University of Louisville fires assistant basketball coach Kenny Johnson

The University of Louisville announced on Wednesday it has "parted ways" with associate head basketball coach Kenny Johnson and terminated his contract.

Johnson, who worked on Rick Pitino's staff for three seasons, is the school's third coaching dismissal related to the FBI investigation into corruption in college hoops recruiting that has ensnared Louisville's program. Pitino and former assistant coach Jordan Fair were fired in October.

Reached by phone on Wednesday, Johnson's lawyer, Louisville attorney David Lambertus, declined to comment.

"The university will have no further comment on this personnel matter," a release from the school said.

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A former assistant coach at Indiana and Towson, Johnson was not named in the FBI's criminal complaint released on Sept. 26. But he was placed on administrative leave by the university on Oct. 6.

Johnson, 41, was previously informed in a letter from acting athletics director Vince Tyra that the school was looking into his potential role in the FBI inquiry.

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"ULAA and the university are in the early stages of an internal investigation into NCAA and other issues that came to light last week when the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced that it had filed charges in United States v. Gatto," Tyra wrote in letters to Johnson and Fair. "Your role in some of these matters is in question."

The federal complaint says an Adidas executive and coaches at Louisville attempted to pay the families of two recruits to go to the school and then sign with Adidas and with particular agents when the players turn professional.

Tyra left open the possibility of Johnson returning to Louisville's staff at a press conference in October, but he repeatedly cited the ongoing internal investigation. Johnson was allowed to return to Louisville's basketball facility to retrieve his personal items after the initial FBI news broke, but he was later instructed in the school's suspension letter to refrain from contacting coaches, players or staffers affiliated with the Cards.

Johnson was promoted to associate head coach after the 2015-16 season and given a raise that made him the highest-paid assistant coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Johnson made $550,000 in salary, and his contract ran through June 2018.

R.J. Evans, hired by Pitino in May as a program assistant, was promoted to acting assistant coach after Johnson's suspension. Interim head coach David Padgett did not respond to a message Wednesday asking if Evans would be given the full-time assistant coaching spot with Johnson's dismissal.

A University of Maryland graduate with a degree in cell biology and molecular genetics, Johnson quickly rose through the basketball ranks, starting at the travel basketball level with Washington, D.C., area program Team Takeover.

Johnson also coached at three Washington-area high schools as an assistant.

Hired by Towson coach Pat Skerry, Johnson helped the Tigers assemble one of the top mid-major recruiting classes in college basketball. At Indiana, he was the chief recruiter for James Blackmon Jr. and Noah Vonleh as well as current guard Robert Johnson.

Pitino wanted a top-flight recruiter when he hired Johnson, who in turn helped Louisville land Donovan Mitchell and V.J. King, who was a McDonald's All-American as a high school senior.

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