UNC Athletics Scandal - Wainstein Report

[OZ]

Page 72:Men’s Basketball Personnel
Chapel Hill had four different head men’s basketball coaches during the period in which the AFAM paper courses were offered. During the Dean Smith era (1961-1997), there were 54 basketball player enrollments in AFAM independent studies. In the three years of Coach Bill Guthridge’s tenure (1997-2000), there were 17 basketball enrollments in paper classes. There were 42 enrollments in paper classes under Coach Matt Doherty (2000-2003) and 167 under Coach Roy Williams (2003-present).

Along that same line...
"Before Williams' arrival, former head coach Matt Doherty said that he "inherited the academic support system developed by prior coaches Dean Smith and Bill Guthridge. That system had academic oversight being handled by (Burgess) McSwain, the counselor with close ties to Debby Crowder."
Doherty was told by Smith and Gutheridge that he should not change the system despite "understanding that AFAM was the easiest major at Chapel Hill." Under Doherty, 42 basketball players were enrolled in paper classes"

[gus]

I have a basic question, that I could probably answer by reading in more detail, but maybe someone here can answer this:

Everything I've read just says "1993".

Does this mean the academic year (Fall of '92 to spring '93), or does it mean calendar '93 (presumably summer/fall of '93)? The distinction is important if I'm to start hectoring my UNC acquaintances.

[alteran]

This is rich. Pay no attention to the coaches making millions from winning - or in the case of UNC football, trying to win - UNC wants us to believe that the real culprit here is a departmental assistant that just wanted to help the disadvantaged. If only "those people" hadn't done so much harm to our University of the People. We had no idea, none.

What a crock.

Don't forget, the department that knew what was going on, the Academic Support Program for Student-Athletes, was not part of the athletic department, despite sharing the same offices. We're supposed to believe this separation of departments explains why the athletic department had absolutely no idea what was going on-- the people that shared offices with them somehow never told them.

It's laughable.

Here's the bottom line-- UNC ran a pretty decent investigation here, and I'm willing to bet Wainstein basically found everything you could by conducting interviews without subpoena power. UNC wants to bury this story, fine. But they can't bury it until they pay the piper-- it's that simple. This story will drip, drip, drip until they face the same level of sanctions (and maybe more, because of generations of sanctimony) that other institutions so clearly caught with their hands in the cookie jar have gotten.

[Tom B.]

While Wainstein praised Jim Martin and his investigation, Wainstein's report contains a few interesting nuggets that illuminate some of the Martin report's more glaring shortcomings:

3. Student-Athlete Composition of Irregular Classes

Governor Martin found that “[t]he percentage of student-athletes enrolled in anomalous course sections was consistent with the percentage of student-athletes enrolled in all courses offered by the Department.” After a comprehensive examination of the Registrar records, we came up with a very different statistical picture. We found that student-athletes accounted for 48% of all enrollments in the irregular classes, but only 8.3% of the enrollments in the regular AFAM courses. Accordingly, unlike Governor Martin, we found that student-athletes were far more represented in paper classes than they were in other courses offered by the department.

. . . .


5. Knowledge of ASPSA

Governor Martin and his team examined the role of the ASPSA personnel in this irregular class scheme. They found evidence that certain ASPSA employees were aware that certain courses within the AFAM Department were so-called "Term Paper Courses," and that lecture courses were being taught in an independent study format. However, they found "no confirmation for speculation that the Academic Support Program for Student-Athletes (ASPSA) academic counselors colluded with instructors or administrators to offer anomalous course sections for the benefit of student-athletes or engage in any improper activities to maintain eligibility of a student-athlete."

As we explained in Section V.A.2, we found that some members of the ASPSA staff intentionally used these classes as GPA boosters and relied on them to maintain or help restore their players' eligibility. Beyond that, we found close coordination of enrollments in these classes between Crowder and the ASPSA counselors for football, men's basketball and women's basketball. Among the ASPSA football staff, we found systematic efforts to enroll players in these classes and then to persuade Nyang'oro to continue offering them after Crowder retired. In short, we conclude that certain ASPSA counselors did, in fact, "collude[] with instructors or administrators to offer anomalous course sections for the benefit of student-athletes."

[tux]

I recall several conversations with a UNC buddy of mine (HS friend) who liked to give me grief whenever a Duke basketball player was suspended or disciplined for academic reasons. He would brag that that never happened at UNC...

um... yeah.

(Actually, I recall telling him that that should actually worry him a bit...)

