Scandal odds and ends ***6/25 update with Fox piece from Evans and N & O parking coverage***

General UNC Scandal31

I know the scandal is busy when I have to write these potpouri entries covering several different articles.  I can remember when SFN was about the only outlet covering this thing.  Good to see everyone finally getting in the pool.

Way too much to comment on at length, here are some various things from the last two days in “InfoPack” style.

***I am putting the update up front.***

This morning Thayer Evans from Fox posted this great column about UNC-CH’s “control” issues.  An excerpt:

It wasn’t a lack of institutional control when former Tar Heels assistant coach John Blake received $31,000 working as a runner for a sports agent, tutors did work for players and seven players received more than $27,000 in impermissible benefits from agents, former players like Chris Hawkins and former tutor Jennifer Wiley.

Just like it wasn’t a lack of institutional control that Blake lied to NCAA investigators, Wiley knowingly broke NCAA rules and refused to cooperate with NCAA investigators, and an unidentified Tar Heels player lied to NCAA investigators.

It also wasn’t a lack of institutional control that North Carolina failed to adequately monitor Hawkins’ use of university facilities and access to players, didn’t check players’ Twitter accounts that showed violations, and decided against investigating impermissible benefits after a player reported the possibility.

…

Count me as relieved to hear the Tar Heels truly had everything under control the entire time.

Also, this morning the N & O ran an article from Giglio that covered the parking information that came out yesterday.  I don’t notice anything new, but there is so much to keep track of I am not sure.  My favorite quote:

It does not appear that the university researched how the vehicles were aquired by the players.

You don’t say!  We are all amazed!

***end of 6/25 update***

Leading off is this FANTASTIC column by Scott Mooneyham from the Elizabeth City paper.  He nails everything.  The entire thing is SFN required reading.  Here is a sample:

What Davis has done is tarnish both the athletic and academic reputation of the state’s flagship university.

So far, though, the only harkening sound from over on the hill is equivocation. Or, is it just plain silence?

That so many who have nurtured and protected that reputation for so many years — Bill Friday, C.D. Spangler, Paul Hardin, Erskine Bowles — haven’t publicly called for Davis’ head is the saddest part of the whole sorry episode.

The NCAA report makes clear that the scandal marks the most significant wrongdoing in a collegiate sports program in North Carolina since a basketball point-shaving scandal enveloped UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State University during the early 1960s.

Next we will look at this WRAL piece from this afternoon about the parking tickets.  Apparently our friend Greg Little was quite the car enthusiast, racking up 93 parking tickets!

One of the cars, a gray Dodge Charger, is registered to his father, Gregory Lamar Little. Tickets were issued to that VIN number with three different license plates, including one 24-hour period where it got two tickets and had two different plates. The car with that VIN number got at least 16 tickets.

One of those plates doesn’t exist according to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Another one of the plates is a 30-day temporary tag.

Along with the Charger, Little is responsible for the tickets issued to a green BMW, a black Acura, a gray Nissan and a black Honda.

Wow!  I have not owned that many cars in my entire life.  How does a college kid have access to that many cars?  Also, check out this tweet from an alert Erin Summers responding to that newly-realeased parking ticket information:

ErinESummers Erin Summers
So this parking tix list doesn’t add up to the last received by #UNC – Austin not on the list, several cars, license plates missing…
1 hour ago

That can’t be!  UNC-CH has been so open and honest through this whole process.  Of course there is no way they are trying to hide anything.  It looks like ESPN picked up today’s parking ticket story.

Next is this article from WRAL with some quotes from Bill Friday that are just hilarious:

“It’s been a difficult time but like good North Carolinians we’ve admitted we’ve made the mistake,” said Friday. “Now let’s move on.”

Friday says he supports the way Chancellor Holden Thorp has handled the situation, and trusts Thorp’s judgment when it comes to head Coach Butch Davis, a man Friday says he’s never met.

“My position is one of supporting Chancellor Thorp because I believe his heart is in the right place,” said Friday. “I think he’s trying to do what’s right. And I think he will.”

He trusts Thorp because Thorp’s “heart is in the right place.”  Unreal.  This is how we were treated in 1989-90 right?

Next are two articles from The News and Observer Thursday that are actually good.  The first from Caulton Tudor of all people.  Caulton identifies five questions that would be good for the press to follow up on:

1.Where did former tutor Jennifer Wiley get the money to pay off almost $2,000 in parking ticket fees and air travel for players?

…

2. …seven players are said to have received more than $27,000 in illegal benefits during 2009 and 2010 from an assortment of agents, former Carolina players and a Florida-based jeweler.

Coach Butch Davis is not charged with having knowledge of any of those infractions, but why didn’t he know?

