Watching L’ville - TTUN and the relationship between Louisville and Adidas appears stronger than ever. The cardinal mascot at center court even has the adidas stripes on his cartoon shoes.
How did both brands (Adidas who is prominently featured on the court and Louisville who is the current #1 team) come out of that mess so strong?? How does adidas even still have a place in NCAA sports after that? How does Louisville so quickly recover?
From the NYT:
“In this case, federal prosecutors said that the defendants had funneled money from Adidas to prospects who wound up at three teams sponsored by the sneaker giant: Louisville, Kansas and North Carolina State.”
“As a jury has now found,” said Robert S. Khuzami, the Deputy United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, “the defendants not only deceived universities into issuing scholarships under false pretenses, they deprived the universities of their economic rights and tarnished an ideal which makes college sports a beloved tradition by so many fans all over the world.”
In a statement, Adidas said it had “strengthened our internal processes and controls and remain committed to ethical and fair business practices.””
“Rick Pitino, the Hall of Fame former Louisville coach who was fired in the wake of the charges, was also aware of the scheme involving his team, the attorney said. Neither head coach was clearly implicated in witness testimony, although text messages and phone calls suggested they were aware that Adidas associates were involved in recruiting.”
