There is twisted and then there is what Jeremy Pruitt told NCAA investigators who were probing the indiscretions in the Tennessee program when he was coach.
The Knoxville News reported Monday that Pruitt said COVID-19, the nation’s racial challenges and George Floyd went into his decision to give the mother of a player $300 in a Chick-fil-A bag.
Pruitt admitted giving her the cash from his car, where he typically stored it …
And Pruitt said his privilege, her race and social unrest were on his mind.
“Then you throw in George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, okay, so you sit there as a white man and you see all of this going on and you can see these kids suffering,” Pruitt said.
“… (It’s) pitiful when you sit in a room and you hear grown men, and I’m talking about our coaches too, when they talk about growing up and the circumstances that they’ve been under, because it’s hard for a white man to understand, right.”
Pruitt, who received a six-year show caused penalty for his role in the recruiting scandal that will cost the school an $8 million, said he would do it again.
“I would do it again because I don’t think it’s breaking the rules (based on what would’ve been available through UT’s Student Assistance Fund if not for the pandemic),” Pruitt said. “I don’t know about y’all, but I’ve got little kids, and I hope one of these days when I’m dead and gone that somebody does the right thing for them.”