Former escort implicates current NBA players in Louisville sex scandal

Former escort Katina Powell has stated several former Louisville stars and current NBA players participated in the parties that were arranged for potential recruits by staffer Andre McGee, according to an Outside The Lines report.

Current NBA players Montrezl Harrell, Russ Smith, Terry Rozier and Terrence Williams were all directly implicated by Powell in her interview with OTL.

While recruits who chose to attend other schools have corroborated Powell’s claims, the aforementioned NBA players are the first actual Louisville players to be mentioned.

Powell originally published in her book “Breaking Cardinal Rules: Basketball and the Escort Queen" that she was frequently contacted by McGee to arrange strippers and prostitutes for incoming recruits between 2010 and 2014.

Harrell, Smith, Rozier and Williams were all cornerstone players on talented Louisville teams over the past few seasons, which makes one question as to whether the arrangement of strippers and prostitutes was a vital part of the Louisville recruiting process.

Harrell, currently of the Houston Rockets, is the only player to speak out against Powell’s claims so far.

“It goes without saying, I don’t know anything about it,” said Harrell. “I didn’t too much stay at the dorm. I stayed off campus. I had a girlfriend off campus.”

If the school was making such arrangements so regularly and to attract top-rated players, many experts have speculated whether or not head coach Rick Pitino had any knowledge of the events.

Pitino posted to his personal blog stating that he had no knowledge of the events mentioned in Powell’s book and that he would not resign and let down Louisville fans.

Powell has made it clear that she believes there is no way Pitino was unaware of the parties.

Further investigation by the NCAA is pending, and Pitino may face further scrutiny now that several of his most talented former players have been implicated in the scandal.