John Calipari writes letter supporting former Louisville assistant in extortion case
Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari wrote a letter of support for Dino Gaudio as part of a sentencing brief for the former Louisville assistant basketball coach.
Gaudio pleaded guilty in June to attempting to extort U of L for 17 months of salary in exchange for not revealing alleged NCAA violations by the Louisville basketball program. On Wednesday, prosecutors recommended a $10,000 fine in the case. Gaudio is to be sentenced on Aug. 27.
As part of the sentencing brief, Calipari joined former Xavier coach Pete Gillen and current Iowa coach Fran McCaffery in supporting Gaudio.
An excerpt:
“When Dino learned that John Robic, one of my assistant coaches at Kentucky, had a daughter had contracted liver cancer and was in need of a transplant, he spearheaded a drive in the Louisville community to try and find a donor for Haley. A cancer survivor himself, he reached out to the Robic family with encouragement and advice. Hayley lost her battle with cancer, but Dino’s effort meant a tremendous amount to the family. He tried to make an incredibly difficult situation with his efforts to assist someone in need.”
Also, Gaudio made some strong accusations against Louisville coach Chris Mack, including Mack threatened to pull players’ scholarships after U of L missed the NCAA Tournament last year.
This story was originally published August 11, 2021 at 5:20 PM.
