Katina Powell will meet next week with the NCAA to share “demonstrative evidence” regarding the escort’s allegations that a former Louisville men’s basketball assistant hired her and other dancers to strip and have sex with recruits and Cardinals players.
Attorney Larry Wilder of Jeffersonville, Indiana, said Thursday via text to The Associated Press that his client will meet with the governing body as part of its investigation, one of four ongoing reviews launched since she alleged Andre McGee paid her $10,000 for 22 shows from 2010-14 at the players’ dormitory.
Because the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office is moving toward possible criminal charges against Powell, Wilder said, “It is no longer in her best interest to forgo meeting with the NCAA and sharing all of the demonstrative evidence.”
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Jeff Cooke had no comment in an email Thursday afternoon.
In a radio interview last month, Wilder said that Powell was unlikely to talk with the NCAA or authorities without some protection from prosecution. A Jefferson County grand jury recently issued subpoenas that were expected to be answered a week ago; the Indianapolis publisher of “Breaking Cardinal Rules: Basketball and the Escort Queen” said it had received a subpoena and was “considering an appropriate response.”
Wilder has not commented on grand jury proceedings or whether his client has been subpoenaed.
Louisville coach Rick Pitino has denied knowledge of the activities described in Powell’s book and has said he won’t resign despite the firestorm that has followed since the book’s online release on Oct. 3. The Cardinals open the season Friday night against Samford.
McGee, who played for the Cardinals from 2005-09 before becoming a graduate assistant and director of men’s basketball operations, left Louisville for Missouri-Kansas City in 2014. He resigned on Oct. 23, saying in a statement that he couldn’t perform his duties as a Kangaroos assistant coach while also dealing with the allegations in Louisville.
Besides investigations by the NCAA and local authorities, Louisville’s athletic department is reviewing the allegations and has hired Chuck Smrt of The Compliance Group. The University of Louisville Foundation has also hired a law firm to review the allegations.
On Monday, five women joined a lawsuit against Powell, author Dick Cady and publisher IBJ Book Publishing. The women said she falsely alleged in her book that they participated in prostitution and said the defendants used their names, stage names and images without consent.
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