Kendric Burney had prior knowledge of agents in Miami but Butch didn’t? (Day 75)

UNC Scandal18

^ Marvin at the gun show this past spring.

Tonight’s entry is based on a piece that went up last Thursday but (appropriately) got lost behind our excellent pregame entries Friday and Saturday.  This point is too important to miss and represents a major theme that should be repeated — we are being asked to believe that Butch Davis knew almost nothing about what was going on in his program.  And that somehow this implausible lack of knowledge is acceptable and gets him off the hook.

The fallout from Wednesday’s NCAA suspensions began with Kendric Burney’s dad giving some great quotes that raise serious questions about institutional control.  You should read this article in full.

I think the following passage from that piece damages UNC-CH more than any other I have read since the scandals broke:

Tyrone Burney said his son told him the trips were to have fun, not to meet with potential agents. He said his son knew about the Memorial Day trip to Miami which cost Alabama’s Marcel Dareus two games, and was attended by UNC’s Marvin Austin and Greg Little, but knew there would be agents there.

“That’s exactly the type of thing he was trying to avoid,” Burney said. “That’s the reason he did not go on the Miami trip because he heard what was going on there.”

(Emphasis added).  Here we learn two very important things.  First, that there actually was a Memorial Day trip/agent party.  I had never seen it actually nailed down.  Remember Marvin’s tweets from that weekend about “Club Liv” and “getting  bottles like its a giveaway”?  He actually was in Miami.  So, that means Marvin and Greg Little were partying in South Beach on three different trips from March through May of this year!  Doesn’t that remind you of your own undergraduate experience?

Next, that quote from Mr. Burney tells us something amazing!  Kendric Burney knew beforehand that the Memorial Day weekend trip/agent party UNC-CH players attended was happening — while Butch did not???!!! How in the world is it possible for such a thing to be known by UNC-CH players such as Kendric, but not be known by Butch, the other coaches, the UNC compliance office, etc, etc.?  I can’t decide if it is more damning for UNC-CH/Butch to have known and not stopped it or for them to be ignorant about such a monumental problem going on within the program.  How off the rails was it over there?

More things we can now put together:

* We know that Marvin invited the Alabama player Dareus to go on this trip and even paid for his way to Miami and for the hotel.
* We know that Marvin did not pay for his own trip (because he said that Vontae Davis did — which Vontae has denied).

* Now we know that someone in/around the UNC football program talked in enough detail about the Miami trip that other UNC players were afraid to go — yet the coaches and compliance office supposedly had no idea about it.

* We know that the NCAA classifies Chris Hawkins as an agent — how will they classify Marvin?

* If Marvin is classified as an agent or runner (highly probable in my opinion — what else could he be?), how will that impact UNC’s penalities?  I can’t imagine that having an active agent/runner actually on your roster on scholarship (with the players knowing about it — but not the coaches) has even happened before in NCAA history.

For a contrasting opinion about a  coach’s responsiblity, let’s consider former UNC head coach Mack Brown’s comments after the Texas defeat this past weekend:

“As a head coach, I’m responsible for everyone in this program, from the trainers, to the managers, to the walk-ons, to the kids, to the coaches, everybody…”

Obviously Butch does not feel this way. 

For the record, we know that Kendric was not at the Memorial Day Miami party because he has a super alibi.  We know from his tweets and pictures that he was in Las Vegas with Chris Hawkins over that weekend.  How great is it that Kendric going to Las Vegas with Hawkins (considered an agent by the NCAA and arrested on felony cocaine trafficking charges in 2009) was actually the less improper choice of activities available to UNC-CH football players that weekend!

I will leave you with a tweet and a picture indicating that Kendric made the right choice and was in Vegas with Hawkins that weekend:

and

UNC Scandal

18 Responses to Kendric Burney had prior knowledge of agents in Miami but Butch didn’t? (Day 75)

  1. LRM 09/27/2010 at 11:00 PM #

    All of this very well might not be Butch’s fault; but it’s absolutely every bit his responsibility. Period.

  2. MatSci94 09/27/2010 at 11:09 PM #

    How did he not know? He put his fingers in his ears and yelled “LALALALALALA…”

  3. MrPlywood 09/28/2010 at 4:48 AM #

    Austin looks completely like your typical college student in that pic.

