Iona coach Rick Pitino flatly denies the recent claims made by Merl Code, a former Adidas consultant who faces nine months in federal prison for his role in the pay-for-play scandal that cost the former Louisville coach his job.
Speaking to Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde and Yahoo's Dan Wetzel on the College Football Enquirer podcast, Code claimed that federal investigators “wanted [former Arizona coach] Sean Miller. They wanted [LSU coach] Will Wade. They wanted Rick Pitino.” But instead, Code is among the low-profile basketball-adjacent figures heading to prison after the Southern District of New York's probe into corruption in the sport.