You’re 17 years old and you’re on your first college visit. Not only that, but you’re being recruited by one of the most elite, big-money basketball programs in the country.
Talk about an exciting time. You go on a campus tour at a Division I School, drink a couple beers at a party with the big guys, talk to the coaches, and hopefully leave with an offer. That’s all that’s supposed to happen, right?
Well, for multiple University of Louisville recruits between 2010 and 2014, a lot of other things could happen. Think boatloads of dancers, loud music, underage drinking, and sex. Not just sex. Sex paid for by the assistant coach.
Katina Powell, author of recently released book "Breaking Cardinal Rules: Basketball and the Escort Queen," has claimed that former Louisville Cardinals assistant coach Andre McGee hired her and other dancers to strip and engage in other inappropriate activities with recruits for four years.
I’m not saying Katina Powell is innocent at all – in fact, I’m torn by the double-standard that allows a woman to sell herself and participate in the same debauchery that she now condemns and profits from as the author of this book. The real issue at hand is the use of this activity as a recruitment tool.
Five formal Louisville Cardinal players have attested to the truth of Powell’s statements, and admitted that McGee did in fact pay for strippers to attend nearly two-dozen parties between the 2010 and 2014 recruiting seasons. Andre McGee refuses to comment, and current Coach Rick Pitino denies having any knowledge about these parties. However, this isn’t about who is held responsible for these parties; it’s about the mere fact that these are deemed acceptable and simply thrown under the rug.
So, in order to become one of the “Big Men” on campus, that includes unlimited to access to women and sex. Is this what schools are resorting to in order to get their most talented players?
“Yes, there are members of the opposite sex that are present [at recruiting parties]…” said former college and NBA player Jaylen Rose of his days as a recruit. “If I’m not getting laid, I’m not coming. I’m not signing. I’m not coming.”
Women are not objects, and the sports community must stop treating them like they are.
The Louisville scandal makes it clear that sexism in sports isn’t going anywhere. Colleges have gotten way too comfortable with using attractive young women as recruiting tools. Some are innocent, like University of Tennessee, with women simply flirting with recruits. Other schools, such as Louisville, take things a step further. However, both schools are still presenting these women as eye-candy to players in order to get them to play for their team.
OK, I get it. High school boys listen to one certain part of their body more than they probably should. But if they’re looking at a school to play a sport – why should access to attractive women have anything to do with their decision? Isn’t the program strong enough to get the best players without these extra “privileges?”
Coach Pitino denies knowing anything about the scandal, but ignorance is no excuse. The Louisville recruiting system simply used women as bait.
Young athletes have become too comfortable with women being accessible whenever they please. The Louisville scandal proves that even teenagers are exposed to this objectification of women during the initial phases of the recruiting process. When you have an administration that is paying women to have sex with recruits, of course these players are going to have this mindset. These teenagers are being conditioned to see women as things – not as humans with agency.
Admittedly, Katina Powell contributed to this by providing her services to potential recruits, but this doesn’t make it right. Unlimited access to women should not be viewed as the norm and should certainly not be viewed as an expected part of a college recruit visit. The use of sex to lure these kids into certain schools is not only criminal, but disturbing.
Why not focus on the real reason these recruits are there? Sports.
