Judge dismisses Rick Pitino's lawsuit against Adidas

Danielle Lerner | Courier Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption What are Rick Pitino's future coaching prospects? Chris White and Jeff Greer discuss former Louisville coach Rick Pitino's future coaching prospects in light of the FBI investigation.

A federal judge dismissed Rick Pitino's lawsuit against Adidas on Tuesday, siding with the apparel company's claim that arbitration is required out of court.

Pitino, the former University of Louisville men's basketball coach, filed a federal lawsuit in October 2017 alleging that Adidas deliberately damaged his reputation.

Adidas terminated its personal services contract with Pitino mere hours after he was fired by the University of Louisville Athletic Association as the school was ensnared in the FBI's investigation into corruption in college basketball recruiting.

Pitino claimed breach of contract and outrage and pointed the finger at Adidas for the apparel company's involvement in an alleged scheme to funnel money to basketball recruits, including two former Louisville targets.

One of those recruits, Brian Bowen, transferred to South Carolina and has since signed a professional contract to play basketball in Australia; the other recruit, based in Florida, was not identified in the criminal complaint.

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Adidas filed a motion to dismiss the suit in November, and on Tuesday Judge David A. Hale of the Western District of Kentucky granted the motion.

Hale did not issue a decision on Pitino's claims but wrote in his order that there is typically a strong presumption in favor of arbitration, a mediation conducted by a third party outside of the court system.

"Here, the facts underlying Pitino’s tort and contract claims are identical: both claims are based on Adidas’s alleged bribing of a University of Louisville basketball recruit or his family," Hale wrote. "... Given this standard and the shared factual basis between the claims, the Court finds that the claim asserted here is 'at least arguably covered by' the Endorsement Agreement."

Pitino's agreement with Adidas states that arbitration must take place in Oregon, where the company is headquartered. Only an Oregon district court judge can force Pitino and Adidas to enter arbitration.

The lawsuit was dismissed without prejudice, meaning Pitino is free to file the same claims again.

Steve Pence, Pitino's lawyer, could not be immediately reached Tuesday evening, and an Adidas spokeswoman did not immediately return requests for comment.

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Pitino's original complaint argued that the coach would still be employed by Louisville if Adidas had not violated its contract in unlawfully recruiting athletes as alleged in the FBI's federal criminal complaint unsealed last fall.

Adidas' motion to dismiss said the alleged fraudulent actions were directed at the university, not Pitino; that the apparel company had no desire to hurt Pitino's contracts with the university or others; and that Adidas did not benefit at Pitino's expense.

Adidas also cited the original criminal complaint's allegations that Pitino may have had knowledge that Adidas was attempting to funnel money to the families of two Louisville recruits in return for them to attend the university, sign with Adidas and hire certain advisers when those players turned pro.

Pitino has since continually and repeatedly denied involvement in or knowledge of any of the actions described in the FBI probe.

The Courier Journal identified Pitino as "Coach 2" in the federal complaint. Asked if he is the "Coach 2," Pitino told the Courier Journal it "doesn't matter if I am or not." He added that he has "(zero) to do with any of it and I'll be vindicated."

Danielle Lerner: 502-582-4042; dlerner@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @Danielle_Lerner. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/daniellel.