Tarnished Heels -- Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Football penalties

            The final few months of 2011 were relatively quiet in terms of new information on the scandal.  Julius Nyang’oro had resigned his chairman post in the AFAM department and would eventually retire from the university.  The school had made its appearance before the NCAA regarding the infractions charged in the Notice of Allegations – a meeting attended not only by Chancellor Holden Thorp and Director of Athletics Dick Baddour, but also by John Swofford – who was not only the commissioner of the ACC, but conveniently also a former UNC athletics director, athlete, and a graduate of the school.  Happening behind the scenes, though, was the on-campus look into possible irregularities within the Department of African and Afro-American Studies (AFAM).  Those findings would be revealed at a later date.  The next major news, however, would be the formal sanctions handed down by the NCAA against the school’s football program.

* * *

            An article dated March 12, 2012, from the Raleigh News and Observer hit the highlights of the NCAA’s sanctions.  Many of them had previously been covered in the original Notice of Allegations, with the difference now being that penalties were attached.  The wording of some of the infractions, though, would be especially important regarding future activities by the university and some of its players.  Essentially, the school would later commit similar infractions – but would not be held to the same standards and penalties by the NCAA.  The main difference would seemingly be the sports that were affected.  As has been noted before, the school’s level of defense of its football issues versus basketball issues would eventually be great indeed.

            The football program was cited for allowing some of its players to receive impermissible benefits in the forms of money, travel, and other expenses – often provided by tutor  Jennifer Wiley, who at one time had worked personally for head coach Butch Davis’s family.  It would later be shown through a series of Secretary of State indictments that not only did agents also supply players with money, but that the dollar amounts the NCAA stated in its 2012 sanctions were substantially below the actual transaction levels.

            Another major violation – and one that would appear to drive all of the university’s stonewalling attempts in the future regarding uncovering the truth of its academic improprieties – dealt with the impermissible participation of athletes.  The formal sanctions stated that during the 2008-09 academic year and the summer of 2009, three student athletes engaged in academic fraud.  As a result, one of those athletes competed while ineligible during the 2008 football season, another competed while ineligible during the 2009 and 2010 football seasons, and the third competed while ineligible during the 2008 and 2009 football seasons.  The culminating result was that the football program was forced to vacate 16 victories during that timeframe – as games where ineligible players participated were retroactively forfeited.  This is a well-known mantra of both the NCAA and college sports in general.  And it is also presumably what would eventually lead the school to fight tooth and nail over improprieties involving its basketball program.  Much more on that matter will be discussed in the upcoming chapters, but the implication is clear: If a basketball player were ever deemed to have cheated academically, then the team would have to forfeit any games/seasons in which that player participated – even one involving the winning of a National Championship.

* * *

            Back to the March 2012 football sanctions:  The program lost a handful of scholarships spread out over the forthcoming three seasons, and was also banned from postseason competition in 2012, which included any potential conference championship game or bowl game.  In a decision by the school considered hypocritical by many, however, it chose to award its players with “Division Champion” rings after the 2012 season, despite not being eligible for the championship game due to its past violations.  This decision was apparently justified by the university because the team finished in a three-way tie for first in the Coastal Division.  The school also proclaimed itself “Coast Division Champions” in a variety of advertising mediums, including a prominent billboard in Charlotte.  All of this in spite of the fact that Georgia Tech officially won the division and played in the ACC championship game.

            Another penalty from the NCAA dealt with compliance.  The notes said that “the school must also educate athletes, coaches and relevant school personnel on NCAA rules and regulations.”  This edict would fall on at least a few deaf ears in the future, however, as the summer of 2013 would find even more UNC athletes receiving benefits that were clearly impermissible based on multiple NCAA regulations.  One final notation dealt with how the school would be monitored and treated moving forward in terms of any potential new violations that might occur.  The sanctions stated that the institution is on probation for three years. This would seem to infer that if other infractions were to occur during the three years to follow – in any sport – that stricter penalties would be levied.  Whether that ultimately ends up being the case (stricter penalties being levied) remains to be seen, as other infractions have undoubtedly been committed by the school and its players in the aftermath of those announced March 2012 sanctions.

            Following the announcement of the official violations and penalties, a number of individuals associated with UNC (both past and present) commented on the matter.  Regarding a potential appeal, Chancellor Holden Thorp said, “We decided it wouldn’t make sense to appeal, given how long the appeal would take, given the (lack of) success other schools have had with appeals.”  Former head coach Butch Davis maintained his innocence in the matter by saying through a released statement, “As was stated by the Chancellor this summer, and has been noted in this report, I was not named in any of these allegations.”  Former UNC Athletics Director Dick Baddour took a more grandiose approach with his comments, eliciting the very term that has been brought into question through the university’s actions and events over the past two decades: “Well there’s still a Carolina Way,” Baddour said.  “The way we did this investigation, it was my strong belief that it was the Carolina Way.  We set out four guiding principles when we started.  Number four was that we would be better as a result of this.” 

            In a News and Observer editorial released on that same date of March 12, 2012, staff writer Caulton Tudor commented that the school was given a tough punishment, but that it could have been worse.  He noted that more scholarships could have potentially been lost, and that ultimately only a one-year bowl ban wasn’t too bad.  An important observation he also made was that, “Sixteen wins have been vacated, but that sort of reprimand doesn’t carry much weight.”  That is likely true, given that the football team had never competed for a national championship during the affected timeframe.  But once again, the issue of vacated victories would eventually become the centerpiece of the university’s fierce struggle to keep public information hidden from the media.  Because if the school was ever forced to vacate victories in basketball via the spreading academic scandal, then past national championships definitely would be in jeopardy.  Tudor ended his piece by stating, “Perhaps the most important retribution of all is the damage to UNC’s image and reputation.”

            An editorial by News and Observer staff columnist Tom Sorensen appeared the following day, and like Tudor’s closing remark it also made comments regarding the university’s reputation.  The article began by taking the stance that UNC’s football program – and head coach Davis – deserved the sanctions it received.  Sorenson insinuated that there was little discipline within Davis’s former program, as he reiterated the multiple offenses that were by then well known: ineligible players competing, the acceptance of illegal benefits, a tutor enabling players to engage in academic fraud, and more.  As has been the case throughout the school’s three-plus year ordeal, however, items were pointed out by an observer in an article that would later be contradictory to how things ultimately have unfolded.  Sorensen said the school “got one thing right.  The Tar Heels acknowledged their misdeeds.”  He went on to ask, “How many times has an athlete, celebrity, politician or official been caught cheating and compounded his or her mistake by lying about it?”  The ultimate irony would be that the ongoing investigation into the school’s Department of African and Afro-American Studies would uncover misdeeds, and it would uncover cheating – yet when faced with a different set of potential prospects and penalties, the school would do exactly as Sorensen described: compound the mistake through various forms of obfuscation.

