Damning allegations have surfaced surrounding the Louisville basketball program and supposed stripper and sex parties inside a University dorm ESPN’s Outside the Lines reported Tuesday.
According to the report, five former recruits say they attended stripper supplied parties which primarily took place between 2010-2014 at Billy Minardi Hall, a dorm residence at the University. These parties were allegedly set up by Andre McGee, a former graduate assistant for the Louisville basketball team up until 2014 when he accepted an assistant coaching job with the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Additionally, three of the five aforementioned recruits say they in fact attended the parties both as a prospect of Louisville and as a player. They also spoke on a condition of anonymity to OTL due to fear of retribution from Louisville fans and coaches.
Kartrina Powell, a 42-year old former escort at the center of the investigation by Louisville and the campus police department detailed in her book Breaking the Cardinal Rule set for release this month nearly two dozen striping and sex parties at Billy Minardi Hall. Powell also states that McGee paid her $10,ooo dollars for supplying dancers during the 2010-2014 time frame in question. McGee also according to Powell paid ‘side deals’ to get the dancers to have sex not only with current players and recruits, but guardians of the recruits during the campus visits. A former player also made mention that McGee provided money to the recruits and players to give to the strippers.
Of the roughly two dozen girls who danced at the parties between 2010 and 2014, an estimated all but five or six had sex for money according to the report. Sex was initiated after a player would pick out a certain girl, inform McGee who would relay the request to Katrina Powell. From there Powell and the girl would discuss a price before the sexual transaction was finalized.
Among the girls who allegedly had sex with the players and recruits were Powell’s own daughters, Lindsey now 24 and Rod Ni now 22. Lindsey Powell said she was paid $100 dollars to have sex with former Louisville point guard Russ Smith who now plays for the Memphis Grizzlies. Meanwhile Rod Ni Powell said she was also paid $100 for sex, this time though with former Cardinals player Montrezl Harrell who was a first round pick of the Houston Rockets this past year.
Harrell has denied the allegations in a statement to the Houston Chronicle:
“It goes without saying, I don’t know anything about it. I didn’t too much stay at the dorm. I stayed off campus. I had a girlfriend off campus.”
One girl, who was only identified as ‘Mandy’ said she may have been as young as 17 years old when attending the parties but couldn’t confirm if any sex for money was actually taking place. She does however go on to say that she would make $400 to $500 a night in tips and that former Cardinals guard (and Detroit Pistons draft pick) Peyton Siva signed her chest.
Despite the anonymity of the five recruits/players previously mentioned, Katrina Powell claims that JaQuan Lyle, Antonio Blakeney, Jordan Mickey and Terry Rozier all had sex with her strippers during their recruiting visits.
Rozier, who wouldn’t comment in the report as to whether or not he did have sex at these parties didn’t believe head coach Rick Pitino had any knowledge of what was actually happening further stating that his (Pitino’s) ‘nose is clean’.
“I don’t want to talk about it. … I was already committed before I took my visit. … I will say, though, Coach P [Pitino], as far as the dorm situations and visits, he’d go out to eat with the recruits and their parents. As far as after that, he wouldn’t know. … I can say his nose is clean.”
Powell on the other hand didn’t say one way or the other if Pitino knew about the parties but also said that it’s hard to believe that he didn’t have some kind of knowledge as to what was going on. However no other investigation, nor claim at this current time as been able to pinpoint any Pitino knowledge of the parties. That’s not to say though that something eventually won’t come out later on in the investigation.
Powell maintains that her daughters were all at least 18 years old while working these parties while McGee is on paid administrative leave with UMKC during their investigation.
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