ESPN’s Joe Schad: NCAA Investigation Into UNC Concerns Agents

Big Four Rivals Football Recruiting UNC Scandal42

Joe Schad, ESPN’s senior college football writer, has been updating what he discovers about the NCAA’s visit to UNC via his Twitter feed.  Here’s his feed, newest from the top:

  1. UNC DL Marvin Austin was asked why he was seen driving the vehicle of 49er Kentwan Balmer and if he stayed at Balmer’s apartment about 9 hours ago via web
  2. Two sources described the amount of agent activity in Chapel Hill this offseason as “hectic.” about 11 hours ago via web
  3. UNC players were asked by the NCAA who was paying for their rent. about 11 hours ago via web
  4. Marvin Austin was asked by the NCAA who paid for his recent trip to Miami. And players were asked about travel. about 11 hours ago via web
  5. UNC football players were asked by the NCAA to provide phone records to prove which agents they had spoken with. about 11 hours ago via web
  6. One person said UNC’s star football players such as Marvin Austin were among those interviewed by the NCAA about 11 hours ago via web
  7. One person said the questions from the NCAA to UNC players were intended to “make sure no Reggie Bush stuff is going on.”

As I told you yesterday, be careful in who you believe concerning this ongoing story.  A visit to WRAL’s or Inside Carolina’s forums may as well be a trip to The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus for all of the truth that one will find there.  This much is a fact: a bunch of people there are claiming to have a personal “inside source” who knows the whole story and told the poster this or that.  Of course, what those folks are posting varies wildly with little if any consistency.  That tells me that they are talking out of the boxer shorts and that their “inside source” is the one inside their own head.

These matters take time, and in time, all of the relevant facts will come out.  It’s intriguing in the meantime, but this is a case where waiting what the professional journalists who do have multiple contacts inside the UNC football camp report is without doubt the best route to separating fact from fiction.

Some interesting Twitter feeds to follow are:

http://twitter.com/ArmstrongWTVD – Mark Armstrong of WTVD

http://twitter.com/schadjoe – Joe Schad of ESPN

http://twitter.com/joeovies – Joe Ovies of 99.9 FM

A great source for Carolina information without the typical noise:

Tar Heel Fan

Big Four Rivals Football Recruiting UNC Scandal

42 Responses to ESPN’s Joe Schad: NCAA Investigation Into UNC Concerns Agents

  1. Rick 07/16/2010 at 7:56 AM #

    But even if this is true how is this UNC’s fault? They cannot control if the player is willing to break rules.

  2. Rick 07/16/2010 at 7:57 AM #

    As long as the UNC players were not stupid enough to sell their shoes. That seems to be one of the biggest mistakes a program can make.

  3. Alpha Wolf 07/16/2010 at 7:59 AM #

    ^ Institutional control is a very tricky thing where the NCAA is concerned. See: Reggie Bush / USC.

    Even if Carolina doesn’t take an NCAA beating, it’s very possible some key players may be deemed ineligible, perhaps as soon as this season. And…they may have to forfeit previous victories.

  4. Plz2BStateFan 07/16/2010 at 8:08 AM #

    Somehow I do not see the NCAA being able to enforce anything before the season starts….look at how long it took to execute the USC penalties…

    just sayin

  5. Alpha Wolf 07/16/2010 at 8:12 AM #

    ^ If a UNC player (or more) is caught red-handed, it could well turn out that the university itself does this.

  6. choppack1 07/16/2010 at 8:33 AM #

    Several thoughts here:

    *If UNC contacted the NCAA about this initially, look for them to not be impacted at all other than possibly the losses of the players.

    *If the NCAA was tipped off to this, UNC could be in a little more trouble, and the investigation is likely much more serious.

    *A major media outlet, UNC and/or the NCAA should be contacting the UT recruit who accused of Blake of providing him w/ women and money.

    *The news report I heard today was that this involved 2 players – Marvin Austin and Greg Little. If it’s just 2 players – and specifically those 2, it’s probably not a big deal. If it morphs into something bigger, it’s huge.

    *Baddour’s statement was smart – basically saying “we’re going to cooperate.” This leads me to believe that this isn’t related to Butch or Blake at this time.

