Louisville coach Rick Pitino met with former Wake Forest center Tony Woods last weekend in Louisville. Pitino has spoken with Woods' former AAU coach Norman Parker, his former Wake Forest coach Dino Gaudio and has been in contact with attorney Mike Grace, who says he's representing Woods. Pitino has also been in contact with Woods' girlfriend, who was the victim in an assault case that led to Woods' arrest and subsequent departure from Wake Forest after he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of assaulting a female.

Parker, along with multiple sources with direct knowledge of the situation, said Pitino is checking on Woods' character to see if he merits a second chance.

"I would suspect other coaches are doing the same thing," Parker said. "But he wants to go to Louisville and he wants to take care of his [legal] obligation. He knows what he did wasn't right."

Woods was arrested in Winston-Salem, N.C., on Labor Day, after he was accused by police of kicking and pushing down his girlfriend, identified by the Winston-Salem Journal as Courtney Lorel Barbour, in front of their 8-month old child, causing Barbour to fracture her spine. A judge dismissed two of the misdemeanor charges Woods faced -- assault inflicting serious injury and assault inflicting injury in the presence of a child. As part of a plea agreement, Woods pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault on a female and was given a suspended 60-day sentence. Grace said he also must complete 100 hours of community service as well as anger-management classes.

If Woods fulfills his legal obligations, which could be transferred to the state of Kentucky from North Carolina, he could be enrolled at Louisville for the second semester. However, he would not be eligible for an athletic scholarship for a year because he's not in school this semester.

Even if all that occurs, Pitino still has to feel comfortable about Woods being at Louisville before he accepts him into the program, according to sources close to Louisville. One of the main reasons Louisville considered taking Woods initially is in large part because of the connection between assistant coach Tim Fuller and the coaching staff of former Wake Forest coaches Dino Gaudio and the late Skip Prosser. Fuller graduated from Wake Forest in 2000 and served as the Director of Basketball Operations for the Demon Deacons from 2004-2006. Had there not been someone to vouch for Woods then Pitino may not be willing to even entertain the gamble.

Woods was suspended from the Wake Forest basketball team following his arrest. He was later dismissed from school for the fall semester by the university's student ethics and honor council. According to multiple sources who had knowledge of the Wake Forest hearing, information was revealed that this was not the first incident involving Woods and Barbour, who has since supported Woods.

According Winston-Salem police, Woods and Barbour got into an argument in their apartment with their 8-month old son present. Woods kicked and shoved Barbour, who told authorities she had recently fallen from her dormitory loft and hurt her back and that's what had caused the spinal fracture.

Maybe Louisville and every other school interested in Woods should do wait until he does just that. Perhaps they are. A source close to Louisville said the Cardinals are waiting until Woods completes his legal obligations before offering him a scholarship. But even then, is it the right time, enough time, or even the right thing to do to give him a second chance for assaulting a woman? According to a source, Barbour has called Pitino to endorse Woods. Louisville can't confirm if Woods will be a Cardinal since he's still a recruitable athlete. But if he does end up in Louisville then the Cardinal administration and Pitino will have to answer as to why they feel he is worth the rehabilitation -- not in society, the law takes care of that, but to have the privilege to play college basketball one more time.

What do you think?