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UofL basketball players, NCAA reach settlement; title remains vacated

After a legal battle, 5 members of the 2013 University of Louisville basketball team will have their records restored.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) – A settlement has been reached nearly a year after 5 University of Louisville men’s basketball players filed a lawsuit against the NCAA.

After an escort scandal rocked the Louisville basketball program, the NCAA stripped UofL’s 2013 basketball title from the record as well as vacated 123 wins. This set the stage for a long timeline of events that eventually ended with Rick Pitino parting ways with the university and former athletic director Tom Jurich retiring after court battles.

Officials with Morgan & Morgan, who represented the players, said the settlement was confidential and could not comment further on the matter.

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However, they released a statement confirming records, stats and honors for Luke Hancock, Gorgui Dieng, Stephan Van Treese, Tim Henderson and Mike Marra’s have been reinstated.

“We are thrilled to confirm that we have reached an agreement with the NCAA on behalf of our clients – Luke Hancock, Gorgui Dieng, Stephan Van Treese, Tim Henderson and Michael Marra – that affirms the players were eligible student athletes from 2011-2014, and that their awards, honors and statistics are validated – without an asterisk. This includes Luke Hancock’s NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player award in 2013. We would like to thank our mediator in the case, Pete Palmer, for his work in facilitating this agreement, the specific terms of which are confidential. Morgan & Morgan is not only for the people; we’re for the players.”

The vacated national championship and banner will not be restored.

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Current athletic director Vince Tyra released a statement late Monday:

“We have certainly been supportive of our student-athletes and their quest to be recognized for all of the work they invested and success they earned at UofL. Their accomplishments absolutely deserve to be recognized. While we would prefer to acknowledge our full team accomplishments from the years that were vacated, we're glad that the individual achievements of all of the eligible student-athletes can be properly recognized. “

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