            Sorensen took a final jab at the university’s historical sense of entitlement by saying, “The NCAA did omit one penalty: The Tar Heels forfeit the right to condescend.  While (other schools) were caught cheating, the Tar Heels avoided serious scandal.  As a result, their fans were free to take shots at violators.  And they did.  The lesser among those fans will continue to.  But they have no credibility.”

* * *

The essential (and unanswered) questions:

-- Why would the school choose to publicly flaunt a division championship, and also purchase championship rings for the players on its football team, all while being banned from post-season play – which included the ACC Championship Game?

-- Even after being informed to do so by the NCAA, why would the school not take the (apparently adequate) steps to “educate its athletes, coaches, and relevant school personnel on NCAA rules and regulations?”

-- Considering that the “institution” was placed on three-year’s probation, would the future violations that would be uncovered in 2012 and 2013 lead to stricter NCAA penalties on the school – due to UNC still being within its probationary period?

Tarnished Heels -- Chapter Four

Chapter Four

McAdoo’s plagiarism; Butch Davis fired

            In late May of 2011, with the release of its Notice of Allegations from the NCAA only weeks away, UNC players continued to put themselves in the negative spotlight of the news.  According to an article by The Daily Tar Heel, the NCAA was back on the school’s campus on May 18 to interview football player Quinton Coples.  He had been seen in pictures of a post-NFL draft party he attended in Washington, DC, and the NCAA had questions about trip-related expenses.  Coples had previously shown up throughout Associate Head Coach John Blake’s phone records, and often in close proximity to calls to or from individuals involved in activities that were under scrutiny by the NCAA.  Whether the collegiate association was ever made aware of that phone information, however, is unknown.  Most of that revealing data had been previously exposed via the PackPride.com website.

            According to the Daily Tar Heel article, the school had instituted an internal policy in 2010 that dictated UNC football players to sign out before they left campus to go on trips.  Kevin Best, spokesman of the football program at the time, declined to comment on the specifics of whether or not Coples signed out when he attended the post-NFL draft party in April.  Washington, DC, was also the location of two of Marvin Austin’s trips that drew the scrutiny of the NCAA.  Coples would ultimately avoid any NCAA penalties.  He would go on to be a first round draft pick in 2012, going 16^th overall to the New York Jets.  He signed a four-year contract worth $8.8 million on May 17, 2012.

* * *

            On June 21, 2011, UNC received their Notice of Allegations (NOA) from the NCAA.  This was essentially the list of transgressions that the NCAA was saying the university had committed, and the school then had 90 days to respond to those claims before penalties were handed down.  Within the NOA was outlined numerous “potential major violations,” according to articles released by ESPN and the Associated Press.  Those included unethical conduct by a former assistant coach (John Blake) as well as failure to adequately monitor the conduct of former and current players.

            The NOA discussed the various players who had received improper benefits, and also attached dollar values to those benefits.  As mentioned in earlier chapters, the eventual 2013 revelations about Greg Little and Jennifer Wiley (Thompson) proved that the NCAA only had a fraction of those figures correct.  Wiley was also cited in the NOA for refusing to cooperate with the investigation.  Another notable aspect was that the school was also penalized for failing to monitor “social media activity” of the football team in 2010.  Despite these clear explanations of the school’s shortcomings, the lack of social media monitoring would ultimately continue for the university, and would eventually spread to the basketball program in the years to follow.

            Chancellor Holden Thorp said in a statement, “I deeply regret that Carolina is in this position.  We made mistakes, and we have to face that. …  We will emerge with a stronger athletic program, and we will restore confidence in Carolina football.”  During the timespan that marked the beginning of the scandal and the release of the NOA, one of the supplementary figures – NFL agent Gary Wichard – died in March 2011 from complications due to diabetes and pancreatic cancer.

* * *

            During the first week of July 2011, football player Michael McAdoo filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction to lift his permanent NCAA ban which had been handed down the previous year.  According to a sportsillustrated.cnn.com article, the association’s judicial system found him guilty of infractions serious enough to warrant a permanent ban, but McAdoo and his lawyers disagreed.  The lawsuit claimed that McAdoo was “improperly and unjustly declared ineligible to play intercollegiate athletics by Defendant NCAA.”  His attorney was Noah Huffstetler, who received his undergraduate degree from UNC in 1973 and his law degree from the institution in 1976.

            The previous year’s NCAA investigation had found McAdoo guilty of accepting $110 in improper benefits, and that he also committed three instances of academic fraud related to parts of a paper actually being written by tutor Jennifer Wiley.  Evidence of the academic fraud – which reportedly consisted of Wiley adding citations and composing a works cited page – were not uncovered by the NCAA, but rather by the university.  The school’s Honor Court, however, determined there was not enough evidence to charge McAdoo with one of the three counts and found him not guilty of another, according to the same sportsillustrated.cnn.com article.  According to the lawsuit, none of this was taken into account by the NCAA prior to their ruling.

            According to the university’s website, “The Undergraduate Honor Court is comprised of Undergraduate students from all backgrounds and majors.  Court members represent the values and diversity that makes Carolina special. The Court is charged with reviewing allegations of misconduct to determine if the Honor Code was violated.  If the Court determines a violation has occurred, it will impose a disciplinary sanction consistent with community values and University guidelines.”   At the time, many in the sports media realm felt McAdoo had a fairly strong case for reinstatement.  However, new evidence would surface just days later that would change all of that – and ultimately alter the landscape of UNC’s ongoing scandal as well.

* * *

            When Michael McAdoo’s attorney filed the suit, one important addition was part of the proceedings: the research paper in question was included as evidence.  The Raleigh News and Observer posted the various attached exhibits on its website, and members of the N.C. State website PackPride.com started to look through them.  This wasn’t the website’s first foray into their rival’s scandal; as mentioned in the chapter’s opening paragraph, members of its message board had earlier meticulously dissected the phone records of John Blake, uncovering a number of trends and violations that would later be recognized by sports writers as well as presumably the NCAA.  This time, members descended upon the research paper and quickly made a startling discovery: the vast majority of it was plagiarized, and often lifted word-for-word from various internet sources.  One section in particular came from a book originally published in 1911, and included terms and expressions that had been obsolete (when describing the paper’s topic) for years.

            McAdoo’s suit instantly became more of a challenge, since according to a sportsillustrated.cnn.com article posted on July 8, 2011, the NCAA would likely view a plagiarized paper much more seriously that simply having a tutor reformat the citations.  Other problems on the university’s side were also exposed.  Namely, why didn’t the paper’s original professor discover the plagiarism, considering that it only took some rival fans using Google a few minutes to unearth it?  Furthermore, why was the school’s Honor Court unable to detect it?  And finally, Athletics Director Dick Baddour had also publicly supported McAdoo a few days earlier, saying the paper was the student’s own work.  This was obviously just an assumption by Baddour, or else it was something he was told by other factions within the university and he accepted as fact.

