Louisville no longer has a third NCAA championship banner hanging in the rafters of the KFC Yum! Center, but the man who helped lead the Cardinals to that title believes it will be back there one day.
Former Louisville coach Rick Pitino, now in his first season as the head coach at St. John’s, said in an appearance this week on the popular podcast “Pardon My Take” that the Cardinals’ 2013 national championship, which was later vacated by the NCAA, will one day be recognized again by college sports’ governing body.
“Sooner or later, the NCAA is going to get smart and do two things — put that championship banner back and the second thing the Heisman people will do is give that Heisman Trophy back to Reggie Bush,” Pitino said.
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During the 2012-13 season, Louisville won a program-record 35 games, capped off by an 82-76 victory against Michigan in the national championship game that earned the Cardinals their third national title overall and first since 1986. With the win, Pitino became the first men’s basketball coach to win national championships with two different programs (he previously managed the feat at Kentucky in 1996).
Four years later, however, the NCAA stripped Louisville of 123 wins from 2010-14, including the 2013 national title, following an investigation that found that former director of basketball operations Andre McGee arranged “striptease dances and sex acts for prospects, student-athletes and others.”
In a response to the NCAA, the university said that the dances and sexual activities did not “greatly assist its recruiting efforts.” Though the argument ultimately didn’t persuade the NCAA to reverse its ruling, Pitino agrees with it.
“First of all, what went on, I’ve said it many, many times, it was reprehensible behavior by a few people,” he said. “The NCAA came and said there was $5,600 in a three-year period for four times a year that they did the wrong thing. It had nothing to do with steroid use. It had nothing to do with breaking rules to an advantage on the basketball court. We earned that championship.”
Remnants of that team’s accomplishments remain, even if they’ve been wiped from NCAA record books. In 2019, Luke Hanco*ck, a key player on the 2012-13 team, was once again recognized as the 2013 Final Four Most Outstanding Player after suing the NCAA and reaching a settlement with the organization. Last year, Louisville raised a red 2013 banner inside the KFC Yum! Center that reads “Final Coaches Poll #1” rather than “NCAA Champion.”
For Pitino, who described the NCAA’s decision to vacate the title as “the greatest hypocrisy of all-time,” it remains a baffling predicament for his former employer.
“You can’t take down a championship,” Pitino said. “You can’t change history. Whether it’s wartime, peacetime, you can’t change history. We won a national championship playing a great game against Michigan. Peyton Siva, Russ Smith, Luke Hanco*ck, Gorgui Dieng, Montrezl Harrell, Chane Behanan, they won it. Kevin Ware broke his leg. They won the championship, fair and square. Nothing else could get in the way.”
While Louisville nears the end of one of the worst seasons in program history under second-year coach Kenny Payne, Pitino has St. John’s on the NCAA Tournament bubble with a 19-12 record entering this week’s Big East Tournament.
