Former Louisville Assistant Dino Gaudio Charged With Extortion

The former Louisville men's basketball assistant coach threatened to go to the media over alleged recruiting violations.

(Photo of Dino Gaudio: Scott Utterback - Courier Journal , Louisville Courier Journal via Imagn Content Services, LLC)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Former Louisville men's basketball assistant coach Dino Gaudio has been federally charged with "interstate communication with intent to extort" following his firing from the program.

According to public documents filed by the U.S. Attorney on Tuesday, during a Mar. 17 visit with Louisville officials, after being informed that he would not have his contract renewed, Gaudio threatened to expose recruiting violations to the media if he did not receive a lump sum of 17 months salary.

The violations in question? The "impermissible production of recruiting videos for prospective student-athletes and the impermissible use of graduate managers in practices and workouts", according to a statement from Louisville. Later in the day on Mar. 17, Gaudio also sent a text message to Louisville personnel containing "one of the recruiting videos he was threatening to send".

“While I cannot comment on the details or substance of the matter, I am grateful for the professionalism of members of law enforcement and the United States Attorney’s Office," head coach Chris Mack said in a prepared statement.

"The University and I were the victims of Coach Gaudio’s conduct and I will continue to fully cooperate with authorities in their investigations. We take seriously any allegation of NCAA violations within our basketball program and will work within the NCAA processes to fully review the allegations.” 

Gaudio and fellow assistant coach Luke Murray had both been informed on Mar. 17 that they would not have their contracts renewed past the Apr. 30 deadline. Both had joined the program when Mack took over the Cardinals in 2018, alongside current assistant Mike Pegues.

Louisville had gone 57-28 in Gaudio's three years as an assistant, including an NCAA Tournament berth in 2019. However, after going 13-7 overall and 8-5 in the Atlantic Coast Conference to miss the NCAA Tournament this past season, Mack decided to make a coaching staff shakeup.

"I think there's certainly going to be changes," he said during his end of season press conference. "Some decisions are going to happen sooner than others. College basketball is always about change, and I think this offseason will reflect that.”

Louisville has since filled both vacant assistant coaching positions, promoting director of basketball operations Kahil Fennell and bringing on New Zealand National Team head coach Ross McMains.

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