Pitino Accuser Says Coach Tricked Her Into Marriage

Says wedding to Louisville equipment manager part of a plot

The woman who claimed Louisville basketball Coach Rick Pitino raped her says she was tricked into marrying the team's equipment manager to keep her quiet.

Karen Sypher, who is accued of trying to extort $10 million from Pitino, is divorcing Tim Sypher. She said she only married him when she was in shock from the encounter with Pitino, and she now suspects the coach orchestrated the whole thing.

"I now think my husband was paid to marry me," said Sypher, who claims she got pregnant and then aborted Pitino's child.

Pitino, a married father of five who won a national championship as coach of University of Kentucky's basketball team, admitted having sex with Sypher on a Louisville restaurant table after a night of drinking. At a news conference, he apologized to his family, said the sex was consensual and then discussed how broken up he was at the time over the 9/11 attacks, which came two years before the encounter.

Get more: MSNBC, New York Post

Contact Us