LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Louisville's response to the NCAA offers a deeper look into what happened over the last year.
The 200 plus page filing, 43 pages of which are coach Rick Pitino's response alone, acknowledges that violations occurred, calling them "appalling" and "inexcusable." Those violations involve former staffer Andre McGee and multiple occasions that he has allegedly brought strippers to Minardi Hall.
In the filing, the school admits there was one recruit who did not go to U of L because of the strippers, saying "it kind of turned me off about the school."
The school is formally fighting the allegation against Pitino that he did not monitor McGee.
The response also confirms that Andre McGee did meet with investigator Chuck Smrt in September of 2015. After this interview, Smrt contacted the NCAA to alert them to "a potential issue." There is also a transcript from a 2014 interview McGee had with the NCAA on an unrelated investigation into Minardi Hall where he told investigators there is "definitely" an atmosphere of compliance at Louisville.
In Pitino's response, the coach's legal counsel claims "The enforcement staff has overreached in this case. Pitino should have never been charged." It goes on to say Pitino "promoted an atmosphere of compliance within his program" and that he "vehemently disagrees with the (compliance) staff's allegation."
The NCAA now has 60 days to respond to Louisville's response with a preliminary hearing expected this spring.