* * *

            A distinction that an organization never wants is having the full attention of a newspaper’s investigative reporter, especially a capable and talented one.  With the discovery of the McAdoo plagiarism, that is exactly what would begin to happen in Chapel Hill.  The Raleigh News and Observer’s Dan Kane began to focus his efforts on the story – not just on McAdoo, but on the academic and athletic issues within the university as a whole.  A graduate of St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York, Kane had joined the N&O staff in 1997, and became a part of its prestigious investigative team in April 2009.  His journalistic efforts had been recognized with several awards in the past.

In a July 17, 2011, article, Kane reiterated that the professor and the Honor Court missed the plagiarism, as did the involved factions of UNC’s athletics department (academic support personnel, and even Dick Baddour).  Kane also pointed out another party that apparently missed it prior to McAdoo’s case going to trial: the NCAA.  He went on to list another piece of information about the blossoming case that at the time seemed like a simple footnote, but would eventually lead to issues of monumental proportions.  The professor who assigned the paper to McAdoo was Julius Nyang’oro, who was also the chairman of UNC’s Department of African and Afro-American Studies (AFAM).  He was out of the country at the time of Kane’s article and could not be reached for comment.  His name and actions, however, would surface many more times in the future.

            UNC history professor Jay Smith, who will be covered in more detail in a later chapter, said at the time that he was not surprised the school’s Honor Court missed McAdoo’s plagiarism.  He had been arguing for two years that the Honor Court system failed to get at the heart of the misconduct.  Smith said he became a critic when he turned in a student for plagiarizing a paper in 2009.  He said the Honor Court’s prosecutor did not provide the correct evidence at the hearing, overlooking key information that Smith had clearly provided.  The experience convinced Smith that students do not have the time or experience to handle complex misconduct cases. 

            The comment Professor Smith made regarding students being unprepared for that type of authority may be understandable.  But how does that explain the professor missing McAdoo’s offenses?  And the athletics department, and the athletics director?  Smith went on to say in the News and Observer article that when an athletics department relies on the Honor Court to determine facts crucial to a key football player’s eligibility, that puts the university’s academic integrity at great risk.  Student athletes on UNC’s basketball and football teams help the university collect millions of dollars in television rights, ticket sales, and licensing fees, creating pressure to keep athletes eligible.  The athletics department puts “UNC’s credibility on the line without apparently doing the due diligence on the basic facts of the case,” he said, “and I think that’s a very serious problem.”

            To further highlight the point, Smith indicated that earlier in 2011 he had surveyed members of the faculty about the Honor Court.  One surprising find was that many faculty said they do not use the system, and reasons varied.  Many felt that the court was being too lenient on cheaters, and several key responses suggested preferential treatment for student athletes by UNC officials or the Honor Court.  One of the faculty responders wrote, “The evidence of cheating could not have been more obvious, and the excuse given was completely implausible.  Also, this case dealt with a student athlete, and I found the interventions from the athletics department asking that the case not be brought before the honor court unethical.”

            A related effect of the McAdoo case was the attention given to the PackPride.com site, and a somewhat begrudged acceptance by the media of the effectiveness of some of the site’s members.  The site had made other discoveries in the past, but not until the McAdoo plagiarism incident were those findings prominently featured in the mainstream media.  The poster at the heart of the McAdoo case would actually be featured in an article on the respected Poynter website.  He was quoted under a username, as his real name was withheld in the article by request.  One of the main points of the feature was that important news was initially broken on a fan internet site, and then only afterwards did expanding media coverage of the event follow.  Unfortunately for UNC, this trend would repeat itself several times in the future – with each successive story having a bigger and bigger impact.

            Michael McAdoo’s case would eventually be dismissed, and he remained ineligible to play collegiate sports.  Many sports journalists felt those ultimate decisions were in part due to the discovery of the plagiarism.  Paul Sun, the attorney who represented the NCAA in the suit, said that the association “correctly and fairly” applied its rules in the case.  McAdoo would eventually be signed by the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in August 2011.  He tore his Achilles tendon during the summer of 2012, which forced him to miss the entire NFL season that year.  He was released by the Ravens a year later, and signed with Winnipeg of the Canadian Football League in late 2013.  McAdoo gave an interview with the New York Times that was published in 2013, and which will be covered in more detail in a later chapter.  Part of the topic dealt with academic cheating and irregularities, and also the educational restrictions that schools sometimes placed on athletes.  McAdoo was quoted as saying, “I would still like to get a college degree someday, but not at the University of North Carolina.  They just wasted my time.”

* * *

            On July 27, 2011, less than three weeks after the discovery of McAdoo’s plagiarism, the university fired head football coach Butch Davis.  According to articles released at the time by espn.com, Davis had apparently survived the most dangerous days of the NCAA’s investigation, as he had lead the previous year’s suspension-decimated team to eight wins and a bowl victory.  However, the school’s administration would eventually alter its opinion, saying that the turmoil caused by the investigation was doing too much damage to the university’s reputation.  In a direct quote from Chancellor Holden Thorp, he said he had “lost confidence in (the school’s) ability to come through this without harming the way people think of this institution.”  He continued by saying that “our academic integrity is paramount, and we must work diligently to protect it.  The only way to move forward and put this behind us is to make a change.” 

With football’s late-summer training camp just over a week away, the team now found itself without a clear figurehead.  After his firing, Davis said “I can honestly say I leave with the full confidence that I have done nothing wrong.  I was the head coach and I realize the responsibility that comes with that role.  But I was not personally involved in, nor aware of, any actions that prompted the NCAA investigation.”

            Holden Thorp and Dick Baddour both spoke at a news conference held on the following day.  Several questions were raised by reporters with regards to the payout that Davis would receive.  Chancellor Thorp indicated that it would cost $2.7 million, at which time a reporter pointed out that if it was determined Davis was fired “with cause” it would potentially cost the school nothing, according to the contract that Davis signed.  Thorp replied, “I’ve reached the conclusion that even though this is a terrible time, that the athletics program will need to pay whatever it is that we need to pay to make the separation happen.”  In a quick follow-up question regarding the wording of the contract, Thorp made clear that the school would not be dismissing Davis “for cause.” 

Roughly ten minutes later and after a number of other questions and topics were posed, attention was once again turned to the topic of Davis’s contract.  A third reporter revived the line of questioning with Thorp:  “Chancellor, you were talking about the reputation of the university.  And given the budget crisis of the university… you’re saying that you’re not going to fire (Davis) for cause.  I have his contract right in front of me.  It says, ‘serious disrespect for the integrity and ethics of the university’.  Given the crisis financially that you’re in, what would motivate you to pay him to go away?”  To which Thorp responded, “As I said earlier, that is what has made this a difficult decision.  Any money that is paid to Coach Davis will be from the athletics department, not general support funds for the university.  As I said, that is the conclusion that we have come to with extensive consultation.  With lots of folks.”  Later dissection by the media of the contract’s wording would indicate that the university could, in fact, have fired Davis “with cause.”  Why they did not is unclear.

