NCAA upholds ruling that Louisville Cardinals Basketball must vacate wins and 2013 national title

The day has finally arrived.

We all knew the Louisville Cardinals would hear of their final punishment from the NCAA very soon, and it finally came Tuesday at noon.

The NCAA announced it had upheld its previous ruling that the school must vacate men’s basketball records in which student-athletes competed while ineligible during the 2011-12 through 2014-15 seasons, which includes a vacation of the 2013 NCAA Championship banner.

The punishment is in regards to the scandal covered in the book Breaking Cardinal Rules.

The book details incidences in which former Louisville basketball players and staff member Andre McGee paid for prostitutes and strip parties for players and recruits, some which were minors at the time.

The NCAA originally ruled that Louisville had to vacate wins from the time period in which Powell and McGee operated, which included the years of 2012 and 2013 where UofL went to a Final Four and won a national championship. The NCAA committee even said it has never come across anything that like what happened at UofL.

Former head coach Rick Pitino was also suspended for five ACC games, but he has since been fired in regards to the Brian Bowen scandal.

Here is an excerpt of the NCAA report:

Louisville must vacate men’s basketball records in which student-athletes competed while ineligible during the 2011-12 through 2014-15 academic years according to a decision issued by the NCAA Division I Infractions Appeals Committee. The appeals committee also upheld the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions penalty that requires the university to return to the NCAA money received through conference revenue sharing for its appearances in the 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championships.