Louisville reaches $4.5M settlement with ex-AD Tom Jurich
Former Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich and the school have resolved their dispute over what Louisville owes Jurich.
The parties announced Friday that they had reached a resolution and that Jurich would be paid $4.5 million. The former athletic director was fired in October after Louisville’s prominent involvement in the FBI’s investigation into corruption and bribery in college basketball.
“I have spent the better part of my career working with a dedicated team of athletes, coaches and staff to elevate the University of Louisville’s Athletic Department and I am proud of what we accomplished which is well documented,” Jurich said in a statement.
Per the Louisville Courier-Journal, Jurich will also receive over $2 million in deferred and annuity payments, meaning he’s making over $6.5 million to not work for the school. Jurich was placed on administrative leave after it was alleged Adidas paid $100,000 to secure Brian Bowen would commit to Louisville and that an assistant coach knew of the payment.
After Jurich was placed on leave the school’s board of trustees then voted to fire him. His contract with the school was set to go through 2023 and the settlement means he’ll be officially listed as terminated without cause due to a resignation.
It appears Tom Jurich will still be earning $911,000 in accrued deferred compensation and $1.76 million in annuity payments, in addition to the $4.5 million settlement.
— Jake Lourim (@jakelourim) May 18, 2018
Bowen never played for Louisville and is currently at the NBA Combine, where he’s trying out for NBA scouts. He has until the end of the month to decide if he’s officially entering the 2018 NBA draft.
Jurich was fired from the school after his refusal to fire basketball coach Rick Pitino, who was also fired by the school. Jurich had stood by Pitino again, a few years after the two men kept their jobs amid a recruiting scandal that allegedly involved the use of prostitutes. Katina Powell, the woman who said she set those dalliances up, was arrested earlier in the week on check forgery charges.
While Pitino filed a lawsuit after his firing, Jurich never did and worked with the school on the resolution.
Jurich was hired by Louisville in 1997. In his time with the school, Louisville moved from Conference USA to the Big East to the AAC for a season and then finally to the ACC for the 2014 season and beyond.
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
Follow @NickBromberg on Twitter
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