An interesting subplot to the timing of Davis’s firing was that Thorp’s decision came the day that a new university Board of Trustees chairman was elected.  According to a sportsillustrated.cnn.com article published on July 28, 2011, former Chairman Bob Winston had long been known as a Davis supporter.  He had served as chairman since 2009, and Winston and UNC administrators had shown their support of Davis numerous times during that time span.  On the day that Wade Hargrove replaced Winston as chairman, however, the tone of the discussions regarding Davis obviously changed while the trustees were meeting in a closed session.  The culminating result was the ultimate firing of Davis.

            An ongoing matter that had been discussed in the media for weeks leading up to the firing had been the personal cell phone records of Davis.  Despite being issued a university-supplied cell phone, Davis had made virtually zero calls on it during his years with the school, instead opting to use his personal cell phone.  After the phone records of John Blake showed a number of NCAA-related violations, the media had long been after the records of Davis, as well.  Even though the phone records in question were for his personal cell, the fact that Davis used it for university business seemingly made them public record.  The matter had been contended by Davis, and was at the time of his firing still in limbo.  At the news conference a reporter asked Thorp how the firing of Davis would affect the pending release of his personal cell phone records which had tentatively been scheduled to happen in the coming weeks.  The question to Thorp was, “Are you still planning on releasing the private cell phone records of Butch Davis?  I know he was in the process of redacting them.”  To which Thorp replied, “That’s up to Coach Davis”.  As it would turn out, once Davis was fired from the university then UNC absolved itself from the equation.  The records would go on to be entangled in legal proceedings for more than a year.

            At the same news conference discussing the firing of Butch Davis, another big announcement was made.  It was revealed that Athletics Director Dick Baddour would be stepping down as soon as a replacement could be found.  Baddour had been part of the Tar Heel “family” for 45 years, and had held the position of athletics director for the past 14.  Prior to that, he had been the senior associate of UNC’s former athletics director, John Swofford.  When Swofford left to become Commissioner of the ACC (a title he still held during UNC’s scandal) in 1997, Baddour took over as athletics director.  With the firing of Butch Davis and the announced retirement/resignation of Dick Baddour, and adding to the previous resignation of John Blake, the number of jobs directly affected by the scandal – which included firings, resignations, retirements, and transfers within the university – now stood at three.  That number would continue to rise.

* * *

            Reactions to the firing of Davis were mixed.  Numerous former players took to the social media airways in support of Davis, while select other individuals who were in some way professionally or financially connected to the school supported Thorp and his decision.  According to an article on wralsportsfan.com, Hannah Gage, a member of the Board of Governors and a UNC graduate, said, “It wasn’t an easy decision, but I believe it’s the right decision for the university.  The Chancellor made it clear today that he’s not willing to compromise the university’s academic integrity or its reputation.” 

            University President Tom Ross, a graduate of UNC’s School of Law, supported Thorp’s decision.  He said, “This has been a difficult decision for the Chancellor, but I am pleased that he made the decision only after receiving and studying all of the facts so that he would both be fair to the individuals involved and look out for the best interests of the University.  He believes deeply in academic integrity and understands that academic integrity and a successful athletics program are both achievable simultaneously.  For this to happen, he has now concluded that a change in the football program is necessary.”  The comments by both Gage and Ross speak to high academic standards and an uncompromising attitude by the school.  Those comments would be viewed under a different and more hypocritical light in the near future, however, as much more serious academic issues would arise – and UNC would ultimately not act with such an uncompromising and fact-seeking attitude when basketball was involved in the allegations.

* * *

            Several weeks following the termination of Butch Davis, one final troubling story related to him (other than the eventual release of his phone records) would see the light of day.  In an online article by local ABC affiliate WTVD on August 17, 2011, it was revealed that a UNC police officer had responded to an on-campus crash involving several of the school’s football players.  On May 29, 2011, Sergeant Shawn Smith was the investigating officer of the accident in question.  Smith had also been the assigned personal officer to coach Butch Davis during home and away football games, according to the news station.

            The article said that football player Herman Davidson crashed a vehicle that also included players Carl Gaskins, Jr., Dion Guy, and Ebele Okakpu as passengers.  The police report indicated that Davidson had alcohol on his breath, but was not impaired.  The initial report said the car was traveling the speed limit at the time of the crash.  Nearly 16 hours later, however, the report was changed to say the car was going 45 mph in a 25 mph zone.  Davidson only received a citation for not having a driver’s license.  He was not issued a speeding ticket, and none of the players were taken into custody.  The crash caused $18,000 in damage to the car Davidson was driving, which belonged to Okakpu’s father.

            UNC said that Smith resigned on July 15, 2011, six weeks after the crash.  The school did not indicate to WTVD if the crash led to his resignation.  Smith denied a cover-up, but when asked about his resignation he told the station’s I-Team it was a “self-inflicted wound” and a “hard lesson learned.”  The former officer claimed on his Twitter page (@Tar_Heel_Smitty) to be “the BIGGEST Tar Heel fan in existence!”  He said, “I let my love for UNC interfere with real life and I paid the price.”  The athletics department told the station that it was aware of the crash, and that the players had been disciplined by then football coach Davis.

* * *

The essential (and unanswered) questions:

-- How did Michael McAdoo’s professor miss the plagiarism?  How did the Honor Court and the school’s athletics director miss it?  Was it a case (amongst one or more of those entities) of simply choosing to not notice/acknowledge it?

-- Based on faculty survey responses, how long had UNC athletes possibly been receiving preferential treatment in the school’s Honor Court system?

-- Why would the school choose to pay fired head coach Butch Davis $2.7 million when apparently they had the legal right to withhold that money?  What would be the advantage to “pay him to go away?”  And was this decision in any way related to the impending release of his personal cell phone records?

Tarnished Heels -- Chapter Three

Chapter 3

Parking tickets; tutor Jennifer Wiley

            Evidence of more wrongdoings had continued to surface in the late summer of 2010, and as a result local North Carolina media entities approached UNC with numerous public records requests.  Instead of being forthright and releasing much of the information, however, the school chose to stonewall behind a team of lawyers and delay the release of key records and documents – a practice that actually continues to stretch into 2014.  One set of records was finally released in June of 2011 after the State Court of Appeals denied the school’s request to delay the release pending an appeal.  According to a June 16, 2011, article from the Raleigh News and Observer, this was brought about following a lawsuit by a consortium of media outlets that had requested – and been denied by UNC – those numerous public records.

            A key release dealt with on-campus parking tickets received by fewer than twelve football players.  The players had been specifically named/requested by the media consortium due to the fact that they were some of the key pieces involved in the ongoing NCAA investigation.  According to that same News and Observer article, those players tallied 395 parking violations from early 2007 through August 2010.  The latter month and year was when several of the news entities had made their documents request, meaning the school had fought their release for almost a full year.  This was a stark contrast to the comments made in the previous chapter by people such as Dick Baddour, Erskine Bowles, and Bob Winston who pledged to do whatever it took to get to the bottom of the school’s scandalous issues.

