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Two of the highest-paid figures in college athletics are employed by the University of Louisville -- for now.
The Louisville Courier-Journal provided a breakdown of the compensation of Tom Jurich, the athletics director, and Rick Pitino, the head men’s basketball coach, both of whom are on leave after it was revealed Louisville was tied to a federal investigation of widespread corruption and bribery in the world of college basketball.
Federal prosecutors have already announced charges against four assistant or associate basketball coaches at top-tier programs, as well as a bevy of high-ranking Adidas executives, and it is expected that Pitino will be fired.
Jurich’s taxable income last year was more than $5 million, the Courier-Journal reported -- which is more than the university budgets for whole academic departments, such as the English department, which has a budget of $4 million. From 2010 to 2016, Jurich was paid more than $19 million. This doesn’t include perks worth tens of thousands of dollars -- memberships to country clubs and tickets to various athletic events and the Kentucky Derby.
Pitino’s compensation totaled more than $7 million per year, with about $5 million coming from the university. The Louisville paper also reported Pitino takes home the lion’s share -- 98 percent -- of the university's sponsorship deal with Adidas, which is worth $160 million over 10 years.