…

3. … former associate head coach and top recruiter John Blake is said to have steered players directly to the late agent Gary Wichard.

How was Blake running such an elaborate and blatantly unethical operation without the knowledge of someone on the football or athletic department staffs?

4. Upon Blake’s early September resignation following the season-opening game – more than two months into the investigation – he was paid almost $75,000 in severance.

Why was Blake paid anything? He wasn’t fired. He quit.

5. In the ninth and final allegation, the NCAA asserts that Carolina was advised by a player in 2009 of possible infractions and did not adequately investigate.

How could that have possibly happened?

Welcome to the party, Caulton!  Good luck getting answers to those questions from UNC-CH’s open and honest administration.  The second article from the N & O Thursday was this one from J.P. Giglio that explains that UNC-CH redacted the names of two employees from the NOA:

The names of the two employees in question were redacted in the ninth enumerated violation with a specific reference to the interactions of Chris Hawkins, a former UNC player who has been defined by the NCAA as a runner for an agent. The NCAA has asked UNC for a summary of information regarding Hawkins’ interaction with one of the employees and a second employee’s approval of Hawkins’ presence at the athletic facilities.

Inconsistencies

There were also several inconsistencies in the redaction of names of individuals involved directly with the violations, specifically former university tutor Jennifer Wiley, former NFL agent Gary Wichard and former UNC football player Kentwan Balmer.

Hiding information?  Incosistencies?  From “open an honest” UNC-CH?  Say it isn’t so!

This piece from the Columbus Dispatch explains that the Ohio State Trustees are investigating the compliance office and practices at the school.  Amazing!  Of course, at UNC-CH, where there are much more far-reaching problems, apparently the only thing the trustees care about is how the scandals may be impacting recruiting.


I will end today with a “lighter side of the news” segment.  In this piece, the DTH continued its brave reporting, publishing details about the parking tickets.  It also set out some research they did regarding the phone records.  Check this out:

And when the NCAA began interviewing members of the football program on July 12, 2010, Baddour made seven calls or texts, including one to a landscaper, before calling Amy Herman, associate athletic director for compliance, at just after 6 p.m., and then again at 9:12 p.m., for a total of three minutes.

Baddour followed that with a 38-minute call to the UNC football office at 9:17.

Davis’ only recorded calls that day were to a prepaid New York number and a golf course in Southern Pines.

So, on the first day the NCAA is on campus interviewing the football team, Baddour called his landscaper before his compliance director?  Looks like Butch may have changed his tee time!  There does not appear to be a climate of concern.  Also, what is a “prepaid new York number”? 

Stay tuned.

General UNC Scandal

31 Responses to Scandal odds and ends ***6/25 update with Fox piece from Evans and N & O parking coverage***

  1. Plz2BStateFan 06/24/2011 at 5:57 PM #

    To be fair, UNC knew about the NCAA coming for 1-2 weeks before they showed up on campus.

    And we dont know how they communicate typically. Most communication could take place in person or email. I hardly ever call people that are in the same building I am in at work.

    But thats just being picky about trying to make something out of that.

  2. TAEdisonHokie 06/24/2011 at 6:00 PM #

    Just curious, but did anyone else notice that Blake’s cell phone records only cover three months? Why? Where are the rest of his records? What other phone or phones did he use while employed by UNC?

  3. wolfpacker 06/24/2011 at 6:04 PM #

    What a tangled web you weave, when you practice to deceive.
    ~ Sir Walter Scott

    AGAIN, THEY ALL KNEW WHAT WAS GOING ON…and they are going to make themselves look even more foolish than they already have. I am certain the the NCAA is watching their every move. The entire BoT, BoG, unx admin, unc athletic department, acc commissioner all knew that the agenda was to create a powerhouse in Cheaters Hill. It backfired and these idiots tell you we’re sorry, now let’s move on? What a JOKE! This is coming from the FLAGSHIP? university? You clowns are amazing.

    Watching frauds fold are pretty exciting. It’s been a LONG time and the ENTIRE SYSTEM is suspect! Not a word from anyone, they are now trying to orchestrate a move out of the web.

  4. TheAliasTroll 06/24/2011 at 6:05 PM #

    I support Butch! What a great pick up by the Heels 5 years ago! Once all of his seasons are vacated how many wins will he have EARNED for the baby blues?

    LMFAO!

  5. NCSU88 06/24/2011 at 7:16 PM #

    It’s good to see the media starting to ask the questions we’ve been asking since last summer. They need only to visit the archives here to come up with lists of strings to start pulling. I want to know what Davis’ personal office staff knows.

  6. MatSci94 06/24/2011 at 7:26 PM #

    “Davis’ only recorded calls that day were to a prepaid New York number and a golf course in Southern Pines.”

