitino was also suspended for five conference games, which he appealed. That appeal was dropped when he was fired by the school in October after an FBI investigation into college basketball recruiting implicated Louisville.</s>LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Louisville must vacate its 2013 men's basketball title following an NCAA appeals panel's decision to uphold sanctions against the men's program in the sex scandal case.

 

The Cardinals will have to vacate 123 victories including the championship, and return millions in conference revenue from the 2012-15 NCAA Tournaments.

 

The decision announced on Tuesday by the governing body's Infraction Appeals Committee ruled that the NCAA has the authority to take away championships for what it considers major rule violations. It also refuted Louisville's position that the NCAA exceeded its boundaries and didn't follow its own precedent established in other cases and said in an eight-page decision that ended, "the penalties are upheld."

 

Louisville now must forfeit its third NCAA title, victories and income from 2010-14, when the violations occurred. The decision culminates the governing body's investigation that followed allegations in a 2015 book by escort Katina Powell that former Cardinals basketball staffer Andre McGee hired her and other dancers to strip and have sex with recruits.

 

___

 

More AP college basketball: http://collegebasketball.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP_Top25</s>LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville must vacate its 2013 men’s basketball title following an NCAA appeals panel’s decision to uphold sanctions against the men’s program in the sex scandal case.

The Cardinals will have to vacate 123 victories including the championship, and return some $600,000 in conference revenue from the 2012-15 NCAA Tournaments.

The decision announced on Tuesday by the governing body’s Infraction Appeals Committee ruled that the NCAA has the authority to take away championships for what it considers major rule violations. It also refuted Louisville’s position that the NCAA exceeded its boundaries and didn’t follow its own precedent established in other cases and said in an eight-page decision that ended, “the penalties are upheld.”

“I cannot say this strongly enough: We believe the NCAA is simply wrong,” Louisville interim President Dr. Greg Postel said in a statement. “We disagree with the NCAA ruling for reasons we clearly stated in our appeal. And we made a strong case – based on NCAA precedent – that supported our argument.”

Louisville now must forfeit its third NCAA title, victories and income from 2012-15, part of the timeframe during which the violations occurred. The decision culminates the governing body’s investigation that followed allegations in a 2015 book by escort Katina Powell that former Cardinals basketball staffer Andre McGee hired her and other dancers to strip and have sex with recruits.

“From Day One, the university has admitted that the actions of the former operations director and any others involved under previous leadership were offensive and inexcusable,” Postel said in the statement. “That is why we apologized immediately, co-operated fully with the NCAA, self-imposed penalties that were appropriate to the offences and made significant changes to ensure incidents like this never happen again.

“Under the NCAA’s own rules, this co-operation should have been a factor in the severity of the punishment. Instead, it was ignored.”

The school’s own investigation into the allegation revealed that violations occurred and resulted in a self-imposed post-season ban nearly two years ago. Louisville later imposed scholarship and recruiting restrictions in an effort to mitigate further NCAA discipline.

While the NCAA accepted Louisville’s actions, it went further with harsher sanctions last June that included:

— A five-game suspension of former Cardinals coach Rick Pitino, who was fired in October following Louisville’s acknowledgement that it was being investigated in a federal bribery probe of college basketball. That measure included a show-cause penalty for Pitino, whom the NCAA criticized for failing to monitor McGee and ignoring multiple red flags;

— Four years’ probation, along with the vacation of those wins and appearances in the 2012 and 2013 Final Fours;

— Show-cause penalties for McGee, who is no longer coaching;

— Postel estimated the return of up to $600,000 in NCAA Tournament revenue.

“This dark cloud has hung over our heads for more than two years, and it has had a negative impact on our athletics program, our fans and the entire university family,” Postel said. “While we disagree with the NCAA’s decision, it is time for the university to close this chapter and move forward with a stronger commitment to excellence on and off the court.”

Postel, then-athletic director Tom Jurich and Pitino said last summer they planned to fight the sanctions. Pitino, who repeatedly denied knowing about the activities described in Powell’s book, was particularly frustrated with his penalties.

A lot changed at Louisville in the months following the NCAA penalties. Pitino was placed on unpaid administrative leave and Jurich on paid administrative leave on Sept. 27 following the school’s involvement in the FBI probe that initially involved the arrests of 10 people.
In college basketball, the NCAA denies an appeal of sanctions imposed on the University of Louisville stemming from a sex scandal first publicized in 2015. The most significant sanction requires Louisville to vacate its 2013 national title, making the Cardinals the first Division I men's or women's basketball team ever forced to vacate a national title.