Former Louisville Assistant Dino Gaudio Agrees to Plea Deal in Extortion Case

Dino Gaudio, a former assistant coach for the Louisville men's basketball team, has pleaded guilty to an extortion charge as part of a plea agreement. 

Per Travis Ragsdale of WDRB.com, Gaudio pleaded guilty to a felony charge of interstate communication with intent to extort. 

The charge normally carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison, but Gaudio's deal will result in probation and a "low-end fine" with no time served.

Gaudio was one of two Louisville assistants whose contracts weren't renewed after the 2020-21 season. 

Mike Rutherford of CardChronicle.com reported that Luke Murray was the other Cardinals assistant who wasn't returning. 

In May, an extortion claim was filed in the United States Western District of Kentucky.

Per Dana O'Neil of The Athletic, Gaudio was alleged to have told an unidentified Louisville athletics staffer he "had videos of prospective student athletes that the basketball program had created, as well as evidence that the Cardinal graduate assistants had participated in practice."

O'Neil noted those would qualify as Level II NCAA violations. 

Louisville head coach Chris Mack issued a statement about the charge filed against Gaudio:

"The University and I were the victims of Coach Gaudio's conduct and I will continue to fully cooperate with authorities in their investigations. We take seriously any allegation of NCAA violations within our basketball program and will work within the NCAA processes to fully review the allegations."

Gaudio was an assistant on Mack's staff at Louisville for the previous three seasons. The 64-year-old worked as a television analyst for ESPN from 2011 to 2018. He was a head coach for 10 seasons at three different programs, including Army (1993-97), Loyola (1997-2000) and Wake Forest (2007-10).