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Louisville: Rick Pitino on unpaid leave until conclusion of FBI investigation

NCAA Basketball Tournament - Second Round - Michigan v Louisville

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 19: Head coach Rick Pitino of the Louisville Cardinals reacts to their 69-73 loss to the Michigan Wolverines during the second round of the 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse on March 19, 2017 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

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Louisville said that former basketball coach Rick Pitino will remain on unpaid leave “until the conclusion of the investigation currently underway by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in collaboration with the FBI or until April 30, 2018,” according to a document the school released on Monday.

The document, obtained by WDRB in Louisville, says that the school believes that Pitino is in violation of his contract due to being involved in a scheme to funnel $100,000 from Adidas to the family of Louisville freshman Brian Bowen.

Pitino is reportedly ‘Coach-2' in the FBI complaint, and Coach-2 is mentioned nine times, including the three phone calls that he had with an Adidas executive that was arrested in the days leading up to Bowen’s commitment. An Adidas-affiliated AAU coach said that “all [Pitino] has to do is pick up the phone and call, and they’re taking care of us,” in the complaint.

Pitino told the Louisville Courier-Journal on Monday that he had "[zero] to do with it and I’ll be vindicated.”