In June 2017, the NCAA Committee on Infractions panel released a report confirming that former director of basketball operations Andre McGee arranged for dancing or sex acts in an on-campus dormitory for three players, 15 recruits - at least seven of whom were underage - a friend of one prospect and two coaches not associated with the school. The report also cited then-head coach Rick Pitino for his failure to monitor the acts of his assistant, and the NCAA suspended Pitino for five games.<doc-sep>A group of former Louisville basketball players plans to file a lawsuit against the NCAA in response to the organization’s ruling which forced U of L to vacate a number of wins and titles, including the 2013 national championship. The story was originally reported by basketball writer Jeff Goodman, and confirmed to Card Chronicle by a source with knowledge of the situation who wished to remain anonymous. Former Louisville basketball players and their attorneys filing a lawsuit against the NCAA pertaining to its vacating of Louisville’s 2012 and 2013 men’s basketball seasons, including its 2013 championship. Luke Hancock among the players involved in the lawsuit. — Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) July 10, 2018 A group of Louisville fans recently filed a similar lawsuit against the NCAA. The NCAA responded by stating that the suit was frivolous and requested a judge to dismiss it. The University of Louisville, in this instance, agreed with the NCAA. I don’t know how likely it is that these players will have any success with this (my guess is that they won’t), but I still like it. If you have the financial means to voice your displeasure in a way that demands it being acknowledged by the body that you feel has treated you unfairly, then I’m all for going down that road even if it might not lead you to the destination you originally had in mind. Keep in mind that the lawsuit which ultimately resulted in Penn State football getting its wins back wasn’t filed by the school itself, but by two state officials. While the details in that case are obviously different from those we’re dealing with here, the main assertion by those lawmakers was that the NCAA acted outside of its jurisdiction and in an unprecedented manner because of the severity of the situation.<doc-sep>Photo : Andy Lyons ( Getty Images Louisville’s statement following the NCAA’s decision, in February, to go forward with vacating the Cardinals’ 2013 national title over the Andre McGee escort scandal said the university would “close this chapter and move forward with a stronger commitment to excellence on and off the court.” It behooved the university to drop it and move on, with a much scarier FBI investigation of college basketball recruiting underway, and so that’s what they did. Advertisement But Louisville accepting their new designation as the first school to ever vacate a national championship does not mean the players from the title-winning team have to accept the decision. Per an Associated Press report, five players from the 2013 title team, including captain Luke Hancock, have filed a lawsuit against the NCAA over its punishment of the program. The plaintiffs reportedly include Hancock, Tim Henderson, Stephan Van Treese, Mike Marra, and Minnesota Timberwolves big man Gorgui Dieng. The bringing of the lawsuit occasioned a press conference, and the press conference provided an opportunity for John Morgan, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, to tee off on the NCAA: “In the sports world, I don’t think there is any Goliath that exists like the NCAA. The NCAA is a giant, but the NCAA is a morally bankrupt organization that has taken advantage of economically disadvantaged young people throughout our country. “They answer to nobody but are bad for everybody.” The lawsuit reportedly “seeks declaration that [the NCAA] wrongfully vacated the plaintiffs’ wins, honors and awards,” without specifying any monetary damages. Hancock, in particular, wants his damn name cleared: “It’s been five years and I can’t tell you two days where I’ve gone without having someone come to me and ask me if I had strippers or prostitutes in the dorm,” he said. While Hancock says he wasn’t involved in the escort scandal, it’s important to note that t he problem here certainly isn’t that some teenage boys had sex, and it isn’t even that a Louisville basketball staffer made it happen. It’s that the NCAA enforces rules that prevent big money sports operations from functioning like normal businesses, recruiting candidates with competitive salaries and perks and benefits, like any other industry. The effect is that schools and boosters and agents and sponsors and high school programs and AAU grifters form this whole bizarre and illicit underground recruiting economy, centered around exploiting the valuable and marketable talents of young athletes. It’s weird and creepy for a grown man to hire escorts to have sex with teenage boys in order to convince them to play basketball for his program, but that kind of thing would go away instantly if Louisville had to compete like any other employer for the services of the most qualified candidates, where actual compensation is always the juiciest carrot . Hancock and his teammates are being punished not just for the bad acts of an adult entrenched inside the power structure, but also for an ugly reality of recruiting that flows directly and inevitably from the NCAA’s own cynical and ridiculous enforcement of “amateurism.” Pay the players what they’re worth. Then they can pay for their own damn escorts.<doc-sep>
Andy Lyons/Getty Images A group of former University of Louisville basketball players is reportedly filing a lawsuit against the NCAA for vacating the Cardinals' 2012 and 2013 seasons because of ineligible players. On Tuesday, college basketball insider Jeff Goodman reported Luke Hancock, who was named the Most Outstanding Player at the 2013 Final Four when the Cards won the later-vacated national title, is among the former student-athletes involved in the suit. In June 2017, the NCAA announced Louisville would be forced to vacate all wins that featured ineligible players from December 2010 through July 2014 after an investigation found former director of basketball operations Andre McGee "committed serious violations by arranging striptease dances and sex acts for prospects, student-athletes and others." Other penalties related to the case included a five-game ACC suspension for longtime head coach Rick Pitino for failure to monitor the program, scholarship reductions, recruiting restrictions, a $5,000 fine and being forced to repay revenue sharing from its NCAA tournament appearances over the timeframe. The NCAA Division I Infractions Appeals Committee upheld the decision in February. Pitino was fired by Louisville in October amid the FBI investigation into widespread corruption in college basketball focused on the sport's pay-to-play culture. Video Play Button Videos you might like The 65-year-old New York City native denied any knowledge of the recruiting scandal during an October interview with ESPN's Jay Bilas. He filed a lawsuit against the school for breach of contract. Louisville's tournament triumph in 2013 represented the Cardinals' third national championship. Only their 1980 and 1986 titles still remain on the books after the NCAA's ruling, and the school has since removed the banner from the KFC Yum Center.