Lengthy post from "Manalishi" today. I'll break it up. Nuthin' new just an accurate summary to answer some questions. We're told he has more...
The purpose of this post is to try and present information that is factual and verified. While there may be other information that can be safely deemed as “known facts”, much of it has not been made public – so that info will be omitted. (Or, if pieces are added for clarification purposes, then it will be denoted as such.)
It seems like every few weeks new thoughts of doubt and negativity (regarding unc’s impending penalties) crop up. People start to say that they think unc will escape without punishment… that the men’s basketball team won’t get hit at all… and so on. Essentially, they buy into the PR message that unc has PAID MILLIONS FOR and spread throughout the media --- but which happens to also be a message that is factually incorrect.
This post will attempt to show why that message is incorrect, and hopefully stop the pointless, defeatist thoughts. (on this board, at least)
Perhaps it can educate others along the way, as well – including members of the national media who have been, for whatever reason, lax to do proper research on the topic.
-- There are multiple factors that all play into one conclusion: unc is going to be handed down some very weighty sanctions at some point in the near future, and in multiple sports – with men’s basketball being one of the sports at the center.
When the NCAA delivered its Notice of Allegations to the school the document included five Level I infractions, including the NCAA’s most serious accusation, Lack of Institutional Control. This is important for various reasons (which will be detailed in the “loss of scholarship” discussion, below).
Argument/complaint:
“It has been mentioned in various media outlets that ‘unc basketball was not accused of anything in the NOA’.”
Basically, that statement is a lie. Or, more specifically, it represents misinformation and/or laziness that is a direct result of unc’s paid PR endeavors. The professional media/TV representatives who repeat that erroneous statement are displaying a LACK of proper research and fundamental reading skills, and are doing a disservice to their profession.
So what is the truth?
The fifth Level I accusation in the NOA clearly states:
“The AFRI/AFAM department created anomalous courses that went unchecked for 18 years. This allowed individuals within ASPSA to use these courses through special arrangements to maintain the eligibility of academically at-risk student-athletes, particularly in the sports of football, MEN’S BASKETBALL, and women's basketball.”
Argument/complaint:
“Some talking heads have also said/written that ‘Roy Williams was not named in the NOA’.”
Again, this is a PR talking point.
No, Williams wasn’t named (amongst the five official infractions) – but Wayne Walden, his academic advisor of several decades and spanning two different schools, is widely represented in the multitude of supporting-evidence-emails. And Williams, like many other coaches who have been hit by NCAA sanctions over the past two years, “should have known” what was going on in his program. This is a stance long maintained by the NCAA in such cases.
And none of the talking heads who have said that (paraphrased) “Roy Williams wasn’t in the NOA” have no idea as to the contents of the dozens of personal interviews that the NCAA conducted – because unc redacted all of those interviews before publicly releasing the NOA.
Question:
“Will men’s basketball suffer any repercussions once sanctions are handed down?”
Their PR message has been “no”. In the kindest way of putting it, they are being willfully ignorant as to the facts.
As mentioned earlier, men’s basketball is clearly listed as being a beneficiary of impermissible benefits for nearly a full decade. Based on historical, current, and supplementary information, there is no way the men’s basketball program will escape sanctions.
Question:
“Okay, so what sanctions might men’s basketball face?”
-- Vacated wins.
NCAA bylaws are very clear on this matter. Once a player is deemed (retroactively) ineligible then any game in which he/she participated is retroactively forfeited by the school.
The NOA covers the years of 2002 through 2011. The NCAA will use a very simple and non-arbitrary process: determine which players received impermissible benefits, and what semesters were affected. Cross-reference that information with those players’ athletic participations. Using that data, any games in which an ineligible player participated will be forfeited.
Again, this is not an opinion process; this is not a jury-decision where back-and-forth discussion will have to take place. It is clearly outlined in the NCAA’s bylaws, and has been followed in virtually every NCAA infractions case over the past decade.
unc men’s basketball (among several other sports) will end up vacating dozens of wins between the years of 2002 and 2011 – which includes the Championship years of 2005 and 2009.
