Rick Pitino Received 98 Percent of Louisville's Current Adidas Contract

Suspended Louisville head coach Rick Pitino reportedly received 98 percent of the money from the university's current contract with Adidas.  

According to Andrew Wolfson of the Courier-Journal, "In 2015-16, for example, $1.5 million went to Pitino under his personal services agreement with the apparel company while just $25,000 went to the program, according to a contract obtained by the Courier-Journal under the state public records act. The year before, Pitino also got $1.5 million, while the department banked just $10,000."

The university agreed to a 10-year, $160 million deal with Adidas in August, when athletic director Tom Jurich—currently on paid leave after the FBI's investigation into college basketball—said that the money would go toward the athletic department and Louisville's student-athletes.

Despite the overwhelming proportion of that money reportedly going to Pitino, however, university spokesperson Kenny Klein defended Jurich's assertion last month, noting, "Players come here in part because of Coach Pitino. Coaching is part of what we give to student-athletes."

But according to Wolfson, Louisville's interim president, Greg Postel, noted the university is investigating whether the money received from Adidas is "tainted" in any way. Adidas is under investigation by the FBI due to "efforts to secretly funnel money from Adidas to three players and their families in exchange for the players' commitments to play at two Adidas-sponsored college programs and to later sign sponsorship deals with the company once they turned pro," per Marc Tracy of the New York Times.

Pitino is currently on unpaid administrative leave and his tenure as Louisville's head basketball coach appears likely to be over.