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Source: Three Louisville Recruits Confirm that Strippers and Prostitutes were Hired to Coax Basketball Players

The source said that players were given stacks of bills ranging from $200 to $500.

Three former Louisville basketball recruits told NCAA investigators that they attended on-campus parties with strippers and prostitutes hired to entice them to play for the team, one source told ESPN.

Allegations first came to light in October when self-described former escort Katina Powell detailed the parties in her book, "Breaking Cardinal Rules: Basketball and the Escort Queen." Powell claimed that former Cardinals assistant Andre McGee paid her roughly $10,000 to provide escorts and strippers for the parties, which took place in dorms on campus.

"There's no question this stuff happened," ESPN's source said. "There's no question the people at the University of Louisville know this happened. Katina Powell is not an admirable person, but she told the truth."

Louisville head coach Rick Pitino has repeatedly claimed to know nothing about these parties. "I can't find one person, not one, that knew anything about it," Pitino said in January. McGee, currently an Uber driver in Kansas City, has declined to comment without the presence of a lawyer.

"It's a pathetic story," ESPN's source said. "McGee gave the players a stack of dollar bills ranging from $200 to $500. Everybody in the room got the money—the recruits and the current members of the team. Not only that, but McGee himself had his own stack of dollar bills. If this guy's spending $2,000 to $3,000 on a recruiting weekend, where's this money coming from?"

What's stacked now is the evidence against Louisville. Not a good look.