    I thought Davis’s phone records showed no calls. Was that just his cell phone?

  7. BJD95 06/24/2011 at 7:51 PM #

    The most galling element is above is the excrement coming out of Bill Friday’s sanctimonious piehole. I wish he would just turn in his diploma already. In tandem with “Johnny” Edwards, preferrably.

  8. redwolf87 06/24/2011 at 8:02 PM #

    Bet ol’ Bill had (has) an Edwards for President bumper sticker on his car.

    There is something inherently scary about all this. I saw somewhere where people were comparing this Butch love to a cult, and it’s not too far off. It is unfathomable that this man has such a Svengali hold over so many of the UNC folks. And it’s not just the typical Wal-Mart idiots who haven’t ever set foot in Chapel Hill–it includes supposedly well-educated people who honestly should have a better grasp of logic.

    This is a sad commentary not just on college sports, but on what’s wrong with this country. To be in such blind denial borders on mental illness.

  9. wolfpacker 06/24/2011 at 8:53 PM #

    Tell ol’ Bill Friday that when WE get the straight up TRUTH we will move on. Until then, if he can’t contribute to the process of determining what has been going on, GET LOST!

    The citizens of North Carolina deserve an EXPLANATION OF THE ENTIRE PROCESS AND FAILURE AT ALL LEVELS in the unc football investigation. The lack of desire of the upper levels to get to the bottom of what has been going on tell you that … THEY knew all along.

    We ARE TENACIOUS and if we have to we will find out the TRUTH on our OWN.

    Several years ago, I heard a few unx grads bragging about what Blake was going to do. These were somewhat connected folks, but I told them: “What you guys have managed to do in basketball isn’t going to work in football. You need a COACH, not a crook to win.” – I was RIGHT!

    These clowns are going to make mistakes…just sit back and watch the comedy show unfold.

    The absolute best thing is that their fate will not be determined by the BoT, BoG, or the acc commissioner, but the NCAA.

  10. beowolf 06/24/2011 at 10:03 PM #

    Bill Friday said we admitted our mistakes, so let’s move on.

    Bill Friday SAID that.

    Bill freaking Friday.

    Bill “made his national reputation on the Valvano scandal such that he was later named co-chair of the Knight Commission to clean up corruption in college athletics nationwide” Friday wants the state of North Carolina and the nation to just up and “move on” from an athletics and academic scandal so deep-rooted and so multi-pronged that it defies the abilities of national commentators to fathom, let alone describe.

    Bill “bye-bye, credibility” Friday, who waxed so eloquent about the shocking, awful scandal of players selling tickets and shoes, now wants everyone to give that poor, cute li’l rascal UNC a little “no, no” talk and then muss his hair and send him back outside to play. Oh, and don’t forget the lolly, there’s a good boy.

    Yes, THAT Bill Friday. What a profound hypocrite.

  11. graywolf 06/24/2011 at 10:19 PM #

    Sad part is that Bill Friday is an alumnus of NC State (undergraduate degree) and post graduate (law) from Carolina.

  12. BloggerEsquire 06/24/2011 at 10:51 PM #

    How in the world is Butch smart enough to only talk on a non-UNC line, but Blake (who may or may not have been doing more rule breaking) ends up using his UNC line all the time?

  13. lumbee wolfman 06/24/2011 at 11:19 PM #

    So when is someone going to organize a call campaign to the Bill Fridays and/or BOT for an SBI investigation or another independent investigation?

  14. atl packer 06/24/2011 at 11:27 PM #

    Long time reader. 1st time poster. Pack fan since born in 78.

    This thing stinks all the way up the chain. Blatent lack of policy controls. Blatent disregard for “rules”. All are involved and its an utter shame if its not investigated at multiple levels. When does the so called sec of state get off her her platform push and push for reform. Oh wait, this is the land of corrupt NC politicians with their beaks getting wet from outside services. What about the commish, yeah his butt smells too! Who will step up and call a spade a spade? Erskine? No he’s involved. Friday? He’s Delusional at best. Press? Just call them Pete Golenback (sp?). We need a voice and this blog is the best out there. Keep it up BJD, Old mac, Wolfpacker, et al. Push the local press and make them write the story. If UNC was good @ football, then this would be a headline. Until then the, its up to us to make the voice of Jimmy V heard and send the heels back to their old well!

    Keep pushing statefans! Don’t give up, don’t ever give up!

  15. wufpup76 06/25/2011 at 12:53 AM #

    Hey guys – I’ve just killed all these people and destroyed a small town while on a drug-induced rampage.

    But you know – I’m admitting it – because I’m a “good North Carolinian.” Pretty sure that covers everything.

    Now let’s move on.