            The 395 tickets led to fines totaling $13,125.  Some of the specific details behind those various numbers revealed much more, however, and would eventually lead to the discovery of deeper problems.  According to the News and Observer, Greg Little, a former wide receiver who was ruled permanently ineligible the previous season due to NCAA agent violations, was responsible for 93 of the tickets.  Even more shocking was the fact that Little was ticketed in five different vehicles, and that those vehicles had nine different license plates on them, apparently in part from the use of dealer tags.  According to a wralsportsfan.com article, by law dealers cannot issue temporary tags to the same vehicle for consecutive months.  However, the parking records showed that one of Little’s vehicles bore temporary tags for the months of March and April of 2008.  Both of those 30-day tags traced back to a company in Durham named 919 Imports.  That auto dealer had closed by the time the parking records were finally released, and the business owner, Shawn E. Brown, was serving a federal sentence for money laundering.  Interestingly, a somewhat related series of events would unfold two years later during the summer of 2013 when UNC star basketball player PJ Hairston would be connected to vehicles supplied by another convicted felon from Durham.  Those events will be covered in full detail in a later chapter.

* * *

            It would eventually be revealed that Jennifer Wiley, the UNC tutor noted in the previous chapter, paid $1,789 in August 2010 for some of Greg Little’s aforementioned parking tickets.  As more information about Wiley was uncovered, her role – and that of the academic support system at UNC – would become more prominent.  According to a timeline provided by espn.go.com, Wiley began her employment with UNC’s academic support center in August of 2007 during her junior year as a student at the university.  During the subsequent three years she provided a number of impermissible educational benefits to athletes, mainly in the manner of making substantive changes to papers, and also composing entire sections in some cases.  There was also the payment of Little’s parking tickets, and at the time that summarized the basic extent of her impermissible assistance.  Despite these impermissible transgressions that were still unknown at the time, Wiley was seen fit to receive an institutional award for tutoring excellence by the university upon her graduation in May of 2009.  The fall of 2013 would shed much more light on her true role, however, and would later paint many of the comments made by those who had defended her in a very hypocritical light.

* * *

            Beginning in October of 2013, the NC Secretary of State would begin issuing indictments based on its investigation into sports agents.  Jennifer Wiley (now with the married last name of Thompson) was the first to be indicted, and the information that was revealed showed that much of her illegal involvement was never uncovered during the initial NCAA investigation of the scandal.  Secretary of State documents showed that she received thousands of dollars in cash (through the mail) from sports agents, and would then pass that money on to football (and one-time basketball) player Greg Little.  Again, the documents associated with the indictment would counter many of the supporting claims made by her defenders several years earlier.  Those indictments will be covered in greater detail in a later chapter.

            In March of 2012, Joseph B. Cheshire V, a Raleigh lawyer who was representing Wiley at the time, gave an interview with the Raleigh News and Observer in support of his client.  In the coinciding news article Cheshire indicated that Wiley’s father had sought his counsel shortly after her role in the scandal became public back in 2010.  Cheshire, a well-known defense lawyer, said he agreed to advise Wiley at no charge because he believed in her and was sickened by “the extent people would go to destroy her life for their own sakes.”  As a predictable side note, Cheshire is a graduate of the University of North Carolina. 

            Up to that point in time Wiley had never talked with NCAA investigators, and it was later revealed that she stonewalled those from the Secretary of State as well.  Cheshire stated that she was a “deeply religious” and “big-hearted” young woman, but conceded that the academic assistance that she had given UNC’s players was “sometimes out of bounds without even knowing she was, but yes, occasionally just out of bounds.”  He went on to say that she broke “convoluted and arcane” NCAA rules, apparently referring to assistance on papers, but her efforts to help were no different from what “thousands of friends, family, fraternity members, suite mates, girl or boyfriend students” routinely do for students not affiliated with an athletics program.  Cheshire said Wiley’s motivation was simple:  She wanted to help people who needed help.

            The obvious question that is raised regarding Wiley (Thompson), especially with the fall 2013 Secretary of State indictments, deals with the illegal acts of accepting cash payments via the US Postal Service across state lines, and then funneling that money to collegiate athletes.  Greg Little has since admitted to receiving more than $20,000 during his time at UNC.  None of that was mentioned by her lawyer in the March 2012 article; he simply decried her as a victim who only wished to help athletes with their school work.  So it begs the question: did Cheshire know that Wiley had accepted cash payments and was giving it to players?  If so, did he deliberately omit that information when verbally defending his client?  Or did Wiley simply lie to her lawyer, in essence continuing the lack of clarity and communication that she had shown the NCAA – and would later show the Secretary of State?

            Other troubling facets of the Wiley situation were connected to her post-UNC employment.  According to the same News and Observer article that is quoted in the previous paragraphs, rumors circulated in the summer of 2009 that she had become “too friendly” with student athletes, and her employment contract was not renewed as a result.  According to an ESPN timeline, this decision was reached in August 2009 by the director of the Academic Support Center and the Assistant AD for Certification.  However, she was soon thereafter hired directly by head football coach Butch Davis to help tutor his son, a high school student at the time.  Wiley would continue to provide impermissible academic assistance to UNC players even after she was no longer employed by the university, and despite being sent a letter by the university that it was not okay to continue providing tutoring services to student athletes.  She also continued to provide impermissible monetary gifts to players – again, during a timeframe that seemingly overlapped with her personal employment with head football coach Butch Davis.

            Wiley, an Education major while at UNC, went on to teach for a short time in elementary schools in both Durham and Raleigh.  Her employment stints were brief, however, due in part to her reputation and past involvement in the scandal.  According to her lawyer, in September 2011 she resigned from Jeffreys Grove Elementary School in Raleigh after a little more than a month on the job.  Cheshire said she quit because parents complained she was “the UNC tutor.”

* * *

The essential (and unanswered) questions:

-- Why did the university fight and delay the release of so many public records (a practice that continues well into 2014), despite the continued insistence by its leaders that they want to fix the problems within their athletic programs?

-- What did Jennifer Wiley’s lawyer know (in 2012) regarding her illegal funneling of money to UNC players?

-- Why would a head coach hire a former university tutor – a tutor whose prior university employment had been discontinued by the school due to her becoming “too close” to players (on his very own team)? 

-- Were/are there deeper connections between UNC athletes and Durham felons regarding the use of vehicles?

Tarnished Heels -- Chapter Two

Chapter Two

John Blake resigns; football players suspended

            On August 26, 2010, just over a month after the NC Secretary of State had opened its investigation into possible agent infractions, the NCAA announced that it may have discovered potential academic fraud at UNC.  The details were first divulged in an August 26, 2010, email from Joni Worthington, the Vice President for Communications at UNC, to Erskine Bowles, who at the time was President of the University of North Carolina System.  The email exchange would eventually be made public, along with a follow-up message he sent to the UNC System Board of Governors later that evening.  Bowles is a 1967 graduate of UNC.

