LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The time has come for the University of Louisville to have a conversation with the NCAA about its vacated 2013 NCAA men's basketball championship.
A lot of people have said that in recent weeks. Now, the university is saying it.
Louisville athletics director Josh Heird said Wednesday that the school plans to initiate discussions with the NCAA about the return of the championship banner and a reexamination of the program's sanctions in light of major shifts in the college sports landscape.
Louisville | Kentucky | Indiana | Eric Crawford
"We know how much that special season and national title still mean to our former players, our fans and the Louisville community," Heird said. "With the significant changes in intercollegiate athletics, new guidelines and principles regarding sanctions, and recent rulings in NCAA enforcement cases, now is the appropriate time to revisit Louisville's sanctions with the NCAA, including the prohibition on displaying a championship banner. We look forward to engaging with current NCAA leadership in hopes of seeing a fair and meaningful resolution."
Louisville's Peyton Siva during the school's recognition of its 2013 basketball team at the KFC Yum! Center in February 2023.
There is no formal appeals process for such a move, and no precedent for the NCAA reinstating a vacated national championship. But Heird's comments mark the first official step in what could become a national test case.
At the very least, Heird says there needs to be a conversation.
The NCAA vacated Louisville's 2013 championship and 2012 Final Four appearance in 2018 after determining that a former staffer arranged sex acts and striptease parties for players and recruits at a campus dormitory between 2010 and 2014. The panel cited the "repugnant" nature of the violations — more than their competitive impact — as grounds for enhancing penalties.
But in recent years, the NCAA has taken a notably different tone.
The NCAA declined to punish North Carolina after an academic scandal found that men's basketball players and other athletes and students took essentially fake classes for nearly a decade. A national championship won during that period was not affected.
Nor were victories gained during booster Nevin Shapiro's impermissible payments to players in the early 2000s – some of which included trips to strip clubs, according to NCAA records.
And just last week, the NCAA declined to strip Michigan's 2023 football national championship despite a sweeping investigation that confirmed a three-year sign-stealing scheme and alleged obstruction by staffers and coaches. In its ruling, the NCAA enforcement panel wrote:
"Michigan's repeat violator status, coupled with its Level I-Aggravated case classification, is sufficient grounds for a multiyear postseason ban. However, the panel determined that a postseason ban would unfairly penalize student-athletes for the actions of coaches and staff who are no longer associated with the Michigan football program."
That argument — protecting current athletes from past misconduct — has reignited calls for Louisville to be treated similarly. And they're coming from across the city and the basketball program's past leadership.
Five Louisville players, including 2013 Final Four Most Outstanding Player Luke Hancock, sued the NCAA to have their records restored, arguing, in part, that they hadn't taken part in the parties and that denying them their NCAA championship accomplishments amounted to material damage. The NCAA settled with the players, restoring their records.
Mayor Craig Greenberg, who in 2023 displayed the 2013 national championship banner on the front of Metro Hall as the university honored that team during a game at the KFC Yum! Center, told WDRB:
"I proudly hung the banner on the front of Metro Hall a couple of years ago when we honored the team for their accomplishments. I'd definitely do it again. Our city knows we won, and that's what matters."
Former athletics director Tom Jurich didn't mince words: "I think that banner needs to be back up," Jurich said. "That case needs to be re-laid out and looked at. I'm retired now, so I can say what I want. That's garbage."
Rick Pitino, who coached that Louisville team, has repeatedly said he thinks the championship should be restored.
And Vince Tyra, who succeeded Jurich and was not involved in the case, joined the chorus on social media after the Michigan ruling, posting: "Precedent means a great deal in NCAA cases, as they note precedent when handing out rulings. If they're trying to be progressive .. then we should see the banner again."
That question — whether the NCAA's newer, more measured enforcement tone should apply retroactively — now sits squarely before the governing body. And Louisville's request to begin that conversation puts the issue on record.
As Heird noted, it's not just about a banner. It's about fairness.
And now, officially, the university wants an answer.
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