A Closer Look at UNC’s NOA

General UNC Scandal94

Does anyone else think that it is funny that McAdoo’s plagiarism on a paper where he had already been found guilty of cheating received more press coverage than an NOA with nine major violations?   Oh well, at least some in the press finally realized what the rest of us have known for the last 12 months…things are rotten in CH and the so-called adults are clueless.

While the media storm over plagiarizing is funny to watch, it doesn’t really have much to do with UNC’s hearing with the NCAA in October.   So let’s take a closer look at the NOA and see what is really there and what it could potentially mean to UNC when the penalty phase rolls around.   Also since some of the comments that I’ve read from both ends of the RTP have been based in some alternate reality, let’s see if we can ground the discussion in something closer to the real world.

Cheating, Round 1

Violation #1 documents cheating by three different athletes from April 2008 through Summer 2009.   The names have been redacted, but we can be pretty sure that part (c) covers McAdoo (unless multiple UNC players were cheating on Swahili papers).    On the one hand, this list is pretty small since UNC was able to sweep most of the cheating to the Honor Court.   But on the other hand, we have a recent precedent from FSU on the penalties for academic fraud.

For those that might have forgotten, FSU had 60+ athletes in several sports that were caught cheating in an on-line class.    Now for the good part…FSU had to forfeit every game in any sport that any of those athletes participated in.   So if UNC receives the same penalty for the same offense, then expect wins from 2008 and 2009 to start disappearing.

Based on the report at ncaa.org, it appears to me that FSU did all of the investigating of their academic scandal and forwarded their findings to the NCAA.   It would be interesting to know how much, if any, the NCAA investigated the academic issues at UNC.

PS to UNC fans…If you want to go to war against the NCAA, then I would recommend finding a better horse than McAdoo to ride into battle.

Cheating, Round 2

At first, I was surprised that the NCAA was letting UNC exploit a loophole in the NCAA’s dividing line for determining when cheating by an athlete was an NCAA offense and when it had to be handled by the university.   But then the NCAA surprised me with Violation #2 by declaring all of the “tutoring” done by Wiley after she was fired from the athletic department (and being paid by Butch) as an improper benefit.  (Nice save by the NCAA.)    So now follow this line of logic:

  • Athletes that accept “impermissible benefits” are ineligible from the moment they accept the “benefit”.
  • Their eligibility can only be restored by the NCAA.
  • The standard penalty for small, impermissible benefits is missing 30% of the season and a donation to charity equal in value to the impermissible benefit.

So who were the nine athletes and how many are still left on the team?   From THF’s Blog, here are the players that were investigated for one reason or another (reorganized):

Agent Prong:

* DT Marvin Austin(SR): Dismissed for receiving $10-13K in improper benefits; ethical conduct violation.
* DE Robert Quinn(JR): Permanently ineligible for receiving $5K in improper benefits, ethical conduct violation.
* WR Greg Little(SR): Permanently ineligible for receiving $5K in improper benefits, ethical conduct violation.
* S Deunta Williams(SR): Suspended four games for improper benefits totaling approximately $1400; became eligible for Clemson game.
* CB Kendric Burney(SR): Suspended six games for improper benefits totaling approximately $1300; suspension complete.

Honor Court Appearance:

* RB Ryan Houston(SR): Cleared following honor court date prior to UVa game. Redshirted 2010 season. Will have one season of eligibility remaining.
* DE Linwan Euwell(JR): Cleared following honor court date prior to UVa game. (missing 5 games)
* CB Kendric Burney(SR): Penalized by honor court with reduction of grade in one class. Resulted in loss of credit towards graduation an ineligibility under NCAA rules. UNC applied to the NCAA for waiver which was granted. Cleared for William & Mary game.  (missing 7 games)
* S Jonathan Smith: Declared ineligible for season following honor court date. Redshirt.
* CB Brian Gupton(JR): Declared ineligible for season following honor court date. Eligible next season.
* CB Charles Brown(SR): Declared ineligible for season following honor court date. Received two semesters probation. Redshirt.
* DE Michael McAdoo(JR): Permanently ineligible for improper academic assistance from tutor Jennifer Wiley while she was at UNC. Appeal to NCAA denied in February 2011.
* FB Devon Ramsay(JR): Initially ruled permanently ineligible for improper academic assistance from tutor Jennifer Wiley while she was at UNC. Initial ruling was overturned in February 2011. Ramsay was cleared and will have one season of eligibility remaining.