            The initial email from Worthington to Bowles contained information from a variety of media stories that would soon be dispersed to the public, all based on a news conference that was held at UNC on the evening of the 26^th.  In the emails were numerous quotes from UNC officials as they had become aware of the academic issues.  With the news that the NCAA had expanded its investigations into academics, Chancellor Holden Thorp was quoted as saying, “We are treating this with the seriousness you would expect from this university.  We will figure this out… We hope the scope of this is limited.”  Athletics Director Dick Baddour indicated that while the current focus was on football, that the school would look at it as an opportunity to look into the tutoring program within other athletic programs.  A quote within Worthington’s email from head football coach Butch Davis read, “Nothing is more important than the character… and integrity of this football program.”

            Other vitally important information regarding Butch Davis was included in the forthcoming news stories that were documented in Worthington’s email to Bowles.  A former UNC tutor was at the center of the NCAA’s current investigation, and Davis revealed that the tutor in question “is someone that has previously been employed by our family.”  The woman in question, Jennifer Wiley, was let go from her job by UNC as a tutor – but was then, according to Davis, hired by his family “to be an academic coach and academic advisor.  This is someone who worked with our son, and to be honest with you, we’re a little bit surprised and possibly disappointed.”

            The follow-up email that Bowles sent to the other members of the Board of Governors stated in part that, “We do not know the extent of these problems at this time.  But we are investigating this matter fully and as expeditiously as possible, and we will get to the bottom of it.  And when we do we will deal with it appropriately as you would expect the university to do.”  The “University,” of course, being the school from where he graduated.  And to further punctuate that theme, a total of eleven Board members received their undergraduate degrees at UNC, far out-pacing the other universities in the system.  The next highly-represented school had only four undergraduate members on the Board of Governors.  When the parameters were widened to include graduate degrees, UNC checked in with well over twenty representatives on the Board of Governors.

* * *

            Player suspensions would begin to follow soon thereafter, though only one was mandated by the school.  Despite being at the center of the controversy for several months, Marvin Austin had been allowed to continue representing the university and the football team.  On September 1^st, however, it was announced that coach Butch Davis had suspended him indefinitely for “violating unspecified team rules,” according to various news agencies, including a story that appeared on ESPN’s website.  Even still, UNC tried to distance itself from the negative stigma of an NCAA investigation – something that would be a common tactic in the years to come.  Instead of referring to the NCAA’s presence as an investigation, whenever a UNC official spoke of the issues it was simply referred to as a “review.”  This was seemingly an attempt to lessen the seriousness of the charges in the eyes and ears of the general public.

            With regards to Austin, Butch Davis had this to say:  “This decision is not a result of the ongoing NCAA review.  Marvin has violated team rules and has neglected his responsibilities to the team.”  This suspension was issued just three days prior to the team’s season-opening game against Louisiana State University, and early indications from unnamed sources said that the team might be without other players for that contest as well.  That same ESPN article reported that the school was exploring the possibility of “rolling suspensions” that would allow them to spread the absence of players over multiple games, in effect lessening the impact on the team as a whole.  In what would appear to be an attempted gag order, the school cancelled all scheduled media availability with players prior to the LSU game.

It was also reported that the school was working with the NCAA in order to determine who would and would not be allowed to make the trip, and which players should be held out for precautionary reasons.  That is, which players’ names might surface in the near future in relation to NCAA violations.  Through past examples of other schools’ transgressions, it was well known that if a player is later determined to have played while ineligible, then the school would have to retroactively vacate any and all team wins in which that player participated.  This common understanding would be a major point in the years and events yet to come in the scandal, especially once UNC’s basketball team (and its numerous national titles) entered the fray.

* * *

            On September 3^rd, one day before the LSU football game, six UNC starters were initially declared ineligible for “violating school and/or NCAA rules,” the university announced.  Those starters included Marvin Austin, which was somewhat expected, as well as Charles Brown, Robert Quinn, Michael McAdoo, Kendric Burney, and Greg Little.  Six non-starters were withheld from the game based on the current and ongoing NCAA investigation.  Those players were Shaun Draughn, Linwan Euwell, Brian Gupton, Ryan Houston, Da’Norris Searcy, and Jonathan Smith.  Furthermore, safety Deunta Williams was declared ineligible late Friday (the night before the game), while two other players – linebackers Quan Sturdivant and Bruce Carter – were cleared to play.

            Many of the facts were still unknown at this point, especially in terms of the actual violations.  As noted by the various news reports that were referenced at the beginning of the chapter via Joni Worthington’s email to Erskine Bowles, the NCAA was investigating not only possible improper contact with agents, but also looking into allegations of academic misconduct by some of the players.  UNC Athletics Director Dick Baddour said in a statement, “We are still working with the NCAA staff to resolve these eligibility issues.  The NCAA is focusing on each of their situations on a case-by-case basis.  Together we are working to determine their status in as thorough and fair a process as is possible.”  It was also revealed on that same Friday that investigators from the NC Secretary of State’s office had subpoenaed Marvin Austin in relation to sports-agent laws.  UNC would go on to lose that opening game against LSU, 30-24.

* * *

            On September 5^th, the day after the LSU loss, another domino in the scandal would fall.  John Blake, who had been near the center of the ignominy and its blossoming controversies, resigned his coaching position with the football team.  He gave a fairly detailed statement:

“While I have enjoyed my tenure at the University of North Carolina, it has become apparent to me over the course of the past few weeks that my presence has become a distraction to my family and to this great University, too. Consequently, I have determined that it is in the best interests of my family, the University community at large, and the Football Program for me to step down from my position as associate head football coach effective today, September 5, 2010. 

“I thank the Lord for the opportunity I have had to work with Butch Davis while at the University of North Carolina. I have grown to love and respect the school, my fellow coaches, and the young men who have worked so diligently to improve both as students and as football players. That love and respect has led me to the conclusion that the best decision for all involved is for me to step aside at this time. I wish the players, the coaches, and the University all the best. 

“I thank the Tar Heel Nation for the overwhelming support I have received. The memories I have made here will last a lifetime. May God bless you all.”

            Furthermore, statements were also given by head coach Butch Davis and also Athletics Director Dick Baddour.  The words from Davis especially stood out, as once again they reiterated the close working relationship that the two men had shared over the years:

“Knowing John as I have over the years, it is clear that this was a difficult decision for him to make. I know how much John loves the players, coaching and the game of football. I am grateful for all of his hard work and effort in helping build this program. As difficult as this situation is, I have accepted his resignation. Throughout his career, I know he has worked hard to help young men become better people and football players. He and his family have made positive contributions to our football program. 

“The Tar Heel family has tremendous passion for the University and everything it represents. It’s one of the things that made me want to be a Tar Heel four years ago. All of us who are part of the football program have been both disappointed and embarrassed by recent events. Our student athletes, coaches and I are committed to working every day, both on and off the field, to build a better football program, one that everyone associated with the University of North Carolina can and will be proud of.”

