Evidence presented at the college basketball corruption trial may have provided vindication for former Louisville coach Rick Pitino. 

Prosecutors played 2017 wiretaps in which Christian Dawkins—a former sports agent who worked with Adidas executives to set up pay-for-play agreements for high school players—said Pitino was unaware of what was happening at Louisville.

"Rick Pitino may be the only person who doesn't know what's going on. Rick has no clue what's going on at his school. Most of the bigger guys, they know," Dawkins said on the FBI video. 

Louisville fired Pitino for cause in 2017 when he was named in an FBI investigation into college basketball fraud and corruption. The firing effectively cost Pitino $55 million, though he is currently suing Louisville for his lost wages.

"If you know me, you know I don't cheat, you know I don't do these things," Pitino told Jeff Borzello of ESPN. "These prosecutors don't know anything about basketball, anything about me."

"I have never given $5 to a player," Pitino continued. "I have never given an inducement to a player, at all. I don't believe in it; that's not the way I coach."

Pitino has also denied any knowledge of former assistant Andre McGee providing strippers and prostitutes to recruits. That scandal cost the Louisville program its 2013 national championship, as well as a 2012 Final Four appearance. In total, Pitino had 123 wins vacated as a result of the sex scandal.

In his book Pitino: My Story, the coach took some of blame for hiring McGee and Jordan Fair, the assistant implicated in the FBI scandal. However, he said it was not fair for Louisville to fire him for cause. Louisville has called Pitino's suit "frivolous" and believes it acted appropriately in his dismissal. 

Dawkins' quote on the wiretap may wind up working in Pitino's favor in civil court. A number of other coaches, including Arizona's Sean Miller and LSU's Will Wade, have been named in the FBI investigation and retained their jobs.

Pitino is currently the head coach of Panathinaikos, a Greek team that plays in EuroLeague.