  4. Pack78 09/28/2010 at 7:25 AM #

    Go unx-how bad is it whwn SEC schools can look down their noses at an ACC school that cheats worse than they do (or ever have?).

  5. Scooter 09/28/2010 at 7:58 AM #

    While the NCAA’s treatment of sutdent athletes receiving benefits from agents is getting more clear, has there ever been a case when a student athlete was determined to be acting in the interest of an agent or as a runner for an agent? As time marches on, it is looking more and more like that is the route NCAA is headed with Marv.

  6. VaWolf82 09/28/2010 at 8:03 AM #

    Several rhetorical questions:

    Did Burney tell the NCAA what he heard before and after the Miami trips (plural)?

    The NCAA said that the Alabama player was one of the most honest student-athletes that they had ever interviewed. How could the NCAA tell if he was being open and honest? Can we conclude that the quality or quantity of information about the Miami trips impressed the NCAA investigators?

  7. whitefang 09/28/2010 at 8:12 AM #

    Why are we not hearing any comments from the ACC offices? Do they have any role in this? How can they hide under the covers when one of the founding members and supposedly one of the elite schools in the conference is in danger of tarnishing the entire league?

  8. lush 09/28/2010 at 8:15 AM #

    The People’s Forum
    P.O. Box 191
    Raleigh, NC  27602
     
    To the Editors:
     
    I feel obligated to comment on the scandal in Chapel Hill since most of the discussion in the local media consists of summarizing UNC press releases – not so, by the way, for the national press – perhaps you should review some of their work.
     
    To the NCAA:  Having a former UNC football player continue to interview players at other schools that are intimately connected to Marvin Austin does not meet any legal definition of the word “recused”.
     
    To the ACC:  My condolences to the family of John Swofford as he has apparently been struck blind, deaf, and mute.  If not, I’m sure he would be discussing his public commentary and responses to the Danny Ford and Jim Valvano situations at Clemson and NC State respectively – and would be assuring us that he was going to hold UNC to the same standard.  If he is incapable of upholding his responsibilities in his current incapacity, perhaps they can find someone who can.
     
    To the UNC Board of Governors and UNC Board of Trustees:  Do your job, and insist on an independent investigation.  Having UNC police itself is akin to asking Bernie Madoff to review policy on Wall Street and recommend his own sanctions.  Or asking Mike Easley to adjudicate state conflict of interest claims, if you prefer your analogies local.
     
    To the Faculty Senate at UNC:  Your recent letter attempting to justify the lack of questions at a recent Faculty meeting – that demonstrated both your naiveté  and a blind belief in everything your “Glorious Leaders” are telling you – was shocking.  There are countless examples of that turning out well throughout history – who has been writing your term papers?
     
    To Holden Thorp:  Condescension , hypocrisy, and cluelessness do not equal leadership.  Your continued assertions that UNC is beyond reproach and that this scandal is the actions of a few rogue players, agents, and tutors does not cover up the stench that is coming out of Chapel Hill.
     
     
    To Dick Baddour:  The ludicrous statements of support you keep receiving ignore several pertinent facts – this happened on your watch and you are responsible.  Whether you care to argue that you were aware of the infractions and did nothing (ie “accomplice”), or that you missed everything that was blatantly going on around you (ie “incompetent”) – it is still your fault.  You are not the solution – you are the problem.
     
    To Butch Davis:  When you recruit non-students who exhibited thug-ish behavior both before and after you recruited them – and then boast about their actions repeatedly on public media – this is a scandal waiting to happen.  When you hire coaches that have been investigated multiple times by the NCAA (and have achieved national notoriety – something else Dick Baddour choose to not notice) – I’m not sure why anyone who is telling the truth is surprised.  By the way – when it comes to your repeated denials of knowledge of any wrong doing – do you honestly believe there is anyone in America who doesn’t think that is a load?  If that was true, you should be fired for sheer stupidity – though I suppose that is marginally better than lying and malfeasance.
     
    To the News and Observer:  When did “investigative reporting” become reduced to whining that the press releases you were given weren’t juicy enough?  Have budget cuts truly emasculated your staff to the point where they can’t find out any news on their own?  Or is the long rumored editorial policy trumpeted by the “lunatic fringe” really true – is UNC off limits?  The “Carolina Way” has been exposed for what it truly is, and has been for a number of years.  I would think you have a golden opportunity here to sell papers – people want to know the truth and so far, they are not getting it from newspapers, tv, or the internet.  There is a void to be filled.  Care to step in?

