Louisville Ordered to Vacate 2013 Championship
The NCAA upheld a ruling on the University of Louisville basketball case, ordering to school to vacate its 2013 championship amid an escort scandal.
The program must vacate 123 wins in which athletes were ineligible from the 2011-12 through the 2015 academic years.
The wins include a 2012 Final Four appearance and the 2013 National Championship. It is the first time in Division I men's basketball history that a championship has been vacated.
The infractions stem from the NCAA's investigation into claims that escort Katina Powell made involving former Louisville player, graduate assistant coach and director of basketball operations Andre McGee. Powell says McGee paid her and other escorts thousands of dollars.
Powell also says that she received game tickets for five seasons in exchange for providing sex for recruits and players.
The school self-imposed a postseason ban on its men’s basketball team for the 2015–16 season.
"I cannot say this strongly enough: We believe the NCAA is simply wrong," Louisville interim president Greg Postel said. "We disagree with the NCAA ruling for reasons we clearly stated in our appeal. And we made a strong case—based on NCAA precedent—that supported our argument."
Louisville also imposed additional sanctions, with the reduction of scholarships and recruiting visits and contacts by staff this season and for the 2017–18 campaign.
NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions also upheld a ruling in which Louisville must return all revenue they earned for appearing in the 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 NCAA Tournaments.
The school, in its appeal, argued that the penalties were excessive and should be set aside, but the NCAA said that McGee acted "unethically when he committed serious violations by arranging striptease dances and sex acts for prospects" and refused to cooperate with the investigation.
