“Loaner car” charade at OSU; Parking “issues” extend to UNC basketball? UNC athletes keep on Tweeting(updated)

General UNC Scandal53

I thought Yahoo’s Dan Wentzel wrote an excellent column today on the shenanigans at Ohio State:

Link to full article.

Just as things were quieting down, the Dispatch reported on Jan. 2 that Pryor had been pulled over by police three times in the last three years driving “loaner” cars from a local used car dealer, Auto Direct. Pryor told the paper he only borrowed the cars when his own car (currently a Dodge Charger) was in the shop with repairs.

Ohio State said it was aware of two of the incidents and would look into the third. If we’re led to believe the borrowing of cars were again isolated incidents, then Pryor has some bad luck with local cops. He seemingly gets pulled over every time he receives a nice loaner. Either that or he drives them all the time, of course.

The car dealer did tell the newspaper that he also allowed Pryor, in 2008, to drive a Dodge SUV back to Pryor’s home in Pennsylvania. “I wanted advice from some of my family and friends I trusted to see if it would be a good vehicle for me to maybe buy,” Pryor said.

Unsupervised, out-of-state test drivers of used cars are common practice, correct?

Oops.

Pryor didn’t buy the car, of course. Ohio State, quite naturally, declared everything on the up and up. How? Well, they just did. This wasn’t a violation of NCAA rules.

The issue of student-athletes receiving tickets has been brought up in the current scandal in Chapel Hill as there is currently a law suit brought by different media organizations to force UNC to release parking ticket information on several UNC football players. The reason the tickets are an important piece of the puzzle is that the makes, models, license plates, etc…would all be on those tickets which would then allow those in the media to determine if the vehicles were in fact being driven in compliance with NCAA rules (At least that is how I see it.) UNC has already said they investigated the parking issues and found no violations. Nothing to see here. Move Along. You know…the Carolina Way?

Interestingly enough, parking ticket issues may not be limited to only football players. This picture was posted recently on Twitter by Dexter Strickland:

That appears to be UNC basketball player John Henson with what looks like a parking ticket/official document in hand at the front of a a minivan/SUV/truck looking vehicle with a boot on the front left tire.

Can anyone figure out the make of that car from the picture? Alert Statefansnation poster Alex_01 has already come up with a great guess to the make and model of this car. He determined this as a 2009 or 2010 Infinity QX56 and not an Armada made by Nissan based on:

7 spoke chrome wheels, different headlight assembly, and the running board shape.

Look at the 2010 Infinity QX56 pictured below — it sure looks like the same model as the one the UNC basketball player is posing beside with what looks like a parking ticket in his hand. (But with different spokes?)

Here is another with the correct spoke situation:

If you go here, you can get a more in-depth look at this make and model.  There you will see that the MSRP of this vehicle is $56,700-$59,800.  Maybe this was a more affordable option like:

Per edmunds:
2009 QX56
Used TMV from $37,815

2010 QX56
Used TMV from $45,480

2010 New QX56
MSRP from $56,050

I don’t know about you, but the car I drove as an undergraduate was worth far less than that.  These UNC-CH athletes sure do seem to have very high standards of living.  Good for them.

Likely, this is no big deal. This may not even be Henson’s vehicle or a vehicle he was driving. Maybe he just saw the booted car and wanted to get a quick Polaroid of himself to throw Statefansnation for a loop?

However, one would have to wonder how Roy Williams would feel about one of his players posting this picture considering all of the issues on Twitter for UNC over the last 9 months. If you want a refresher on social networking websites and UNC, then go here and read about how the “experts” in Chapel Hill were hosting a symposium on social networking websites vs. institutional control while the NCAA was breathing down their neck:

A symposium in April of 2010 on the exact problem that eventually led to Agentgate and Nannygate? The trips and tweets that led to the NCAA investigation occurred in March, April, and May of 2010, yet right in the middle of these shenanigans UNC’s Associate Athletic Director Steve Kirschner is hosting a panel discussion on the exact topic that was about to start this mess? You can’t be serious? Instead of participating on this panel, Kirschner should have been hunkered down in his office scouring Twitter to fend off the NCAA.

Regardless, I sure do appreciate the stupidity of Dexter Strickland giving us some new material to start the year. Thanks Dexter!!!