Cleared without Honor Court:

* LB Bruce Carter(SR): Cleared on academic issues for LSU game  (missing 0 games)
* LB Quan Sturdivant(SR): Cleared on academics issues  for LSU game  (missing 0 games)
* RB Shaun Draughn(SR): Cleared on academic issues for Georgia Tech game  (missing 1 game)
* S Da’Norris Searcy(SR): Cleared on academic issues for ECU game  (missing 3 games)

(Emphasis and games missed added)

It seems logical to conclude that 8 of the 9 athletes with free “tutoring” (NCAA violation) were the ones that were sent to the UNC Honor Court for cheating.   (We don’t know who the ninth player is, but I’ll take “Greg Little” if we’re taking bets.)  These eight players met the first part of the standard penalty for academic fraud by sitting out at least 30% of the schedule (4 games).    But as far as I know, UNC has not declared any players ineligible for taking impermissible benefits from Wiley nor have they appealed to the NCAA to have their eligibility reinstated.   

Unless I’m missing something, UNC will want to get this issue resolved well before their October meeting with the NCAA.    They went to a lot of effort last year to make sure that the players on the field were actually eligible.   It would be silly to abandon that process now.

On the one hand, getting free tutoring isn’t the most serious issue that UNC faces.   However, did the players go to Wiley for free tutoring or free cheating?   It’s hard to argue that there is a logical, ethical reason to bypass department tutors and go to someone who was fired from that capacity.   Of course we shouldn’t forget that this tutor was hired by Butch AFTER being fired OR that Butch was paying her while she was helping his players cheat.   In the end, it will be interesting to hear what the NCAA has to say about this whole sordid issue.

 

They won’t talk to us

Violation #3 (Wiley) and #8 (Blake) won’t talk to the NCAA.    It seems to me that this puts both the NCAA and UNC in a hard sport.   Neither group has subpoena authority and thus can’t make anyone talk that doesn’t want to.    The NCAA can’t afford to let this pass because they depend on cooperation from its member institutions.    Without the ability to obtain subpoenas, the NCAA really can’t operate without that cooperation.   Making the gross assumption that UNC really wanted those two to talk, they also have no way of compelling either individual to talk. 

So do these two violations really mean anything?  It’s hard to say for sure and I expect that we will still be uncertain after the penalties are announced.   Unless the NCAA includes something specific in the final report, I suspect that these two violations are more smoke than substance.

Agents, Round 1

Violation #4 is seven athletes receiving from $54 to $13,507 from agents and others (not including Wiley’s largesse).    Other than noting that none of the referenced instances go back before 2009, I think that this point has been adequately dissected over the last year.

Lying to the NCAA

Yea, like that was hard to predict.   The instances from Violation #5 sound like they can all be attributed to little ole Marvin.   My guess is that this won’t blow back on UNC.   However in Violation #8, John Blake, assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator, lied to the NCAA while he was still employed by UNC.    This will definitely blow back on UNC come this October.

Agents, Round 2

Violations #6 and #7:   John Blake worked for and received money from Wichard while he was also employed by UNC.    This issue could be a key point in the penalties levied by the NCAA.  But for some reason, I keep hearing well known theme music playing in the background and the following lines from one of my favorite TV shows:

As always, should you or any of your IM force be caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. Good luck, Jim. This tape will self-destruct in five seconds.

Blake was hired to do a job and he knew the risks going into it.   He did what he did willingly and it’s unlikely that we will ever know the full extent of his violations.   A number of people have claimed that UNC threw Blake under the bus in an attempt to save Davis and the school.   But in reality, everyone involved knew what would happen if Blake got caught…just like Jim Phelps.

The Rogue Coach Defense

I expect that UNC will argue that Blake operated behind everyone’s back and that there is no way that anyone at UNC could have known.   Even if we ignore Blake’s reputation, this defense doesn’t stand up to any sort of examination.   Follow this line of logic and see if you can spot any weaknesses:

  • A number of different universities have self-reported secondary violations for contact with recruits during mandated “quiet” periods.
  • These violations were uncovered by examining phone records from the coaching staffs.
  • Blake used his university supplied phone to carry on many, many conversations with Wichard (sports agent and “former” employer).