  10. YogiNC 09/28/2010 at 8:32 AM #

    +1000. You nailed it lush. Somewhere SOMEONE needs to be Woodward and Bernstein. As for our elected leaders why haven’t THEY stepped in and forced an independent investigation with subpoena powers? Marshall is the only one and we haven’t heard squat out of that. Where is the sunshine law in regards to Austin’s and Blake’s testimony?

  11. foz 09/28/2010 at 8:47 AM #

    I’ve not seen any mention of this, but if Austin is deemed an agent, can’t he face jail time for not being registered in NC? That might put a damper on his draft expectations.

  12. GoldenChain 09/28/2010 at 8:55 AM #

    “I can’t imagine that having an active agent/runner actually on your roster on scholarship (with the players knowing about it — but not the coaches) has even happened before in NCAA history.”

    A lot of State fans think nothing will come of this however ^this statement seals the deal for me. No way the NCAA can turn their head.

    My next prediction: it will come out that tutorgate had an inappropriate relationship with a coach…. educated guess by connecting the dots.

  13. Wufpacker 09/28/2010 at 9:28 AM #

    ^^ While that would likely worsen it, my guess is that there already is a significant damper on his draft status compared to what it would have been.

    And whether he could face jail time would depend on who deems him an agent. If it’s the NCAA then they have no power of criminal prosecution. If it’s the state, then theoretically they could attempt prosecution and might wish to do so as a “warning” to other student athletes (heh heh…student athlete).

  14. packplantpath 09/28/2010 at 9:33 AM #

    “My next prediction: it will come out that tutorgate had an inappropriate relationship with a coach…. educated guess by connecting the dots.”

    Honestly, for her sake, I hope not. Nobody deserves to be slandered in the court of public opinion for mistakes make in their love life.

  15. bradleyb123 09/28/2010 at 9:50 AM #

    We have a legitimate beef with our local media for their coverage (or lack thereof) of this scandal. I feel like we’re all just helpless, waiting for the N&O to do their job, and they are not. Like someone lamented earlier, this would be a great opportunity for them to sell more papers, and yet, they are showing that protecting Carolina is more important to them than doing their job and boosting their sales.

    But Tar Holes paint us as lunatic fringe simply for asking the N&O to do their job and stop protecting Carolina.

    We can’t win for losing!!!

    This really feels like worst form of government-controlled media. They are truly like the Iraqi Minister of Defense.

    I’m beginning to think there needs to be an investigation of the N&O.

  16. bradleyb123 09/28/2010 at 9:51 AM #

    We have a legitimate beef with our local media for their coverage (or lack thereof) of this scandal. I feel like we’re all just helpless, waiting for the N&O to do their job, and they are not. Like someone lamented earlier, this would be a great opportunity for them to sell more papers, and yet, they are showing that protecting Carolina is more important to them than doing their job and boosting their sales.

    But Tar Holes paint us as lunatic fringe simply for asking the N&O to do their job and stop protecting Carolina.

    We can’t win for losing!!!

    This really feels like worst form of government-controlled media. They are truly like the Iraqi Minister of Defense.

    I’m beginning to think there needs to be an investigation of the N&O.

  17. wolfbuff 09/28/2010 at 1:16 PM #

    I’d like to understand more about what the esteemed Ms. Marshall is actually doing? We should start a grass roots effort to force her to be more open and aggressive with this investigation. If she finds nothing, fine. Doubtful but fine. But with nothing coming out of her office, it appears she is doing nothing. That could be because she doesn’t have time, it could be because she thinks she can ride it out through the election without riling up half the voters beforehand. I’m not sure how many State fans, which tend to lean to the right, would vote for her anyway. But we should make it clear to her that we will actively campaign against her and vote for her opponent if she does not step it up and come out with some findings from her faux investigation.

  18. wolfpacktexx 09/28/2010 at 2:57 PM #

    Lush – your paragraph on Butchie left out some key points
    – The simple facts is Butch brought someone into his staff with a soiled reputation

    – Butch gave this staff member senior level status and responsibility of being the head recruiter

    – Butch condoned Blake’s relationships with agents.

    – Butch gave Blake an endorsement of support as recently as end of August.

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