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Rick Pitino says he was 'blindsided' by Chris Jones' arrest on rape charges

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Rick Pitino loves talking about Peyton Siva, Gorgui Dieng, Luke Hancock and Russ Smith. With good reason. They were great college players who formed the nucleus of Louisville's 2013 national championship team.

Often he will drop the names of Francisco Garcia, Taquan Dean and Larry O'Bannon. They led the Cardinals to the 2005 Final Four.

Pitino has coached a lot of fine players at Louisville who have gone on to be fine men. Not just basketball winners, but winners in other facets of life.

But the former player Pitino talked about Thursday afternoon is in jeopardy of losing everything – his freedom, his reputation, his future earning potential, quite possibly his entire basketball career. Chris Jones, abruptly dismissed from the team Sunday, was charged Thursday morning with rape and sodomy of two women stemming from an incident that took place Saturday night. What he lost is one thing; what he may have taken from two victims is all the more serious.

But that is for the courts to decide, and Jones entered a not-guilty plea Thursday morning. Several hours later, Pitino spent about 20 minutes answering questions about what happened, and the university's response to it. The adjectives that came out of the coach's mouth:

"Shocked."

"Saddened."

"Blindsided."

Chris Jones was charged with rape and sodomy of two women. (AP)
Chris Jones was charged with rape and sodomy of two women. (AP)

Somewhere near the end of that news conference he acknowledged the fragility of a program's reputation, as Chris Jones' legal issues cast a shadow over those who came before him and those on the current team who will continue playing without him.

"You can spend 13 years building up a culture of Peyton Siva, Gorgui Dieng, the Hancocks, [Stephan] Van Treeses, Garcias, Deans – all these people who really, really love the university and do all the right things," Pitino said. "And in one swoop it can all go away from you, all that you build.

"Now, time heals wounds. You can build back your culture."

Yes, you can. But it's a laborious process. And that's the collateral damage which could come out of this tawdry and shocking situation, if Jones is found guilty of harming two women.

The young man's life can be ruined by his own doing, and the Louisville basketball program's reputation can take a hit as well – as Pitino knows all too well from his own personal trials.

At the very least, the school and the coach took swift action with Jones over the course of a wild, weird week. Last Tuesday night, while the Cardinals were eating dinner and waiting out a weather delay before leaving town for their Wednesday night game at Syracuse, assistant coach Kenny Johnson showed Pitino a threatening text message Jones had sent to a girl. The message had been brought to the attention of the university police department, which in turn notified Johnson.

Pitino looked at the message and immediately told Johnson that Jones would not make the trip, and that he had to surrender his cell phone. Jones was left home, the school announced he was under indefinite suspension, and Louisville lost at Syracuse.

The following day, last Thursday, Pitino said a university administrator in charge of discipline met with Jones and the girl and reviewed the situation. No charges were filed and the school did not discipline Jones further. After consultation with university administrators, Pitino reinstated Jones to the team under a set of conditions – among them, a 9 p.m. curfew.

Jones then played – and starred – Saturday against Miami. Afterward, the 23-year-old senior broke curfew, and sometime that night is when the alleged crimes were committed.

Pitino said that when he was informed Sunday about Jones breaking curfew, going out and getting involved in what at the time was a vague incident, he was immediately dismissed from the team. Louisville practiced Sunday afternoon without Jones, and the point guard's dismissal was announced after practice.

Louisville coach Rick Pitino (left) dismissed Jones from the team on Sunday. (AP)
Louisville coach Rick Pitino (left) dismissed Jones from the team on Sunday. (AP)

Thursday, Pitino's strongest statement related to how he handled this situation.

"If I felt there was any wrongdoing at all, I would have resigned yesterday," he said. "I really would. …If I felt at any point I didn't do the right thing for my players, I'd pack it in yesterday. Because it doesn't mean that much to me. They're much more important to me."

Despite the shock registered by these charges against Jones, this was not a player who came to Louisville with the clean slate of a Siva or a Dieng. Jones had academic issues out of high school in Memphis that put him on a path to a prep school North Carolina and then a junior college in Florida. While compiling a reputation as a dynamic point guard, he also compiled a reputation for emotional outbursts in games as he struggled to control his temper.

Still, junior-college coach Steve Forbes vouched for Jones' character to Pitino, and Pitino said there were no off-court issues that raised red flags. Sure enough, the emotional vacillations on the court were a constant source of aggravation to Pitino – but that was all manageable compared to this gravely serious development.

Pitino said "maybe our antennas will go up a little bit more" in recruiting a player considered something of a loose cannon emotionally. They should.

Fact is, the past two Louisville teams have been put in very difficult positions after players were dismissed from the team. Last year it was power forward Chane Behanan, sent packing because of failed drug tests – his loss loomed large by season's end, when the Cardinals could not corral enough late rebounds to hold a lead against Kentucky in the Sweet 16.

Now the loss of Jones – the team's third-leading scorer, leading assist man and defensive tempo setter – threatens to derail any realistic chance of a deep NCAA tournament run for the 2014-15 Cardinals.

It's easy to say in hindsight that Pitino took unnecessary risks recruiting those two players – but they were stars who were coveted by many other programs. The list of schools to offer Behanan scholarships includes North Carolina, Kentucky, Connecticut and Ohio State. Jones originally committed to Tennessee, and also was sought by Kansas, Baylor, Oklahoma State and Florida State.

But Behanan and Jones both ended up at Louisville, and neither worked out in the long term. Their problems now weigh down a program that had been lifted up by many others in the Rick Pitino Era.