Opinion: Through the joys of exoneration for Louisville basketball, a strange feeling persists

Louisville basketball fans, like you, I am incredibly excited to begin a new era together. But before we move forward, I must share that I feel a bit melancholic about what we leave behind.

After 1,844 days, a nightmarish era of Louisville basketball drew to a close on Thursday with the NCAA Independent Accountability Resolution Process council levying its punishments- or lack thereof- against the program.

Over the last 60 months, a lot has changed in my life. A lot has changed in all of our lives.

But, as someone who is heavily influenced by the affairs of Louisville basketball, both on and off the court, being a fan and supporter of this program has weighed heavily on me. It has likely weighed on you in some way, regardless of your affiliation with the program.

It’s a feeling that feels more like the beginning stages of healing rather than overwhelming pride and joy.

And I think that’s okay, I think. Allow me to explain.

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I hope not to come across as ostentatious, but I have always felt that Louisville basketball was so much bigger than a program confined to the walls of the Kueber Center. Louisville basketball is deeply engrained in the culture of this city. The city that birthed me, raised me and molded me into the person that I have become. Louisville basketball is as important to this city as Muhammad Ali, bourbon, horse racing– Fill in the blank for whatever cultural phenomenon draws you in. It has broken barriers between us. It brings us closer. It opens our hearts and fuels our optimism. It helps drive our economy.

Louisville basketball is not Louisville basketball without Louisville. And Louisville is not Louisville without Louisville basketball.

As a city, as a culture, and as a university, we have carried a burden for over five years. We awaited a decision that, until it was announced, could have fallen in any direction; The result of which could have set us back even further.

We already had a boulder-sized weight on our chests. The IARP had an opportunity to push it down just a bit more and potentially squeeze the life out of us for good.

The resolution was refreshingly level-headed. Facts were presented. Tough questions were answered candidly — Something we’d begged for for years.

The news that we received was a boulder being removed from all of us. And, yes, it’s nice to breathe easily again. The air feels a bit fresher. Our minds, undoubtedly, a bit clearer.

But make no mistake, the residual effect — The crater-sized hole in my chest — will still have to heal. And though our only option is to look forward to the future, I feel it a bit premature to do so without recognizing those who were put in this position. Those who bared the brunt of the weight. Who suffered irreparable damage because of a lack of due process and hasty, sanctimonious claims.

The first person who comes to mind is former Louisville basketball head coach Rick Pitino. Lambasted, chastised, and dragged through the mud by national media, Pitino was exonerated on Thursday of any wrongdoing.

After being hit with charges of running a program that lacked institutional control, the IARP determined the complete opposite. Pitino was said to have run a program that “promoted an atmosphere of compliance.”

Of course, there were aggravating factors behind Pitino’s parting of ways with Louisville, but IARP representatives said that they combed through over 30,000 files and 100,000 documents and found nothing to indicate he was involved in this incident.

Pitino’s former boss, Tom Jurich, is the next person that warrants commiseration in my eyes.

The way that Jurich left the program was less than thrilling. I pinned a message to Jurich’s cronies months ago when a campaign to bring him back to UofL fell way short.

However, I think it’s important to show a bit of empathy toward Louisville’s former emperor of athletics. Jurich went down with Pitino, defending his coach rather than keeping his job.

Jurich made mistakes at the end of his tenure, but the exoneration of Pitino now warrants an apology from all of us who have been tough on Louisville’s former leader.

I feel sorry for Brian Bowen- The player around which this entire scandal centered.

At the end of the day, there were other athletes involved in the Adidas pay-for-play scandal, but only Bowen was adversely affected.

You’d be hard-pressed to make a solid case that the younger Bowen even knew of intended payments from former Adidas staffers to his father. Just a kid at the time, Bowen deserved much better than a scandal that completely derailed his career.

Finally, I feel a bit of sadness for the Louisville players and anyone else directly involved with the situation.

Louisville basketball has not been the same since September of 2017. Not even remotely close.

Many opportunities that were afforded to teams that came before the David Padgett and Chris Mack eras never came to fruition while a dark cloud hung over the program’s head.

Five years. 1,844 days since Pitino’s firing. For a $5,000 fine.

In the end, a program was brought to its knees and nearly ruined forever. I can’t lie, it’s pretty pathetic that we made all of this effort for this to be the outcome.

As this community has so longed to do, we will continue to move toward the light at the end of the tunnel.

But before we do so, it’s important to recognize that this is a healing process, which is only in its earliest stages.