This leaves us with the following possibilities:

  • UNC never audited Blake’s (ie the recruiting coordinator’s) phone.
  • UNC audited Blake’s phone, but didn’t detect that he was talking to an agent that he used to work for.
  • UNC knew that he was talking to Wichard, but didn’t care.

In other words, UNC knew or should have known that Blake was carrying on nearly-continuous communication with a sport’s agent.   Unfortunately, phone records were not included in the NOA’s examples in Violation #9 for failure to monitor.   So we’ll just have to wait and see what the NCAA has to say about Mr. Blake.   (But if I were a UNC fan, I would be very, very worried about this point.)

Failure to Monitor

Violation #9 can be translated as:    Those silly kids were blabbing all over the World Wide Web and there weren’t any adults in Chapel Hill that ever bothered to look.

The real question is what is the NCAA going to do about it?    There is almost no doubt that the final penalties will drone on and on about how terrible this is.   But are there specific penalties associated with sleeping at the switch?    

Who Cares About Forfeited Wins?

There might be more than old W/L records at stake.  Let’s look at the following questions:

  • How many seasons were ineligible players used to qualify for a bowl game?
  • How many bowl games did ineligible players participate in?

When the NCAA looked over these issues for USC, they decided some payback was in order.   I believe that the NCAA used a 1:1 correlation to establish USC’s bowl ban.   Obviously there are no guarantees, but it’s something to look for.

So What’s Next?

I’m betting on:

  • October hearing
  • UNC’s self-imposed penalties (Quit laughing…I wasn’t joking.)
  • NCAA’s penalties

There are several SFN authors that disagree with me, but I believe that the NCAA concluded their investigations before issuing the NOA.   All of the projections about upcoming pain and agony from rotating license tags, 216 cell phones, and academic investigations sound to me like just more noise from message boards.   I believe that the NCAA has either looked at these issues or were not interested.   Don’t forget that just because UNC didn’t release something to the media, this doesn’t mean that they didn’t release it to the NCAA.   (Remember that the NCAA found out that Wiley paid for $1,800 worth of parking tickets.)

Unlike Dave Glenn, the NCAA convicts on facts not smoke.   While I don’t believe that they have found everything, I believe that they have completed their work unless some other issue comes to light.

About VaWolf82

Engineer living in Central Va. and senior curmudgeon amongst SFN authors One wife, two kids, one dog, four vehicles on insurance, and four phones on cell plan...looking forward to empty nest status. Graduated 1982

General UNC Scandal

94 Responses to A Closer Look at UNC’s NOA

  1. packhammer 07/21/2011 at 5:10 PM #

    No doubt that anything curious in the phone records will have been removed as “family” or “family related”. But, the good news is that this will keep the story alive pending the release and then after while people look through what’s there. By then, some other aspect of the story will have broken free again! Seriously, UNC looks like a bunch of idiots right now. The whole idea of a big stink over the release of personal cell phone records is both hilarious and stupid.

    The most interesting thing at the event today was that Tom O’Brien spoke with real confidence about Mike Glennon. He all but said you just watch what my guy can do. “We want to be better than last year” sounded very much like “we are going to be better than last year” to me. Interesting.

  2. IamGumbyDammit 07/21/2011 at 5:36 PM #

    To me, the clear solution to individual non-cooperation is to punish the school so harshly that the school has no recourse but sue the individual for damages, otherwise they look complicit.

  3. TruthBKnown Returns 07/21/2011 at 5:41 PM #

    Hungwolf, it is nice (maybe even refreshing) to FINALLY see the media tide turning against old Butch a little bit. I’m still waiting for them to start asking him some really tough questions, though. Him and his buddies in the UNX administration.

  4. choppack1 07/21/2011 at 6:25 PM #

    VaWolf – excellent analysis.

    You’re pretty much saying what I have been saying.

    1) For all the rumors, innuendo and bombshells, the NOA was about as good as it could be for UNC.
    2) The NCAA didn’t find much new.
    3) The NCAA doesn’t appear interested in any of the recent developments that have come out.
    4) We have no idea what kind of punishment UNC is looking at.

    I’d like to add that for those hoping for LOIC, new info in the hearing – let that ship sail. The NCAA will have to send a new NOA if it’s going after anything else.

    What UNC is being charged with right now is in the NOA. That’s what the committee base their punishment on.

