Former Louisville assistant coach Kenny Johnson, fired last year because of the ongoing FBI investigation, is going to fill a spot on Ashley Howard's coaching staff at La Salle, a source told CBS Sports early Tuesday. This development makes Johnson the first assistant who was terminated because of the wide-ranging college basketball scandal to land a new job at a Division I university.
A formal announcement is expected soon.
Johnson was fired in November -- roughly two months after a federal complaint alleged an Adidas executive and Louisville coaches attempted to pay the families of multiple recruits to attend the ACC institution and, upon leaving school, sign with Adidas and particular agents. Louisville head coach Rick Pitino and assistant Jordan Fair were also fired. But none of them, Johnson included, have been charged with a crime.
A source told CBS Sports that multiple head coaches have tried to hire Johnson in recent weeks only to have a school administrator eventually nix the deal. In response, a source told CBS Sports that Johnson has shared a letter dated April 19 from his attorney, David Lambertus, in which Lambertus claims to have been told by the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York that it views his client "as a potential witness in its case and nothing more." CBS Sports has not independently confirmed the letter is an accurate reflection of reality. But Johnson has shared it with potential employers. A source told CBS Sports Johnson has also shared a letter dated March 7 from Jim Elworth, the associate director for the NCAA's Office of the Committees on Infractions, that states the NCAA "has no record of [Johnson] having past involvement in any Level I/Level II/major NCAA infractions" -- though, it should be noted, that the NCAA has yet to investigate the allegations that ultimately led to Johnson's dismissal at Louisville.
