Subpoenas issued in Louisville men's basketball sex scandal investigation

Grand jury subpoenas reportedly have been issued in the case of the sex scandal involving the Louisville men's basketball program.

A source familiar with the proceedings told ESPN's "Outside the Lines" that the Office of the Commonwealth's Attorney in Jefferson County (Ky.) has begun issuing subpoenas. A spokesman for the Commonwealth's Attorney Thomas B. Wine declined to comment when reached Friday.

"We don't comment on investigations that we are doing," spokesman Jeff Cooke told ESPN. "I couldn't comment on any case."

Former escort Katina Powell said former Louisville graduate assistant coach Andre McGee paid her $10,000 to bring dancers to campus to strip and even have sex with some recruits or their guardians.

Powell, 42, recently told "Outside the Lines" that McGee, who resigned last Friday as an assistant basketball coach at Missouri-Kansas City, approached her about "side deals" with current players and some recruits or their guardians.

McGee asserted in his resignation that he could no longer perform his duties at Missouri-Kansas City while battling "false allegations" made by Powell. McGee was promoted to director of basketball operations for Louisville in April 2012. In April 2014, he left the Cardinals program to become an assistant coach at Missouri-Kansas City.

A book, "Breaking Cardinal Rules: Basketball and the Escort Queen," was published this month by Powell and details nearly two dozen stripping and sex parties from 2010 to 2014 inside Billy Minardi Hall, the on-campus dorm for athletes and other students named for Louisville coach Rick Pitino's late brother-in-law.

Powell first spoke to Indianapolis Business Journal Book Publishing about the details of the alleged sex parties with recruits on campus.

"We have received a subpoena at IBJ Book Publishing and we are to appear (before the grand jury) November 5th," publisher Patricia Keiffner told ESPN in a statement Friday.

Larry Wilder, Powell's Jeffersonville, Indiana-based attorney, said, "Kentucky grand jury proceedings are secret and Kentucky law prohibits anyone who has received a grand jury subpoena from commenting. However, as of this moment, Ms. Powell has not received any subpoena from the Commonwealth or any other government agency."

The University of Louisville Police Department, the school, the NCAA and the University of Missouri Kansas City are all looking into the allegations Powell detailed in her book.

Pitino continues to deny knowledge of the activities and skipped the Atlantic Coast Conference media day last week in Charlotte, N.C., on the advice of legal counsel to avoid answering questions on the subject.

"I'm sorry we all have to endure the pain of these allegations," Pitino wrote last week on his personal website. "I so appreciate your support and friendships.

"I will not resign and let you down. Someday I will walk away in celebration of many memorable years, but that time is not now. I do not fight these accusations by others, but rather turn the other cheek. Couldn't do it at 33, but at 63, it's the wise thing to do. Let's let the investigators do their job and we will play basketball."