College: Investigation ongoing, Rick Pitino is ousted

Rick Pitino has been able to roam the sidelines as Louisville’s high-profile men’s basketball coach, even defiantly at times, holding onto his job amid a series of highly embarrassing missteps off the court.

Things looked bleak this time around, with a seemingly inevitable departure looming in the weeks since the latest scandal became public. But even after the school was linked to a federal bribery investigation, no one completely counted Pitino out.

Not until Monday.

The university had seen enough and decided to finally cut ties with the Hall of Fame coach.

The decision was unanimous.

Louisville’s Athletic Assn. officially fired Pitino, nearly three weeks after the school acknowledged that the program is being investigated as part of a federal corruption probe.

The association, which oversees Louisville’s sports programs and is composed of trustees, faculty, students and administrators, voted unanimously to oust the longtime Cardinals coach following a board meeting.

The ULAA even heard from Pitino’s attorney, who made the case that his client “could not have known” about activities alleged in the federal investigation.

Not long after Steve Pence’s 45-minute address to the ULAA, the association announced its decision after five hours of meetings.

Etc.

Maryland athletic director Kevin Anderson, whose job status was the focus of a flurry of reports Saturday, is taking a six-month “professional development sabbatical” while remaining on the job, according to a memo he sent to the university’s coaches. On Saturday, several media outlets reported that Anderson, the school’s athletic director since 2010, had been fired. The university then sent out a tweet saying that Anderson was still the athletic director.

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The University of Mississippi and former football coach Houston Nutt said in a joint statement that they have reached an agreement to resolve Nutt’s lawsuit against the school. The former Rebels coach, who led the program from 2008 to 2011, alleged a breach of his severance agreement because of false statements he said school officials made during an ongoing NCAA investigation into rules violations by the football program. Nutt received an apology from the university, but no financial details were disclosed.