  5. highstick 07/21/2011 at 6:51 PM #

    “No doubt that anything curious in the phone records will have been removed as “family” or “family related””

    La Cosa Nostra! Not to be mistaken for Les Miserables!

  6. highstick 07/21/2011 at 6:52 PM #

    My analysis of this analysis is “Lowering Expectations”…

  7. runwiththepack 07/21/2011 at 7:37 PM #

    What I would really like to know is what promises and claims that were made when recruiting Austin & others. That, of course, is much of the interest in the 216 cell phone.

    We know that NCSU athletes flunk if they can’t cut it. But in Chapel Hill, half-literate athletes make nearly all A’s and B’s. Is that a part of the appeal of UNC to prospects?

    Can you imagine the UNC recruiting pitch?
    “oh, yeah, Marvin, we have REAL GOOOOOD CONTACTS WITH THE NFL. But if we told you, we would have to kill you”. (Davis glances at Blake).
    “We’re almost a direct pipeline to the NFL!” (literally, as we now know)
    “You’re almost guaranteed all A’s and B’s if you come to UNC. It’s stress-free. Everyone at UNC makes mostly A’s and B’s!”

  8. db321 07/21/2011 at 7:52 PM #

    ^ Yep, and after telling recruits that everyone at UNC makes mostly A and Bs, Davis could say and if you struggle then I’ll take care of you…wink, wink. I can’t tell you about how our academic support program works but we’ll take care of you. It is way better than any other school…you’ll get more “help” from our tutoring department than anywhere…you can count on that!!!

    Honestly, how in the world did they avoid LOIC? Now, after seeing how UNC’s administration didn’t even investigate that deeply, just like the professor who rubber stamped plagarized papers, it is clear how their players felt compelled to cheat and accept gifts. The atmosphere at UNC clearly enabled this type of behavior. It appears there were no consequences for anything.

    * Other students complain of academic help players are getting and the school does nothing…never reports it and never investigates it.
    *Tutor helps does a paper for somebody and no problem…Butch Davis hires her right after the school fires her.
    *Player plagarizes 40% of their paper and the professor doesn’t even call them out…no investigation into how this could have happened.
    *Player cheats by getting tutor to write paper and also plagarizes paper and the chancellor, AD, and football coach all go to bat for the guy saying it was nothing really and the punishment for such trivial stuff is too much…just let the kid play.

    It goes on and on and on. No wonder UNC is in so much crap…they created that environment and allowed all of this to manifest itself. How is that not LOIC?

  9. VaWolf82 07/21/2011 at 8:25 PM #

    My analysis of this analysis is “Lowering Expectations”…

    It depends entirely on what the expectations were based on. I get the feeling that some State fans will cry “slap on the wrist” if there’s a single building left standing in CH.

    I’m expecting scholarship reductions, a two-year bowl ban, and alot of mean words. Anyone that’s expecting a lot more will certainly be disappointed.

  10. wolfacct 07/21/2011 at 9:17 PM #

    VaWolf82, I partially agree with you, but based on the GT penalties, I would also expect to see some type of fine, possibly in the $500K+ range. I’d really like to see a reduction in the number of home games, but due to TitleIX, doubt that will happen.

  11. GAWolf 07/21/2011 at 9:19 PM #

    I’ll take that considering our coaches can forever point to it for recruits as butch and company feeding this year’s class absolute b.s.

  12. choppack1 07/21/2011 at 9:25 PM #

    VaWolf – If they get a 2 year post-season ban, I’ll be stunned. I actually won’t be surprised if they don’t get a post-season ban at all.

    When this first broke and all we had was USC – I figured that the NCAA meant to take enforcement seriously. Of course, after the UConn ruling, I don’t think they do.

  13. TruthBKnown Returns 07/22/2011 at 7:10 AM #

    I’m expecting scholarship reductions, a two-year bowl ban, and alot of mean words. Anyone that’s expecting a lot more will certainly be disappointed.

    If they get this, I’ll be happy. I’ve been afraid that they may not lose the opportunity to play in the postseason. THAT is what I would call a slap on the wrist. They need something that makes recruits leery of going there for at least a couple of years.

    Do you think they will be eligible for the league championship game, as well?

