The case of Karen Sypher -- the woman accused of attempting to extort money from Cardinals coach Rick Pitino -- took an ugly turn yesterday, when reports obtained by the Louisville Courier-Journal revealed that Pitino admitted to having consensual sex with Sypher in 2003, and to giving her $3,000 for an abortion.
Sypher and several co-conspirators stand accused of demanding cash from Pitino and threatening to go public with criminal allegations. Days after her arrest, she accused the coach of rape. The authorities handling have said that Pitino will not be charged with any wrongdoing. But the coach is far from blameless here. A married father of five, he admitted to having consensual sex with Sypher - then known as Karen Cunagin - at a Louisville bar in August, 2003. Two weeks later she contacted Pitino, claiming to be pregnant. He met with her at the home of Louisville equipment manager Tim Sypher and agreed to pay her $3,000 so she could have an abortion.
Cunagin and Sypher were later married. Tim Sypher continued to work on Pitino's staff at Louisville.
At this time, it seems the revelation won't cost Pitino his job. Louisville athletic director Tim Jurich made a statement saying, "Coach Pitino has been truthful with us about this matter all along and we stand by him and his family during this process." But the latest news certainly casts other offseason developments at Louisville in a new light. Is this the reason Pitino expressed interest in the Sacramento Kings job earlier this year? Or why Pitino's son Richard left the UL staff for a job at Florida?
I suspect we've not heard the last of this story.
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