Yet another reason the ACC might regret ever adding Louisville.
I remember when the ACC was in emergency expansion mode after Maryland secretly bolted for the Big Ten in 2012. With the league having already stolen Boston College, Miami and Virginia Tech from the Big East, I figured UConn with its great basketball tradition and improving football was a natural to replace the Terrapins.
Instead, the ACC chose Louisville, which at the time was considered the worst academic institution in the conference, failing to show up on various “best of” lists of colleges around the country. But they did have their own great tradition in basketball and Rick Pitino as their Hall of Fame coach.
It wasn’t long before football coach Bobby Petrino embarrassed himself and the school by his motorcycle affair with a young graduate assistant, or something, from his office. And, of course, Petrino was fired only to return to the ‘Ville for a second stint that also failed.
Along the way was all kinds of other bad news, some involving Pitino’s own personal behavior and a stripper-recruiting scandal that he claims not to know anything about. And, of course, there was a national basketball championship in the middle of it all, which was understandably vacated by the NCAA.
When Chris Mack took over the Cardinals hoops program, I wondered how former Wake Forest assistant and head coach Dino Gaudio wound up on the staff. I always assumed something was amiss with Gaudio, who was fired after three winning seasons succeeding the late Skip Prosser at Wake, which hasn’t been the same since.
Gaudio is now in the headlines after Mack fired him, charged with extortion over the information he supposedly has around the Adidas scandal and one-time Louisville recruit Bruce Bowen. Gaudio has known Mack for 30 years and wanted a better severance out the door. He threatened to reveal what he knew about Adidas, Bowen and other stuff that will continue to stink up the program.
Gaudio’s lawyer admits he made a mistake in the heat of the battle, and whether the charges stick remains to be seen. What’s not going away is the stench that the ‘Ville long ago carried into the ACC.
(featured image, AP Photo/Chuck Burton, file)
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