Louisville Basketball to Vacate Wins Including 2013 Title After NCAA Violations

Louisville must pay a fine, and the men's basketball team will be forced to vacate all of its wins from the 2011-15 academic years in which ineligible student-athletes played in games.

A ruling from the NCAA Division I Infractions Appeals Committee (h/t NCAA.org's Emily James) on Tuesday determined Louisville's punishment, which also includes paying back money the school received from appearing in the NCAA tournament each year from 2012-15. 

The NCAA infractions committee previously ruled former Louisville head coach Rick Pitino failed to properly monitor the actions of Andre McGee, who arranged for stripteases and sex acts for potential recruits as an assistant on the coaching staff.

Louisville interim president Greg Postel said in a statement after Tuesday's ruling he strongly disagreed with the appeals committee's decision, via Jeff Greer of the Courier-Journal:

Louisville won at least 27 games in each of the four seasons from 2011-15. The 2012-13 Cardinals team won the national championship, defeating Michigan 82-76 in the title game. 

Arash Markazi of ESPN pointed out that Pitino got a tattoo to commemorate the now-vacated championship:

Kevin Ware, who was on the team during that championship run, reacted to the punishment:

"I don't care that much about the perception," 2013 Final Four Most Outstanding Player Luke Hancock told ESPN's Jeff Goodman. "And I don't think it changes that much. We won those games. It's not like that never happened."

Pitino and athletic director Tom Jurich were both fired by Louisville in October.