_______________________________________________________________________________

9:51 am update

Thanks to Packman97 for doing some additional research on this story:

I tried to folowup on the post on the home page but I think I put in too many links and my message got blocked as spam and I tried a few times, so I think my account got blocked or something…

John’s parents can legitimately afford this type of ride. I think trying to bark up the tree of is John Henson’s ride legit is a dead end.

John Henson’s Dad played at Norfolk State
http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/henson_john00.html

Norfolk State’s listing of prominent alumni, listing Matt Henson.
http://alumni.nsu.edu/?page=ProminentAlumni

Article mentioning Henson’s parents moving to Round Rock (as listed in NSU’s alumni page)
http://www.tampabay.com/sports/basketball/preps/article988187.ece

Link to his employer, OSI (owners of
http://www.osirestaurantpartners.com/insidethecompany.asp
Today, our portfolio of brands consists of Outback Steakhouse units throughout the U.S., as well as Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Bonefish Grill, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar and Roy’s Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine. We are now one of the largest casual dining restaurant companies in the world. We operate in all 50 states and our Outback Steakhouse restaurants are also open in 21 countries around the world.

So Henson actually owning/driving this vehicle seems perfectly legitimate. Like we said, this was most likely no big deal. We still wonder how Roy Williams feels about Dexter posting this picture considering he has attempted to control his players participation on social networking sites. Additionally, we wonder why can’t someone who obviously has the means to pay measly fines like parking tickets can’t also be responsible enough to actually do so and avoid getting a fine vehicle like the one in the picture booted?

General UNC Scandal

53 Responses to “Loaner car” charade at OSU; Parking “issues” extend to UNC basketball? UNC athletes keep on Tweeting(updated)

  1. Old MacDonald 01/04/2011 at 10:30 AM #

    Love that they did not learn their lesson with Marvin! Keep them coming assholes!

  2. Alex_01 01/04/2011 at 10:42 AM #

    The vertical drop at the rear of the A pillar is a pretty unique design cue and matches the Nissan Armada. Looks like MJ is involved.

  3. Daily Update 01/04/2011 at 10:45 AM #

    Alex: Thanks for that contribution.

    Let’s find a picture of an Armada.

  4. Alex_01 01/04/2011 at 10:47 AM #

    Actually its an 09 or 10 Infiniti QX56, the luxury version of the Armada. How do you post a link / paste?

  5. Daily Update 01/04/2011 at 10:49 AM #

    Alex: Copy and past the link. I will put the picture in the entry.

    Thanks for the work.

  7. Daily Update 01/04/2011 at 10:57 AM #

    Alex: How did you figure out it was the Infinity and not the Armada?

  8. Alex_01 01/04/2011 at 11:02 AM #

    7 spoke chrome wheels, different headlight assembly, and the running board shape

  9. Daily Update 01/04/2011 at 11:08 AM #

    OK, you sold me on that. How much do those models run generally?

  10. Clarksa 01/04/2011 at 11:12 AM #

    Something to add to the “thing that make you go hmmm” file…

    UNC-CHeat Baseball

    November 18th, 2010
    Brian Goodwin suspended for violating university policy/will return: http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/111810aaa.html

    January 3rd, 2010
    Brian Goodwin will transfer: http://www.dailytarheel.com/index.php/blog/press_box/2011/01/outfielder_brian_goodwin_to_transfer

  11. Daily Update 01/04/2011 at 11:17 AM #

    Goodwin is transferring so he can play this year and then declare for the draft. Isn’t Boras based in Miami?

  12. Clarksa 01/04/2011 at 11:19 AM #

    Not sure, but the speculation was that Goodwin was involved with the tutor/academic issues.

  13. Tampa-Pack 01/04/2011 at 11:21 AM #

    $57,000 for a 2010 2WD model – per Kelly Blue Book (sorry for the triple post – first two never posted, maybe due to the link?)

  14. Tampa-Pack 01/04/2011 at 11:26 AM #

    One would think with all that was going on over in the Hole, that the parking enforcement officers would be smart enough to not ticket/boot athlete cars. At least someone over there still has some respect for the rules – heck knowing them, they probably know that some booster will come in at the end of the month and give them a big check for all the tickets.