  14. IamGumbyDammit 07/22/2011 at 11:29 AM #

    Here’s an interesting snippet from a 2004 SI article about the players’ distrust of BMFD at Cleveland http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/writers/don_banks/11/30/browns.breakdown/index.html

    >>>The atmosphere Davis created within the Browns team complex had a touch of the Nixon White House. Sources within the Cleveland organization have long told stories of being wary of Davis and his autocratic ways, and some suspected Davis spies were sprinkled here and there. The longer Davis was around , the more power he consolidated into a tight little circle around him — which mainly consisted of him and his right-hand man, V.P. of player personnel Pete Garcia.

    “We had to basically watch what we said,” said a current Browns player. “He had the place filled with his people. Anything you said got back to him. And he has his favorites in the locker room. There are a couple guys who shouldn’t be on the team at this point, given their lack of production.”<<<

    Hmmmm "Davis and his autocratic ways", "Davis spies were sprinkled here and there", "the more power he consolidated into a tight little circle around him", "We had to basically watch what we said"…

    OK OK Riddle me this – how does BMFD go from Heinrich Himmler at the Cleveland Browns to a clueless out-of-the-loop-on-everything Sergeant Schultz at UNX?

    Did he really do a 180 in his ways when he left Cleveland and arrove at UNX, or is it just lip service?

    Maybe this other quote from the SI article will shed some light on that matter: "You can tell he's lying, because his lips are moving,'' said the player, who is no longer with Cleveland. "That's how guys feel about him. You can't trust what he says.''

  15. highstick 07/22/2011 at 4:29 PM #

    Don’t know where my post from last night went, but Va’s penalties really aren’t that bad from our perspective…I think it’ll be a little more and the “mean words” would include probation which will keep them on the NCAA’s radar screen. Actually I would not be too all that unhappy with those at this point.

    However, as my post that disappeared last night, I just have a gut feeling that there’s more to come, just as there has been already!

    Remember that big ole White Shark came back to “eat the boat” after Quint thought they’d killed it! There ARE people out there that have a lot of dirt to spill and gosh knows where that might go given the right circumstances.

    Heck, our worst part of the V Era issues didn’t even start until the NCAA was through..

  16. TruthBKnown Returns 07/22/2011 at 5:12 PM #

    Heck, our worst part of the V Era issues didn’t even start until the NCAA was through..

    Highstick, you’re right about that. Problem is, I don’t think that applies to Carolina. They won’t “eat their young” the way we did. Plus, our problems were mostly due to the academics (eggheads) seizing control of the situation. From what I understand, they were thoroughly disgusted with the mockery our basketball program made of our university.

    At Carolina, I think their eggheads are being too quiet to push for any extra self-destruction the way we did to ourselves. Plus, their eggheads appear to be a part of the PROBLEM. They may just want this to go away more than anything, since they actually share some culpability. And even worse, their academic issues surely span multiple programs, as well as multiple years. This is not just a recent football problem. I suspect their academic problems go back years, if not decades, and probably would implicate the basketball program, too.

    So I wouldn’t expect them to self-destruct. Even if their eggheads weren’t a part of their many problems, they’re also quite adept at “circling the wagons”. I believe not a word comes out of their “camp” that isn’t completely planned in advance.

    Except for the jewels we find on Twitter almost daily. 🙂

  17. highstick 07/23/2011 at 11:30 AM #

    I understand what you’re saying Truth, but “timing” could be the unknown. I don’t think we’ve heard from the Chapel Hill academics yet and Thorp may be the reason. If they start turning on each other and do start eating their young Chancellor, all bets are off. If a few more damaging academic issues leak out, I don’t think they will be able to keep the wagons circled.

    I’ve got to be in Chapel Hill for several days next month. I haven’t figured out how to disguise my Wolfpack and Gamecock Club stickers on my car yet.

  18. packhammer 07/23/2011 at 5:59 PM #

    VaWolf82, I’m wondering if you saw today the story on Ohio State and NCAA penalties. What is your analysis of what this may mean for UNC? Seems like the NCAA really looks favorably on real cooperation and self imposed penalties. As for UNC, the first is doubtful, and the second has not been done.

  19. VaWolf82 07/23/2011 at 7:18 PM #

    I just looked it up and don’t see that there is any useful information on what penalities OSU will face. So I don’t see how to make any projections from there to UNC that has far more problems that just selling stuff for cash.

    I guess it’s a good thing for UNC that they haven’t won anything of importance since Butch arrived. Do you think that crew would have missed a chance to profit from anything?

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