What Ramifications For Louisville Will Come From Gaudio's Extortion Case?
(Photo of Mike Pegues, Dino Gaudio: Sam Upshaw Jr. - Courier Journal via Imagn Content Services, LLC)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Just when it seems like the dust is starting to clear around the Louisville men's basketball program, something comes around to kick it back up again.
On Tuesday, former Cardinals assistant Dino Gaudio was federally charged with "interstate communication with intent to extort" the program. Upon learning that his contract would not be renewed, Gaudio threatened to expose recruiting violations by the program to the media if he did not receive a lump sum of 17 months salary.
In the hours following the public release of the charging documents, attorney Brian Butler - who is representing Gaudio - told the media that Gaudio "said things that he shouldn't have said that he regrets saying", and that "he intends to take full responsibility for those comments."
According to a statement released by the University of Louisville, the allegations that Gaudio threatened to go public over were the "impermissible production of recruiting videos for prospective student-athletes" and the "impermissible use of graduate managers in practices and workouts."
Louisville noted that they are cooperating with the authorities as well as the NCAA, but there is a pivotal question that arises from all this. If the allegations made by Gaudio are proven to be true, what does that mean for Louisville? What penalties could the NCAA enforce from this?
First, we need to categorize where the alleged infractions fall in line with NCAA protocol. It's hard to determine the degree of punishment until we know more specifics surrounding the allegations, but fortunately, we may have a baseline.
Sources familiar with NCAA charging guidelines told Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde that the infractions would "likely to be considered Level II or III violations," but would tilt more so towards Level III.
What's the difference? According to the NCAA's official definitions, a Level II infraction is considered a "significant breach of conduct" that "may compromise the integrity of college sports". As for Level III, they are considered "isolated or limited in nature" that provide a minimal advantage.
For greater context, Level III violations happen all the time across collegiate athletics, and are usually completely inadvertent. It's why programs have compliance officers to inform the NCAA of what happens, and more often than not, no noteworthy punishment happens.
Let's say the NCAA opted to go with Level II, what sort of punishment are we looking at then? Well, thanks to UTEP football, we have some idea. Like Louisville, UTEP also used graduate assistants in practice, thus exceeding "the maximum allowable countable coaches".
The Aggies' football program received:
- One year of probation.
- A $5,000 fine.
- A one-year show-cause order for the football head coach, including a four-day suspension from all coaching activities and a 10-day suspension from off-campus recruiting during the 2020-21 football contact period.
- A reduction in the number of football countable coaches by one for six days of practice during the 2021-22 academic year.
It's also worth mentioning that the aforementioned penalties came from violations that, at face value, seem more egregious than what Louisville is alleged to have committed.
But that is the case in a normal situation, and Louisville isn't exactly in one of those. The program is still in the midst of their Adidas/Brian Bowen infractions case, which could be viewed as an aggravating circumstance in the eyes of the NCAA. Oh, and not to mention the fact that the program is still on probation until June 14 because of the Katina Powell and Andre McGee sex scandal.
Basically, if this had happened to any other school, this most likely has minimal to no punishment. However, since Louisville has a recent prior history with the NCAA, they could decide to up the ante if Gaudio's allegations ring true. But, considering the NCAA seems to have no rhyme or reason to how they dish out penalties, who really know what could happen.
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