  15. baxter 01/04/2011 at 11:29 AM #

    Per edmunds:
    2009 QX56
    Used TMV from $37,815

    2010 QX56
    Used TMV from $45,480

    2010 New QX56
    MSRP from $56,050

    Link: http://www.edmunds.com/infiniti/qx56/

  16. Mike 01/04/2011 at 11:53 AM #

    Would you guys please stop digging and just let this go? You are making Baddour’s and Thorp’s job more difficult, and we really wish you would let them focus on more important things, like finding ways to get more wins for Deano and creating mythical championships to hang more banners.

  17. PackerInRussia 01/04/2011 at 12:15 PM #

    OSU has already given them an easy out: He was test driving it for a few hours or days or months and just happened to get the boot put on.

  18. Hungwolf 01/04/2011 at 12:19 PM #

    Had some interesting conversations with UNC-Ch students that were home for the holidays. When asked how they felt about the “alleged” violations of the football program, all of them said the school is guilty as hell and the bball players are no different. They know the administration doing all they can to cover things up. They see the players driving cars they can’t afford, eating at resturants they can’t afford, taking trips they can’t afford, wearing jewelry they can’t afford, going to concerts/events they can’t afford, at clubs all the time, walking around with ipods/laptops/cell phones they can’t afford, and wearing clothes they can’t afford. The students always know.

  19. CaptainCraptacular 01/04/2011 at 1:29 PM #

    Hasn’t Carolina been through enough ‘adversity’ already for one school. That’s what Bob Davie tells me anyway. If they have to go through anymore with new things brought to light, they may win some sort of humanitarian award for overcoming all that adversity.

  20. bradleyb123 01/04/2011 at 1:45 PM #

    Hungwolf, believe it or not, we all probably accept and respect that kind of honesty. At least they are being honest, unlike their administration and a FEW of their fans. What irritates me the most is the fans trying to pretend nothing is wrong JUST BECAUSE there may or may not be enough EVIDENCE to PROVE it. But we all know the truth. And some of this may even be true for some of our athletes. But I do remember seeing some of our good players driving clunkers around campus. There is one that stands out. Seems like I saw Avie Lester driving a Firebird or Trans Am. But that was not some crazy unaffordable car. I drove a ’79 Camaro, myself. And I was just a regular student. I don’t see why a basketball player’s parents couldn’t afford a used Firebird for their son.

    But when you see most players on the team driving $50,000+ vehicles around, and you know they don’t ALL come from well-to-do families that can afford that, then there’s smoke present.

    It’s irritating when some fans can’t even admit what is common sense about these things. I think they just don’t want to give an inch, because we might try to take a mile.

  21. packbackr04 01/04/2011 at 2:04 PM #

    for comparison….nate irvings crash picture looked like he was driving a mid 90’s ford explorer. not a very high end vehicle. Nate was NFL ready at the time.

  22. packalum08 01/04/2011 at 2:10 PM #

    It’s a good thing this Terelle Pryor stuff came out. I’m never going to buy a Dodge Charger if they break down that frequently! Thanks, Terelle!

  23. Mike 01/04/2011 at 2:22 PM #

    Avie Lester did drive a Trans Am but I would not call Avie a top notch recruit where we had to give special enticements. In fact, Avie’s parents were both edcuated and planned for his college future. When he got the scholly, they took the $$$ for the educaiton and bought him a car.

    Now, who remembers Clyde the Glide and his white Cadillac?

  24. bradleyb123 01/04/2011 at 3:23 PM #

    I wasn’t accusing Avie of anything. A Trans Am was not exactly an unattainable car for a college student. And that was the closest thing to “questionable” that it gets for NC State athletes. If Carolinx fans try to say this happens everywhere, well, quite frankly, they’re wrong. It does not.

  25. bradleyb123 01/04/2011 at 3:27 PM #

    The more I think about this, the more I think a lot could hinge on the car thing. If Carolinx athletes have been driving super nice cars all these years, for free, then that is a definite recruiting advantage over schools that do not. Imagine if you’re a poor high school student with great basketball talent. You drive a real clunker of a car. One coach gives you an offer, but you’ll continue driving your clunker. Another coach gives you an offer, and along with it is an offer from the schools minions that you’ll drive a $60K Lexus, get a nice Ipod, etc. Who in their right mind would choose coach #1 over coach #2?

    If somehow we can get all the right information pried loose from the white knuckle grip of the Carolina administrators (and local car dealers, too???) then this thing could really get blown wide open.

    On another tangent, when I see articles like this, I can’t help but wonder why we don’t see more like this from our local media. It’s a shame on them.

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