  16. waxhaw 06/25/2011 at 6:51 AM #

    The carolina way.
    …Good Carolinian
    …Flagship University
    …to seem rather than to be.

    SCREW ALL OF THEM. I’m glad the media is finally turning on them. Their holier than thou attitude was bound to catch up to them eventually. I hope they get the worst penalty since SMU.

  17. 4in12 06/25/2011 at 7:55 AM #

    beowolf – That’s classic! You need to put that in a letter to the editor and send it to every paper in NC (via e-mail of course).

  18. BorntoHowl 06/25/2011 at 8:21 AM #

    There’s a new guy in charge at the NCAA. This year at the Final Four he started addressing the problems in athletics. Part of his commentary is below:

    “We cannot have coaches, administrators, parents or student-athletes sitting out there deciding, ‘Is this worth the risk? If I conduct myself in this fashion, and if I get caught, it’s still worth the risk.’” Emmert said. “We don’t want those kind of cost-benefit analyses going on.”

    His tenure and the future of sports will be defined by how he deals with UNC-CH. This is an unprecedented scandal, nine major violations uncovered to date, that hasn’t been seen before (Maybe Alabama football in the 60’s, but thank goodness for no Twitter or Marvin Austin or both back then). If he’s serious about putting some integrity back into college sports and saving college athletics i.e. playing for the essence of the sport and not the money, it must be here or amateur college sports will start its trek and be gone forever.

  19. BJD95 06/25/2011 at 8:30 AM #

    Nobody has earned a public skewering more than Bill Friday. Nobody.

  20. WestCoast 06/25/2011 at 11:06 AM #

    Agreed BorntoHowl…

    I’d find it hard to believe that the NCAA would ignore all the ‘smoke’ the rest of the national press seems to see. However, it seems puzzling that some of the local on air talent seems to think the national media isn’t noticing that Davis might not have really known what was going on….and that’s ok?? Really? I was listening after 3pm this past week to a local station and when they made the comment that the national sports media stating that Davis had to know something and this had all signs of being ‘out of control’, they indicated that’s why their listeners listen to the local shows….bc there’s more to the story and Davis might not have known. I promptly changed the station. Wow.

  21. packalum44 06/25/2011 at 11:36 AM #

    “We cannot have coaches, administrators, parents or student-athletes sitting out there deciding, ‘Is this worth the risk? If I conduct myself in this fashion, and if I get caught, it’s still worth the risk.’” Emmert said. “We don’t want those kind of cost-benefit analyses going on.”

    Nice talking point but look at U-Conn and Auburn, the two “champions” in revenue sports. Nuff said.

  22. runwiththepack 06/25/2011 at 1:19 PM #

    THANK YOU, THAYER EVANS!!
    Evans: “It wasn’t a lack of institutional control when former Tar Heels assistant coach John Blake received $31,000 working as a runner for a sports agent,
    …tutors did work for players,
    and seven players received more than $27,000 in impermissible benefits…
    Blake lied to NCAA investigators,
    Wiley knowingly broke NCAA rules and refused to cooperate with NCAA investigators,
    and an unidentified Tar Heels player lied to NCAA investigators.
    …North Carolina failed to adequately monitor Hawkins’…
    didn’t check players’ Twitter accounts…
    decided against investigating impermissible benefits after a player reported the possibility.
    Count me as relieved to hear the Tar Heels truly had everything under control the entire time.” (sarcasm, fyi)

    Thayers article is one of the best national coverages, so far, of the “troubles” uncovered (so far), at our flagship sister institution (so far).
    Each major violation, in and of itself, doesn’t constitute LOIC, accd. to conventional wisdom. But, as others before Thayer have asked, how can UNC have 9 major violations (so far), and their program and head coach still claim ignorance?

  23. runwiththepack 06/25/2011 at 1:46 PM #

    If former “associate HEAD coach” and top recruiter John Blake were a mere grad assistant rogue coach, then this might fall under plausible deniability.
    (All head coaches can take note of this “throw Blake under the bus when the @#$% hits the fan” approach, if UNC gets off without LOIC.)
    BUT, UNC recruiting has really turned a lot of heads since Butch Davis and Black Santa have arrived in Chapel Hill.
    WHAT A COINCIDENCE!!

  24. highstick 06/25/2011 at 6:34 PM #

    http://www.gastongazette.com/sports/-58618–.html

    Duh, my buddies be Duenta and Coach Davis, he be the best!! He be gonna close in the stadium…

    TO KEEP THE AGENTS OUT?

  25. WolftownVA81 06/26/2011 at 12:48 PM #

    Come October, if UNC gets off light, and the ACC is true to form and does nothing, the other conference schools should be in open revolt due to the unfair advantage gain by the cheating school on the hill. I’m looking at you Debbie.

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