Don’t have a lot of time right now…so, want to share this as quickly as we could.
As I skim the article, the first thing I note that the UNC PR machine was successful in repositioning ‘facts’ with what is supposed to be the “paper of record”. Take the following quotes for example:
The paper classes went back as far as the 1990s. The grades the athletes were given were always high enough to ensure they were eligible to play.
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What does Dean Smith have to do with any of this? Nothing — and everything. Although Smith retired in 1997, four years after the paper classes began
Score one for UNC! NOBODY KNOWS how far back paper classes go in Chapel Hill. We only know about the 1993 date because that is when the AFAM department started (1992-1993) and that is the date that UNC paid for ‘independent studies’ to be completed.
As professor Jay Smith once said in a Daily Tar Heel article:
Smith said there might be a hidden reason for pegging the scandal’s beginning to 1993.
“The 1993 date is somewhat arbitrary,” Smith said. “And you have to wonder whether that date wasn’t something given to Wainstein by Debby Crowder and Julius (Nyang’oro) themselves, perhaps as a way of protecting the ‘93 team — the ‘93 championship team.”
Smith said the courses before then could have been legitimate but simply irregular in their accommodation of student athletes.
But Smith said the date could also protect a championship-winning basketball team.
“If the narrative is to be changed, if the date is to be pushed back, then that ‘93 team falls under a cloud in the same way that the other two are under a cloud.”
Smith said changing the start date has serious implications for both the basketball program and the bigger picture surrounding the scandal.
“If we push the date back and we trace this thing to its roots, we get a better sense of the sorts of systemic pressures that were operative here, that were brought to bear and that will always, I think, threaten academic integrity.”
So, there is no proof that the fraud actually began in 1993…but, that hasn’t stopped the lazy-ass media from falling for the lie – hook, line & sinker.
UNC paid for the ‘indepedent’ Wainstein report and set the scope & timeline of the review. They chose 1993 so that they could limit the investigation to just the AFAM department (which started in 1992-1993 and immediately saw SEVEN upper classmen from UNC’s 1993 National Champion basketball team mysteriously transfer into the major).
WHO KNOWS what existed BEFORE African American Studies. Rumors of similar set ups in UNC’s Portuguese ‘classes’ and geography ‘classes’ had existed for decades before 1993. But, to be fair, it really is amazing that 1993 date is now accepted as the start of the ‘full scale fraud’ as that was when Coach Smith and current ACC Commissioner, John Swofford, were in charge of UNC Athletics. Of course, it was just a coincidence that this scheme was cooked up the first year after Duke had successfully won back to back national championships. (If you want more on this, then you must read “The Thanksgiving Theory”.)
It has since been documented that 22 of the first 25 fake enrollments by athletes were by Dean Smith players. In Dean Smith’s last 8 years at UNC, the breakdown of fake enrollments by sport was as following:
Men’s Basketball – 54
Football – 26
Women’s Basketball – 2
All other sports – 0
So, the next time the absolutely WARPED media throws Dean Smith’s 96% graduation rate in your face then just respond that 88% of the initial fraud by athletes came from Dean, too.
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PER UNC 2nd SACS Response & Wainstein Exhibits:
Total fake enrollments by athletes, all semesters from Fall 1989 through Summer 1998
Men’s Basketball – 63
Football – 37
Women’s Basketball – 4
All other sports combined – 0
Summer fake enrollments (1990-1998)
Men’s basketball = 30
All other sports combined = 6
Total Summer fake enrollments (1990-2011)
Athletes – 728 fake enrollments (52.4%)
Non-Athletes – 661 fake enrollments
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1992-1993: UNC Wins National Championship in the first year that African American Studies Department Existed
The Carolina Alumni Review points out that Dr. Nyang’oro, the professor (and department head) at the center of the AAS athletic scandal, was employed by the University as a faculty member in 1988. Nyang’oro became the chair of the curriculum at issue in 1992. The Carolina Alumni Review also points out that Nyang’oro was the *first* and *only* department head; African American Studies as a curriculum was created in 1992 when Nyang’oro was designated the first and only chair.
In 1992-1993, the University of North Carolina basketball team won the NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship in New Orleans finishing the year with an impressive 34-4 record.
UNC’s roster for the 1992-1993 team can be viewed here. However, below is a clip from that link for your convenience:
Roster
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Scott Cherry Sr 6-4 G
George Lynch Sr 6-7 F *
Henrik Rodl Sr 6-7 F/G
Travis Stephenson Sr 6-6 F
Matt Wenstrom Sr 7-1 C
Eric Montross Jr 7-0 C *
Derrick Phelps Jr 6-4 G *
Brian Reese Jr 6-6 F *
Kevin Salvadori Jr 7-0 F
Pat Sullivan Jr 6-8 F
Pearce Landry So 6-5 G
Donald Williams So 6-3 G *
Dante Calabria Fr 6-4 G
Larry Davis Fr 6-1 G
Ed Geth Fr 6-9 F
As you will see, the starting line up for the 1993 National Champion Tar Heels consisted of George Lynch, Brian Reese, Donald Williams, Derrick Phelps, and Eric Montross.
Before we move forward, a disclaimer: In the not-so-distant past, SFN was able to peruse old UNC Basketball Media Guides. For some reason we are having trouble relocating those online. But at that point, we were able to determine from UNC’s own publications the curriculum/majors of many of the former UNC basketball players.
The curriculum majors/minors for that group based on our best collected information and belief are as follows:
Lynch (Sr): African American Studies
Reese (Jr): Communications (minor in African American Studies)
D. Williams (So): African American Studies
Phelps (Jr): African American Studies
Montross (Jr): Communications
It seems worth pointing out that in the FIRST YEAR that curriculum for African American Studies existed at UNC (1992) that FOUR OF THE STARTING FIVE members of Dean Smith’s National Championship Basketball team IMMEDIATELY majored/minored in this brand spanking new curriculum with Dr. Nyang’oro at the helm. In just one year, an almost entire team happened to migrate to one particular, and brand new, curriculum?
But…of course…Dean Smith…who is/was internationally renowned and LEGENDARY for his involvement in EVERY SINGLE ASPECT of his players lives simply had NO IDEA. The man that players turned to advise them on everything in their life did NOT know that the majority of his players all changed their major into a brand new major. The man that is still lauded and gets credit for producing a 96% graduation rate does not get held accountable for even knowing his players majors or study habits?
Which way is it?
Great work, New York Times! Way to really get behind the story!!
