According to reports, Greg Little and Robert Quinn will never see the field again for UNC-CH. According to the linked article:
Little accepted diamond earrings, as well as travel accommodations for the Bahamas, Washington D.C. and two trips to Miami, among other benefits. Quinn accepted two black diamond watches, a pair of matching earrings and travel accommodations for a trip to Miami, among other benefits.
Heather Dinich of ESPN contradicts Butch Davis’ repeated comments to the media suggesting that Austin has been working his way back onto the team and that his absence hasn’t been NCAA-related.
The NCAA found unethical conduct charges against Little and Quinn for providing false and misleading information, saying they were not truthful during three separate interviews with university and NCAA enforcement staff members. North Carolina did not seek to have Austin, who was ruled ineligible for accepting improper benefits, reinstated by the NCAA.
Dick Baddour released this statement regarding Austin, Little, and Quinn.
“It’s a sad day when three young men are no longer able to represent their school based on actions they have taken and decisions they have made contrary to NCAA rules. Unfortunately, they made serious mistakes in judgment in accepting extra benefits and then not being truthful with our staff and NCAA representatives. Now they must forfeit the privilege of playing again for the Tar Heels,” Baddour said in a statement.
One of the worst “offenses” that any school can commit where the NCAA is concerned is a lack of truthfulness by one of their representatives during an investigation. This turn of events – not the suspension, but instead, some of UNC’s players lying to the NCAA – does not bode well for the UNC football team when the final punishment is doled out.
SFN Commentary (11:40am)
A real shocker here, folks (sarcasm). This set of developments only goes to show you HOW MUCH lying is/was going on here:
First, these ‘kids’ have been lying to the NCAA and anyone else who has been asking questions. Blatantly lying over and over. In my best Scooby Doo villain voice — ‘and they would have gotten away with it, too if it weren’t for that meddling Marcel Dareus!’
But, it is just nice that the Carolina fans can no longer whine that the NCAA isn’t treating them fairly by not ruling on their athletes and keeping them in limbo. No more of that. Here is your ruling. You have what you wanted.
And, we have what we wanted with another stroke that shows just how much lunacy – some would call lying – was behind Butch Davis’ ridiculous quotes that Marvin Austin is in the process of ‘working his way back on the team’.
In addition to dozens of comments that we have made in our general message forums over the last couple of months stating that Austin, Little & Quinn were finished for the year…how else could/should you have known that this was the path the investigation was taking? Take a look at our real-time analysis posted on September 9th in this forum thread – The Truth behind NCAA’s punishment of Green & Dareus:
I’ve heard a lot of people discussing and complaining about the difference between the punishments of (Georgia’s) AJ Green and (Alabama’s) Dareus.
In short, Green got 4 games for ‘selling a jersey’ (code for accepting money) from an agent for $1,000. Dareus got just 2 games for accepting about $1,800 worth of benefits in the form of a trip to one of the SouthBeach parties that Austin and the Carolina guys attended.
I have been very disappointed in the lack of analysis and thought into what is really going on here. So…let me help the radio guys and television guys that don’t get it.
Dareus cut a deal! Green’s violation is cut and dry and easy to punish in light of the NCAA’s set schedule of punishments.
Dareus, however, had material information about players and agents and what was happening in this whole Marvin Austin runner ring.
If you go back and look at the history of this whole thing, Dareus has been the most open and forthcoming from the very start. He & Alabama have played this thing perfectly, and I’m guessing that one can draw a conclusion about the quality of the information he provided by the light punishment he received.
That is not good news for UNC.
We were only one month ahead of today’s news with our version of the news. But, what do we know – eh Dicky? Erskine? Holden? Radio guys who talk junk about us?
Just remember, everyone – the folks at Inside Carolina have inside scoop (planted by this trustworthy coaching staff) that will ball over by next Friday. Then the next Friday. Then the next Friday. There is nothing to it. Nothing bad is going to happen to Carolina.
I just hope that all of the high school recruits, their coaches and their families are paying attention to the ever growing list of lies being pinned on the UNC spin machine; because they are the targets of the current big ones that Carolina is going to be fine and there is no reason to fear future sanctions. Just like the way Marvin is working his way back onto the team.
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Dick Baddour and Butch Davis have a press conference scheduled for 11:30AM. This entry will be updated with details as they become available, so stay tuned.
Dick Baddour:
“There is a a lot of smoke around here.”
So says the man in the middle of raging forest fire.
“I’m will fight the institutional control issues…I will not accept Loss of Institutional Control.”
Let’s do some math here, Dick. You’ve lost three players permanently, and eight or nine others at least for part of the year. You’ve got agent problems, academic fraud problems, an assistant coach working for an agent, and a former player with major drug charges working out in your facility and hanging out with your kids. No, there’s no evidence of a loss of institutional control. Sure, right, whatever you say, Dickie!
But why not stick both feet in your mouth when you have one already in there?
“We have strong compliance. We were doing more than significant things. We need to do more and that part will evolve.”
So strong that you’ve lost three players permanently, that you have tutors writing papers for team members and a coach working for an agent while he is second in command at your school. Wow. That’s some STRONG compliance there. In fact, I would call it SIGNIFICANT compliance. Amazing.
No, what’s even more seriously amazing is that Baddour said that UNC will continue to honor the scholarships of the three players who were permanently ruled ineligible.
“We will honor the scholarships of the athletes.”
Really? After the NCAA kicked them out of college football forever?  JUST the kind of folks you want hanging around the school and no doubt hanging with their friends, many of whom are undoubtedly playing football for UNC. That’s like leaving Stage 4 cancer hanging around, without having any need to have an oncologist cut it out and help you heal. Maybe that’s the Carolina Way.
Bomani Jones, formerly of 850 AM here in Raleigh and now with a national show on Sirius/XM, perhaps put it best in Twitter:
“baddour should stop talking. he’s acting like this athletic program has never had top notch athletes. uh, basketball?”
Jones has been the most direct radio host, and been pretty much called this one down the line: that UNC is in some real trouble and that there’s no real excuse for the shenanigans that went on there the past few years. Jones is right, but apparently over in Chapel Hill, not many involved in this scandal are living in the same reality as the rest of us.
According to Baddour today, Little, Quinn and Austin were told on Friday about their status with the team. Mark Armstrong, sports anchor at WTVD tweeted this today:
Per TJ Yates: Greg Little had ‘tears in his eyes’ this morning after getting the news.
Then again, the three dismissed players were seen signing autographs and having pictures taken with young people at the UNC-Clemson ballgame in Kenan Stadium on Saturday, so apparently, Little’s tears were shortlived.
Why in the world were these kids — who had been kicked off of the team permanently less than a day before — allowed into the stadium to be treated by fans like royal guests? That says so very much about the UNC athletics department and quite honestly, Carolina fans too. After all, would you want your smiling kid to have his picture taken with one or more of the three players who basically sent your team into serious sanctions?
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