    *It’s usually a big deal when the NCAA shows up to do some investigating. Part of me thinks the investigation is bigger than Austin and Little. This team had several pro prospects on the defensive side of the ball ALL of them decided to stay. It doesn’t mean UNC did anything wrong – but it just means that the net could be wider than these 2.

  7. 1990alum 07/16/2010 at 8:39 AM #

    OK, so UNC had some bad news come out yesterday. And, coincidentally, Yahoo Sports had to go dig up a story on Chris Washburn?

  8. StateFans 07/16/2010 at 9:18 AM #

    ^ I saw that…and could not believe it.

    Still waiting for the stories of how UNC-CH was the key ‘enabler’ for Lawrence Taylor.

    But, who in the world would be interested in somebody as insignificant as LT when you can focus on a washed up basketball player that nobody under the age of 30 has ever heard of.

  9. Daily Update 07/16/2010 at 9:27 AM #

    The story on Washburn was up early in the morning. There have been several articles about him recently after speaking at an AAU camp.

  10. StateFans 07/16/2010 at 10:08 AM #

    I know. It still is comical and sad.

  11. Sam92 07/16/2010 at 10:29 AM #

    I assume that the NCAA investigation will take time, well into the upcoming football seaon.

    Is Butch Davis forced to hold out of play the players whose activities are under investigation, because if he plays them and they are later disqualified he would forfeit any victories in which they played?

  12. coach13 07/16/2010 at 10:44 AM #

    Expecting the media to report wrongdoings at UNC is a weird concept, kind of like cannibalism.

  13. stejen 07/16/2010 at 10:55 AM #

    I agree that we should need to wait for the details to come out but for this to be making national news, there must be some serious concerns. Hopefully nothing serious will come of this. I would never put this in the same scope as what happened at USC.

  14. gashousepack 07/16/2010 at 11:16 AM #

    I would never want this to bleed over to the bball program.

  15. boonami 07/16/2010 at 11:23 AM #

    The guys on 620 brought this issue up to Tom Suiter and the first thing out of his mouth was State’s issues with DT in 73 and other recruiting issues from the 50’s so when it’s a UNC problem, let’s deflect to State on issues that happned over 20 years ago. He must be a State hater.

  16. Gowolves 07/16/2010 at 12:16 PM #

    This will not affect recruiting for them. I just don’t see that happening. HS kids will love the fact that agents are coming to the games and the campus. Gives them a shot to get in the league. Now if it affected bowl eligibility or # of scholarships, then I could see the effect on recruiting. From what we are hearing right now I don’t see either of those punishments occuring.

  17. WolftownVA81 07/16/2010 at 12:21 PM #

    This story made the local Charlottesville, VA 11:00 news last night.

  18. harrisek 07/16/2010 at 12:25 PM #

    UNC is made of teflon. The NCAA is wasting their time, nothing will stick.

  19. tootallorder 07/16/2010 at 12:33 PM #

    WolftownVA81 Says:

    “This story made the local Charlottesville, VA 11:00 news last night.”

    Well, I just watched the WRAL Friday noon news, and there was no reference to this story. Nothing. Also note that WRAL’s website no longer has the story “above the fold.” Same with the N&O and CO. This, less than 18 hours after this story broke.

  20. CStanley 07/16/2010 at 12:39 PM #

    UNC asked for this when they brought Butch on board.

  21. tootallorder 07/16/2010 at 12:44 PM #

    http://www.sportsagentblog.com/2010/07/16/the-unc-football-scandal/

    “It is apparently beyond just in-person meetings, rent payments, and travel expenses. We are potentially talking about all expenses paid trips to South Beach, exorbitant amounts of money dropped on accessories, and perhaps even a Bentley or two.”

  22. statered 07/16/2010 at 12:50 PM #

    This is explosive stuff.

  23. Plz2BStateFan 07/16/2010 at 12:59 PM #

    ^^wow

  24. Pack78 07/16/2010 at 1:30 PM #

    Several links that I have seen allege that up to 13 FB players are involved in the above discussions; Deunta Williams among them in addition to the aforementioned Little and Austin. Sounds like the vast majority are on the defensive side of the ball,surely just a coincidence that Black Santa coaches the DL and seems to do the lions share of the D recruiting…

  25. GAWolf 07/16/2010 at 1:52 PM #

    Someone has been makin’ it rain.

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