On September 26, 2017, the biggest recruiting scandal in college basketball history sent shock waves through the world of sports. Caught up in a massive FBI and NCAA investigation—and the intense media spotlight—was Rick Pitino, the Louisville Cardinals’ Hall of Fame coach. Here, from Pitino himself, comes the real story of the ongoing case and the hard truth about how college hoops has been pushed to the brink of disaster by greed, bad actors, and shoe company money. Rick Pitino has spent a lifetime in basketball. He is the recruiting and coaching maestro behind Final Four appearances with three different teams, and National Championships at two of them. He worked the early days of the legendary Five-Star camp and scouted players without the influence of agents, runners, or shoe companies. And he has run today’s recruiting gauntlet of sports apparel marketing, corrupted assistant coaches, unethical youth coaches, and powerful organizations hellbent against him. Rick Pitino has seen it all, dealt with it all, and now tells it all. Pitino is the story of an epic coaching career and the evolution of NCAA basketball to the multi-billion-dollar enterprise it is today. It is also a master’s course on the arts of coaching and recruiting. And in the telling, the one and only Rick Pitino lays all his cards on the table in addressing scandals of his past and the current headline-grabbing investigation that led a packed Board of Directors at Louisville to derail his career.

A life-changing guide to achieving your goals, by the 2013 NCAA champion college basketball coach and #1 New York Times bestselling author. Rick Pitino is famous as one of the most dynamic and successful basketball coaches of our time, leading the University of Louisville Cardinals to the NCAA basketball championship in 2013, and is renowned for writing the #1 New York Times bestselling success and leadership book, Success is a Choice. In his new book, The One-Day Contract, Pitino details his key to success, on the court and in life: to focus on making the most of each day, by creating a contract with yourself. Coach Pitino was able to turn Louisville into NCAA champions by applying this idea to everything he and the team did-every practice, every recruiting visit, every game preparation, every scouting report, every instruction that he gave players and coaches, and everything he did himself. Each day became just as important as reaching the national championship, and so, by honoring the one-day contract, he and Louisville moved through adversity toward their goal. In this inspiring and practical guide, Coach Rick Pitino illustrates how to set your own one-day contract, and follow through to honor it for each day, each goal, and each interaction with another person. Pitino shows how to: - Establish focus as a discipline in everything you do: planning, strategy, priorities, and career advancement. - Discover the true key to success: not ambition, not wealth, not power, but humility. - Use technology wisely-but don't let it replace personal connection with the people you work and live with. - Own up to your problems, tell the truth and they will become part of your past. Lie and they become part of your future. - Make small changes and add value to every minute of your life. The One-Day Contract will reshape the way you approach your job, your goals, and your life.

When Rick Pitino became the coach of the Kentucky Wildcats, he took them from NCAA probation to four spectacular final Four appearances, including the championship in 1996 and an incredible return to the NCAA Finals in 1997. Under Pitino's leadership, the Wildcats garnered a 70 percent winning record. Now the head coach of the Boston Celtics, Pitino has clearly become a master at molding great players and great teams. What's his secret to success?Pitino's method -- and the reason he's both a peerless basketball coach and one of the most sought-after motivational speakers in the country -- is built on a strategy of over-achievement. He simply doesn't believe in shortcuts.Success Is a Choice draws on Pitino's 17 years as a college and professional coach. In a friendly, one-on-one style, using anecdotes from his superstar career to drive home his message, Pitino presents a concrete, 10-point program for achieving success in every aspect of life, including: - How to make winning seem inevitable- How to achieve things that even you don't think are possible- How to subordinate your own ego and individual agenda for the common good- How to get people to work as a team- How to thrive on pressure- How to feel better yourself -- and improve the way you relate to othersPitino's winning techniques appeal to everyone from corporate managers to educators to parents. Based on the same proven methods that have earned him and his teams legendary stat

One of the winningest coaches in basketball speaks out on his experiences with the Kentucky Wildcats and the Knicks, his views on rival coaches and players, and more.

“Rick Pitino knows a thing or two about comebacks—on the court and in life.” —Louisville Courier-Journal Basketball legend Rick Pitino reveals his model of success built upon his experiences of failure and personal loss in Rebound Rules—a powerful, deeply personal book about never giving up. Recalling the tragedies that shaped his life and career—his unsuccessful tenure as Celtics coach, the devastating loss on 9/11 of his best friend and his brother-in-law and the deep depression that followed—Coach Pitino shares his Rebound Rules, demonstrating how he emerged wiser and rose to new heights with a richer perspective on life and work…and how you can, too.

An expose of sexual recruiting tactics from the journal pages of an escort queen. Breaking Cardinal Rules is an exposé by escort Katina Powell based on her experiences providing sexual services for the basketball program at the University of Louisville. It is written with Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Dick Cady. Powell has filled five journals with details of her escort escapades, sexual encounters and her activities at the University of Louisville. Most of the U of L services she provided took place in the men's dormitory where most of the basket players reside. Her main contact and the man with the money–the school's former director of basketball operations and former graduate assistant, Andre McGee–kept Powell and her girls busy from 2010 to 2014. Powell does not present a sympathetic character. Her life is full of contradictions. She has no remorse over the choices she has made. Her story is true in all its graphic detail. "If you think you've heard seamy tales about recruiting before, wait till you get a load of this. The Louisville high command has vowed to take the matter very seriously. It should." -Mike Lopresti, retired USA Today sports columnist Keywords: University Of Louisville, Cardinals, Recruitment, Basketball, College, Sports, Recruitment Violations, Sex, Striptease Andre Mcgee, Escorting Services

New York Times bestseller "A compelling narrative about the people who produced the most spine-tingling moment in modern college basketball history.” –Seth Davis, Sports Illustrated and CBS March 28, 1992. The final of the NCAA East Regional, Duke vs. Kentucky. Millions could say they witnessed the greatest game and the greatest shot in the history of college basketball. But it wasn’t just the final play—an 80-foot inbounds pass with 2.1 seconds left in overtime—that made Duke’s 104-103 victory so memorable. Each player and coach arrived at that point with a unique story to tell. In The Last Great Game, ESPN columnist Gene Wojciechowski turns the game we think we remember into a drama filled with suspense, humor, revelations, and reverberations. Not just for Duke or Kentucky fans, this acclaimed New York Times bestseller is for everyone who appreciates the great moments in sports.