Rick Pitino's dirty little secret finally emerges

August 12, 12:10 AMCollege Sports ExaminerJacob Osterhout

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Rick Pitino's dirty laundry finally comes to light.

And if you didn't know, now you know.

It was only a matter of time before the information that sultry southern seductress Karen Cunagin Sypher used to blackmail Rick Pitino rose to the surface of public attention. And that time is finally up.

Turns out that the Louisville men's basketball coach had sex with Sypher at a local restaurant after the establishment had closed for the night, and subsequently paid $3K for her to have an abortion.

On July 12th, Pitino admitted to police that he had consensual sex way back in August of 2003 with Sypher, then Karen Cunagin, at Porcini Restaurant in Louisville, Ky.

Two weeks later, Sypher called Pitino to tell him that she was pregnant. Pitino suggested that they meet at the condo of the Louisville strength coach, where Sypher revealed to the basketball coach that she wanted an abortion, but didn't have health insurance. Pitino gave her $3,000.

Bizarrely, Sypher would go on to marry, and then divorce, this very same Louisville strength coach, Tim Sypher, who hosted the abortion pow-wow at his condo. She would eventually use the sex and abortion info to try and demand $10 million from Pitino, who is married with five children.

Only after she was accused with extortion by police would Sypher claim that Pitino raped her. In fact, she claimed that he raped her not once, but twice. Yet, Pitino was able to prove that during the time that Sypher accused him of the second rape he was in Pebble Beach, California.

In the end, due to inconsistencies in her story, police put little faith in Sypher's claims of rape and charged her with conspiring to extort money.

As for Pitino and his future at Louisville, his lawyer says he is working through this matter privately.

In a statement on Tuesday, Louisville AD Tom Jurich said that "Coach Pitino has been truthful with us about this matter all along and we stand by him and his family during this process."

University President James Ramsey also released a statement Tuesday night saying, "Several months ago Coach Pitino informed me about the alleged extortion attempt. I've now been informed that there may be other details which, if true, I find surprising. My thoughts are with Coach Pitino and his family."

If there is a lesson to be learned from this whole saga, it comes back to the advice my uncle, who is a urologist, once gave me: Never let the little head control the big head.

Just ask Coach Pitino.  It's not worth it.