            In a somewhat puzzling move, the university chose to pay Blake a prorated amount of his annual $240,000 salary equaling $74,500, which was equivalent to the amount he would have received had he completed the football season through the month of December.  This decision was made despite the mounting evidence that seemed to indicate that Blake had broken numerous NCAA rules, as well as put the school in jeopardy for further sanctions.

* * *

            Following the resignation of John Blake, it was announced that linebackers’ coach Art Kaufman along with Norris McCleary, a member of the team’s support staff in player development and a former NFL lineman, would take over some of the defensive line coaching duties that Blake had left vacant.  Butch Davis also indicated that he would become more involved with some of the day-to-day coaching and meetings than in the past, according to an online USA Today article published on September 7^th.

            McCleary’s name was one that showed up in great detail within John Blake’s university phone records, and during some troubling stretches of times.  His prior background was one that was heavily entrenched in athletics.  He played football at East Carolina University, and then had a multi-year stint in the NFL as a defensive lineman.  Though he was only officially promoted to an on-field “coaching” position once John Blake resigned, the phone records seemed to indicate that he had a very close relationship with Blake, regardless. 

On the afternoon and evening of the NCAA’s first on-campus interviews with UNC players, John Blake spoke with McCleary four different times.  These calls were within close proximity with contacts Blake made with Todd Amis, NFL agent Gary Wichard, and several players who were under scrutiny by the NCAA.  All told, Blake and McCleary had over 350 phone contacts between April and September of 2010, some of the prime months of the blossoming agent portion of the scandal.  These were often closely intermixed with calls Blake had to (or from) players such as Marvin Austin, Robert Quinn, and Quinton Coples, and also with NFL agent Wichard. 

            McCleary’s departure from the school was unceremonious and apparently without fanfare, as few news stories on him are to be found.  According to his LinkedIn page, his employment with UNC ended in December of 2012.  As of late 2013 he was listed under several job capacities.  He was working as a coach with the West Charlotte football team, he was a broker in the Charlotte area, and was also CEO of Mack’s Player Development.  Regarding the latter position, he indicates on that same LinkedIn page that he “train develop current college an NFL players. I've train 1st round picks and college free agents.”  One area that catches the eye is that from early 2008 until March of 2010 – his date of hire at UNC – he was self-described as being involved in “Pro Athlete Investment.” As evidenced by his own stated past work parameters, he was involved with the training and apparent integration of professional athletes both immediately before and immediately after his coaching tenure at UNC.  Whether coincidentally or not, the many phone contacts he had with John Blake show a timely connection with NFL agents – again, while he was on staff at UNC.

            Another member of the football team’s assistance staff who (on paper) held a relatively minor role was Johnny Vines.  Like McCleary, however, he appeared to play a much larger role based on his contacts with John Blake.  Vines was a simple video coordinator for the football team at the time, but phone records show a pattern very similar to that of McCleary’s.  The contacts Blake had with Vines were often surrounded by names such as Marvin Austin, Gary Wichard, and others who were entangled in impermissible benefits.  And along with McCleary, Johnny Vines was the only non-player whom John Blake contacted during that late night flurry of calls on July 11^th, just prior to the first NCAA interviews. 

* * *

            According to a USA Today article published during the second week of September, 2010, several of the university’s decision-making organizations had finally begun to take notice of the scandal.  Bob Winston, the chairman of the school’s Board of Trustees, indicated that the issues would likely be discussed during their next meeting.  Furthermore, the university’s 92-member faculty council was scheduled to get a briefing in the following few days from Chancellor Holden Thorp.  Regarding that upcoming meeting, faculty chair McKay Coble said, “I think it will be respectful.  And I think there will be some pointed questions.”

All of the negative attention was something that many who were associated with the university were unaccustomed to.  At the time, only seven programs in what were considered college athletics’ “marquee” conferences had gone as long as the past 26 years without a major NCAA infractions case.  UNC was one of those, which undoubtedly contributed to the “Carolina Way” mantra that had been repeated by its supporters over the years.  According to Chancellor Thorp, “We’re concerned and devastated to be in this situation.  We’ve had 50 years here without having to go through this sort of thing.  The way we respond is really important.”

Board of Trustees Chairman Bob Winston displayed a similar sentiment, saying “Everybody has the same idea… that we’ve got to get to the bottom of this, whatever it is it is, and deal with it and, if there are changes to be made, make the changes.  But this isn’t the way we’re going to do business.”  Winston went on to reiterate, “We will look ourselves in the mirror at the end, and make sure the answer is it’s incidental.”  That line of thought was often repeated at the beginning of the scandal by those who represented the school, either athletically, administratively, academically, or via the alumni – that the university would do whatever it took to get to the bottom of the issues.  As documentation would later show, that tone would change a number of months later – once football was no longer the sole athletic program that had exhibited questionable practices.

* * *

            After a couple of weeks of relative silence, more bad news surfaced on September 22^nd with an official suspension (via the NCAA) of defensive players Kendric Burney and Deunta Williams.  The offense was receiving improper benefits, and the NCAA stipulated for Burney to miss a total of six games and Williams four.  As covered in Chapter One, Burney and Williams were among six underclassmen who chose to return to UNC for their senior seasons instead of entering the NFL draft, along with fellow suspended players Marvin Austin and Greg Little.  The final two players, Quan Sturdivant and Bruce Carter, had recently been cleared by the school.  Any potential NCAA penalties against them were still up in the air at that point in time.

            The impermissible benefits given to Burney and Williams were associated with trips to California, Atlanta, and Las Vegas for Burney, and two trips to California for Williams.  Based on comments made by head coach Butch Davis on his radio show, the players would apparently only face penalties from the NCAA.  “If and when they come back,” said Davis, “they’ll certainly be welcome additions.”  Dick Baddour described the length of the suspensions as being “unduly harsh.” 

            Sources familiar with the situation at the time told the Associated Press that the “agent” in Burney’s case was Chris Hawkins, a former football player initially at UNC (from 2001-03) before getting kicked off the team.  He would eventually continue his career with Marshall University.  A week prior, in response to questions regarding Hawkins, Athletics Director Baddour said that Hawkins had been around the players and program “periodically” over the years.  According to a source that spoke with espn.com for a September 2010 article, UNC players told investigators that Hawkins had contacted several sports agents about their interest in representing UNC players in the NFL draft.  Hawkins was designated as an agent by the NCAA in part due to his connection with University of Georgia receiver A.J. Green.  Hawkins purchased a jersey from Green for $1,000, which would land Green with a multiple-game suspension. 

            A UNC official stated (in the same ESPN article) that Hawkins had frequently visited the North Carolina football facility during the previous few years, including a visit during the summer of 2010 in which he worked out with former UNC (and Pittsburgh Steeler) player Willie Parker in UNC’s weight room.  According to the school official, Hawkins had often described himself as Parker’s manager.  At the time of Burney’s suspension announcement Hawkins had pending felony charges of trafficking cocaine, as well as misdemeanor charges of possession of marijuana.  The legal troubles would later continue for Hawkins.  In May of 2012 he was arrested by the Kinston (NC) Department of Public Safety and charged with discharging a weapon into an occupied dwelling. 

