Iona men's basketball head coach Rick Pitino denied any involvement in allegations levied by former Adidas executive Merl Code, who claims that the 69-year-old signed off on a $100,000 payment in 2017 to the father of 5-star recruit Brian Bowen when he led Louisville's program.
Code reiterated those allegations in his upcoming book, "Black Market: An Insider's Journey Into the High-Stakes World of College Basketball."
Those claims are part of the FBI's investigation into a wide-ranging college basketball corruption scandal primarily involving bribes for players to suit up for various schools.
As relayed by Matthew McGavic of Louisville Report, the NCAA's notice of allegations against Louisville states that "Code and fellow Adidas executive Jim Gatto arranged a $100,000 payment in the summer of 2017 to Bowen's father through agent Christian Dawkins in exchange for Bowen II to commit to Louisville."