Sixers' Brett Brown says Rick Pitino was a major influence

Brett Brown knows Rick Pitino as his former coach at Boston University, longtime mentor and friend. The 76ers coach learned Wednesday that Louisville has placed his friend on an unpaid leave amid a federal bribery investigation.

The university's action came one day after the Cardinals men's basketball team was linked to a federal investigation of the alleged bribery of a recruit. The coach was not named in the indictment, which led in the arrest of 10 people, including an Adidas executive and four assistant coaches at other schools.

"I do not know really the full details at all," Brown said. "What I do know is for four years of my young life playing all of my college career for him, he influenced me in major ways – on court, off the court.

"He's clearly one of the best coaches to ever coach basketball. It speaks for itself. I'm sure that time will allow the truth to unfold and we'll all learn more as time comes around."

Brown played for the Terriers from 1980 to 1983. Brown's associate head coach, Jim O'Brien, is also part of Pitino's coaching tree.

Reserve center Jahlil Okafor participated in limited five-on-five scrimmaging during Wednesday's training camp practice.

This marked the first time the third-year veteran went five-on-five since March. He missed the final 11 games and 18 total this past season with right knee soreness.

Okafor's knee has been bothering him since he had surgery March 22, 2016, to repair a torn meniscus. The injury could make it hard for the Sixers to get what they deem as equal value for the 6-foot-11 center, the third overall pick of the 2015 draft.

Joel Embiid (recovering from left knee surgery) and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (right knee patellar tendonitis) remained out of the five-on-five scrimmages