Louisville’s Banner Came Down. Kevin Ware Still Had His Ring.

By the afternoon of February 20, 2018, Louisville’s championship banner had been removed from the KFC Yum Center rafters. Earlier that day, the NCAA’s Infractions Appeals Committee had upheld an order to vacate 123 men’s basketball wins, including the 2013 national title and the 2012 Final Four appearance. The university had appealed the punishment without disputing that violations occurred.

Louisville had beaten Michigan 82–76 in the 2013 championship game. Nearly five years later, the appeal decision removed that title from the NCAA record books. “I cannot say this strongly enough: We believe the NCAA is simply wrong to have made this decision,” interim university president Greg Postel said.

The NCAA investigation began in October 2015 after the publication of Katina Powell’s book, “Breaking Cardinal Rules: Basketball and the Escort Queen.” NCAA enforcement staff found that former Louisville director of basketball operations Andre McGee paid Powell and other women thousands of dollars and gave them game tickets in exchange for stripteases and sex acts for players and recruits. The 40 alleged acts amounted to a Level I violation, the most serious category in the NCAA’s penalty structure.

Louisville barred itself from the 2016 ACC and NCAA tournaments and later added recruiting sanctions. In June 2017, the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions imposed further penalties, including the vacation of records in which ineligible players had participated. It also found that the head coach had failed to monitor the former operations director’s activities.

The university’s appeal concentrated on the vacated wins and the requirement to return shared revenue from its 2012–15 NCAA tournament appearances. Louisville called those penalties excessive and “draconian.” It accepted other sanctions, including four years of probation and scholarship reductions. At the appeal hearing, the school described the underlying violations as “reprehensible and inexcusable,” according to the appeals committee.

Postel argued that Louisville’s apology, cooperation, self-imposed penalties and policy changes should have reduced the punishment. “Under the NCAA’s own rules, such cooperation should have been a factor in determining the severity of the punishment,” he said. “Instead, it was ignored.”

The appeals committee upheld the penalties, agreeing that the involved student-athletes “knew or should have known” they were receiving improper benefits. But it also said the original committee “did not sufficiently articulate how it balanced the mitigating factors, including the institution’s self-imposed penalties, with the aggravating factors.” That criticism did not change the result: the wins remained vacated, and Louisville still had to repay tournament revenue, including future distributions tied to those appearances.

Former players responded that day on Twitter. Tim Henderson, who had made two critical three-pointers in the Final Four victory over Wichita State, posted a photograph of the team celebrating its championship. Kevin Ware, who broke his leg in the regional final win over Duke, pointed to something the ruling had not taken away: “Still got this fat ass ring which means my guys definitely won a chip, if I’m not mistaken of course.”