Louisville enlists Chuck Smrt’s help to investigate basketball recruiting scandal

To investigate allegations involved in the massive college basketball recruiting scandal, the University of Louisville has once again consulted with Chuck Smrt, a former NCAA infractions investigator.

Interim President Greg Postel confirmed that Louisville has spoken with some members of its staff without interfering with the FBI’s investigation and that Smrt is part of that effort.

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“Chuck was here last week for a couple of days and was starting to help us with the process of interviewing some parties,” Postel said. “He’s very knowledgeable about making sure we’re complete in the types of questions we ask and that sort of thing.”

Smrt, who worked in NCAA enforcement for 17 years before starting his own consulting company The Compliance Group in 1999, also led Louisville’s internal investigation into allegations by self-described "escort queen" Katina Powell that strippers were paid to have sex with players and recruits. For that, Louisville originally hired him in September of 2015.

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According to records obtained by the Courier-Journal, Louisville paid Smrt’s firm $334,886.12 from May 1, 2016, through Aug. 7.

In the investigation into Powell’s allegations, Smrt recommended that Louisville impose a one-year postseason ban on its men’s basketball program, which it did. When the NCAA completed its own review, it added several sanctions, including vacating the 2013 national championship, repayment of postseason revenue and a suspension of coach Rick Pitino.

The university is appealing those sanctions.

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Postel said Monday that Louisville has not spoken with the NCAA about recent allegations that coaches and Adidas executives conspired to funnel money to basketball recruits to come to the university and later sign with Adidas and certain advisers when they turn pro. 

“We’ve talked to some individuals, and we’re having to be very careful about that, because our primary goal is to cooperate with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and so there are certain individuals that we are not to have conversations with,” Postel said.