Richard Pitino defends father again, but says a coach's job is to know

Richard Pitino again defended his father, Louisville men's basketball coach Rick Pitino, on Wednesday and said he himself never heard of or saw any of the alleged stripping and sex acts involving escorts and players while he was at the school that is now embroiled in scandal.

The Gophers basketball coach, however, added that it's a head coach's job, fair or not, to know what's happening throughout his program.

"Whether or not I think it [should be that way], those are the rules," Richard Pitino said Wednesday at the Gophers' annual media day. "That's the way it's going to be. Do I think we [head coaches] know everything? No, and I think it's really difficult to do that.

"But it's on us."

The elder Pitino is at the center of investigations by the NCAA and Louisville looking into claims raised in a recently published book, "Breaking Cardinal Rules: Basketball and the Escort Queen," that contains firsthand accounts from Katina Powell, a former escort in Kentucky.

The book alleges that former Louisville basketball operations director Andre McGee paid Powell and other escorts thousands of dollars and gave them game tickets in exchange for dancing and having sex with players, recruits and parents of recruits from 2010-14. Richard Pitino was the associate head coach under his father for one of those years, 2011-12.

Rick Pitino, a Hall of Fame coach and 41-year veteran, has said he knew nothing of the events, and his son again echoed that sentiment Wednesday, denying any concerns about his own job as investigators conduct interviews and comb through texts and journals provided by Powell.

The Gophers coach said he has talked with his team about the allegations in the news, but feels confident his players and staff are well aware of what they should and should not be doing.

"Any time anything pops up throughout all of sports, we always visit with our team, visit with everybody and make sure they understand what those things are all about," Pitino said. "And it's pretty crystal clear. We have, at the beginning of the year, compliance [officers who are] always informing you of what's right, what's wrong. So everybody knows."

Pitino said he is not worrying about the Louisville allegations affecting his job or the perception of his own program. "Not even a little bit do I worry about that," he said.

At the same time, he indicated he thinks it's unrealistic for any head coach to be around his recruits, assistants and players at all times, even during recruiting visits. Like many programs, Minnesota's assistants handle many aspects of those visits.

"It's hard because you're not always going to be with your guys," he said. "It's a difficult situation. But with that being said, it's what we're judged on. It's just the bottom line that every program deals with. Those are the rules and everybody has got to live with it."