Big time college coaches know EVERYTHING that is going on with their team. That is simply their business!
It's sad when leadership in a position of authority claims ignorance in a case like this. When stories like this one break, the other coaches mentioned in this thread, the winningest coach in college football history, Generals at Abu Ghraid, politicians overseeing slush funds, somehow all find themselves totally unaware of the mayhem that is being orchestrated by the subservients that work directly under their control.
Could an incident have occurred without a coach being aware of its happening? Of course, but if any of this is true, and this routine existed for nearly as long as is claimed, then more than a little of the mud created by the story will wind up splashed onto Pitino.
If a case for the validity of this women's story gains traction in the media, amateur attorneys will argue over the specifics of who knew what, and when did they know it, but for me that misses the point.
As the father of a former intercollegiate lacrosse player I took particular interest in the Duke lacrosse (sorry Triad) case of a few years ago. The arguments that were made, and later confirmed, that a rape never actually took place, I thought led the public away from the conversation that actually should have been taking place.
At what point, I wondered, should the coaching staff and athletic department have been concerned with the "party" atmosphere that allowed for these type of events to occur. In Pitino's case are we to believe that not even a rumor, or a snippet of gossip has made its way to his ears over the past four years? Shouldn't a coach be aware of what goes on during recruiting weekends to some extent?
To be sure a group of athlete's, (basketball, lacrosse, football and otherwise), set loose after a game, descends on campus like a hoard of Norsemen invading a village in the low countries in search of red meat, but the behavior of individuals recreating on their own time is in many ways out of the control of the coaching staff and athletic departments.
But structured recruiting visits are absolutely part of the responsibilties of the head coach. When coaches, generals, politicians, and employers claim ignorance of abuses that take place within their immediately sphere of influence they insult their supporters, their fans, and the public as a whole.
People in charge of important business enterprises (Men's NCAA basketball is a business enterprise) are responsible for being aware of the inner workings of their business or they wouldn't have been asked to swim in the deep end of the pool.