* * *

Despite having already resigned from UNC’s staff, a huge blow was dealt to the reputation of former associate head coach John Blake with the release of a Yahoo! Sports article on September 29^th.  The investigative article (penned by Charles Robinson) detailed just how closely Blake was associated with NFL agent Gary Wichard, and supplied even deeper details into their professional relationship.  The four-month investigation by Yahoo! Sports showed that Blake and Wichard had engaged in multiple financial transactions over the prior three-plus years.  Hotel receipts from one of Marvin Austin’s California training trips were obtained, and they listed Austin’s name along with Pro Tect Management, which was Gary Wichard’s agency.

A myriad of facts were presented, which included evidence of at least six wire transfers from Wichard’s private bank to Blake, a $45,000 personal loan to Blake from that same bank, and a credit card in the name of Wichard’s NFL agency – Pro Tect Management – issued in Blake’s name.  As previously established, Todd Amis wrote checks to cover Marvin Austin’s flights to California, and Blake was often in contact with Amis – a minimum of 80 times in 2009, and a minimum of 69 times in 2010.

Shortly after the release of Charles Robinson’s article, UNC head football coach Butch Davis issued a bold statement:  “Let me tell you, here’s how I feel: I am very sorry that all of this stuff has tainted the football program.  But I’m going to tell you what I’m more sorry about, I’m sorry that I trusted John Blake.  I can promise and tell you, that if we would’ve ever known that if any of these allegations were absolutely true, Coach Blake would have been dismissed.  I would have fired him.”  This was in reference to a man whom Davis had taught in high school, whom he had coached with on the same NFL defensive staff, and whom he had hired away from Nebraska to be his associate head coach and recruiting coordinator.  A man whom, by all indications, Davis was very familiar with – and for a very long time.  And a man whom the university chose to pay nearly $75,000, despite the fact that Blake resigned by his own accord, and could have soon been fired for just cause regardless. 

* * *

            More bad news would surface less than two weeks later when, on October 11, 2010, football players Gregg Little and Robert Quinn would be declared permanently ineligible by the NCAA.  According to an espn.com article, Little and Quinn received travel accommodations and jewelry, and then lied about it to investigators in three separate interviews.  In a twist of irony, it was not fully revealed until late 2013 that Little was never completely honest even then, and that the NCAA was unable to uncover the true amounts of illegal benefits.  It was only during the series of Secretary of State indictments (covered in a later chapter) that those full details would emerge.

            At the time, Athletics Director Dick Baddour said that head coach Butch Davis continues to have “my complete support.”  He went on to say, “I feel very strong about our compliance staff, about our compliance program.  I feel very strong about this football program, as I do the other programs that we have.  I think we’re in good stead.  I’m going to fight the institutional control issues because of what we had in place and because of the way we’re handling it.”  Baddour went on to acknowledge that the football program should have done more to monitor its high-profile players.  “We should’ve been doing something else.  We should’ve acknowledged the level that these guys are and that there were going to be people coming at them… I wish we had done more.  I’d like to relive that part.”  Regarding Greg Little’s illegal benefits, Baddour was quick to point out that none of those impermissible extras were received during Little’s 10-game stint as a reserve on the university’s prized basketball team during its Final Four run in 2008. 

* * *

            A disturbing story of potential bias surfaced on November 14, 2010, via the Raleigh News and Observer.  It reported that Cynthia Reynolds, formerly the UNC football team’s academic coordinator, had filed an age discrimination grievance against the school with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.  According to documents that were filed a month earlier, Reynolds claims she was moved out of her position because head coach Butch Davis wanted a younger “face” for the academic support program for recruiting purposes.  Reynolds, 56 years old at the time, had been hired by the university in 2002 as an associate director of the Academic Support Program for Student Athletes.  She had primarily worked with the football program until she was reassigned to Olympic sports in August of 2009, and she was eventually not renewed in August of 2010.

            Reynolds’ replacement was 29-year-old Beth Bridger, whom Reynolds described as an “excellent learning specialist” who also was in charge of hiring and training the mentors and tutors.  Coincidentally, Jennifer Wiley – one of the primary suppliers of impermissible benefits during the football scandal – was a tutor with the school.  Her significant role will be further expanded upon later.  Reynolds originally filed a grievance with the university, reported the News and Observer, but that was denied by the panel of the EPA Non-Faculty Grievance Committee.  She was notified of that decision via a letter she received from Chancellor Holden Thorp.  Reynolds stated, “I think it’s important to make the point that even though I was an ‘at-will’ employee, you can’t get rid of somebody (because) you want someone younger in the position.  There are policies, and you have to follow them.”

* * *

            In late 2010 the university released a list of names of individuals known to have provided impermissible benefits to football players.  One was the previously-mentioned former tutor and student with the school, Jennifer Wiley.  Amongst the remaining names was a Florida-based jeweler, three individuals tied to professional sports agencies, a former Maryland football player, and three former UNC football players – Hakeem Nicks, Omar Brown, and Mahlon Carey. 

In a November 18^th meeting of the school’s Board of Trustees, Chancellor Holden Thorp spoke (along with Athletics Director Dick Baddour and head football coach Butch Davis) in order to update the Board members on the scandal.  Thorp concluded his comments that day by saying, “I hope you can see how diligently and sincere the three of us have worked on this. This is a challenge and a difficult thing that the University has gone through, but the difficult decisions that we had to make are ones that everybody agreed were in the best interest of the University. As a leader, what you look for is when you have a group of people responsible for doing difficult things, if everybody feels like they had a chance to speak their mind (and) if everybody agrees at the end to do what's best for the University. That's what makes me feel good about Butch Davis being our football coach, about Dick Baddour being our athletics director and about the football program at the University of North Carolina.” 

Head football coach Butch Davis made platitudes of his own, stating, “There is no one single player and there is no one single game and there is no one single season worth the character and integrity of this institution and this University. That's my commitment and my pledge to you as we move forward into the future of this program.”  Despite the mounting negative stories surrounding the school, many of which threatened its long-standing solid reputation, some affiliated with the school’s Board appeared more interested in how athletics were faring.  When it came time for follow-up questions from the members, an unidentified trustee could be heard on the live video feed of the meeting asking Butch Davis how the ongoing review was “affecting recruiting.”

* * *

The essential (and unanswered) questions:

-- Did the heavy representation of UNC graduates on the Board of Governors play a role (at any time) during the scandal?

-- Why did the university choose to pay John Blake nearly $75,000 in pay that he had, by all indications, not earned?

-- What larger role (if any) did people like Norris McCleary and Johnny Vines play with regards to the football issues?

-- Why did the team allow a former player – who had been kicked out of the program years prior – to have on-facility access to their current players?

-- Why did head coach Butch Davis personally hire a former UNC tutor – even after it was known that the tutor had essentially been fired by the university?