[OldPhiKap]

While Wainstein praised Jim Martin and his investigation, Wainstein's report contains a few interesting nuggets that illuminate some of the Martin report's more glaring shortcomings:

If I am not mistaken, the referenced findings by Jim Martin were what led the NCAA to conclude that this was an academic problem and not an athletic one.

Looks like this new report torpedoes that squarely.

[martydoesntfoul]

I listened to most of the press conference, and here is one thing I didn't hear (please tell me if I missed it): "Mary Willingham, we sincerely apologize for the despicable way we treated you. Our hurtful comments, assassination of your character and efforts to make your work environment on campus intolerable were wholly inappropriate and inexcusable. On the contrary, you exhibited great courage in the face of adversity, in stark contrast to a number of your colleagues."

[4Gen]

So for two decades the secretary, Debby Crowder, masterminded the biggest academic scandal in the history of the NCAA, and the coaches never had a clue. OK.

[budwom]

Hey, this stuff went on for not even two decades, so it's not like it was any kind of long term issue or anything...

[OldPhiKap]

MSN pretty blunt:

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/new...dal/ar-BBaCMdk

[SoCalDukeFan]

I have not read the report, just the news reports. It seems pretty obvious that these classes were created to help athletes maintain eligibility. Non athletes heard about the classes and also took them. But they were created for athletes. The punishment should be major.

We will see.

SoCal

[diablesseblu]

Lot of good stuff in the report for the NCAA to work with if they pull their heads out of the sand....

Page 62...

Impact Analysis Findings
A total of 2,152 individual students who enrolled in the paper classes were included in this impact analysis. Of that number, 329 students (including 169 student-athletes) had at least one semester in which the grade they received in their paper class either pushed or kept their GPA above 2.0. In other words, for at least one semester in their college career, each of those students had an actual cumulative GPA above a 2.0 but a recalculated GPA (excluding the paper class grade(s))below a 2.0. This number includes 123 football players, 15 men’s basketball players, eight women’s basketball players, and 26 Olympic sport athletes. Of that number, we identified 81 students who earned degrees from Chapel Hill whose recalculated final GPA excluding the grade(s) from their paper class or classes was less than the 2.0 required to graduate.

Have not yet read the report, but this is the ultimate in academic corruption. I wondered about these "numbers" months ago when it was reported that grade change reports had forged signatures. I assumed the AFAM people were waiting to see what grade an athlete "needed." And, I do not believe this all is confined to AFAM. The Swahili courses have to be part of this.

Also, there is simply no way that the support staff/professionals in the Registrar's Office at UNC did not know what was happening. They have to certify that each candidate has fulfilled the requirements for a diploma. This alone should prompt an audit by the accrediting association, much less the NCAA's considering LOIC.

[tux]

Have not yet read the report, but this is the ultimate in academic corruption. I wondered about these "numbers" months ago when it was reported that grade change reports had forged signatures. I assumed the AFAM people were waiting to see what grade an athlete "needed." And, I do not believe this all is confined to AFAM. The Swahili courses have to be part of this.

Also, there is simply no way that the support staff/professionals in the Registrar's Office at UNC did not know what was happening. They have to certify that each candidate has fulfilled the requirements for a diploma. This alone should prompt an audit by the accrediting association, much less the NCAA's considering LOIC.

That sounds right to me. AFAM was obviously the engine that drove the eligibility bus, but it's very hard to believe that other departments weren't playing some (small) role as well.

The initial reaction to the report (~1:15pm) seemed to suggest another toothless waste of paper, but the consensus that's emerging now is quite different. It will be very interesting to see how this plays out. E.g., Roy will have to answer some tough questions, as some of his previous statements don't line up with what he told Wainstein et al.

[martydoesntfoul]

So what now? Is it up to the NCAA? Can the school impose voluntary sanctions? Are the banners effectively protected? The whole thing still smells bad. Plausible deniability on the part of leaders (along with conveniently spotty memories) is a wonderful weapon. The bureaucracy will always find a way to close ranks and protect itself...

[uh_no]

So what now? Is it up to the NCAA? Can the school impose voluntary sanctions? Are the banners effectively protected? The whole thing still smells bad. Plausible deniability on the part of leaders (along with conveniently spotty memories) is a wonderful weapon. The bureaucracy will always find a way to close ranks and protect itself...

I don't think anyone knows. the NCAA is investigating, UNC is going to spend time investigating.

and i highly doubt the banners are protected, after USC.

maybe we can get the 1993 one down as well :P

[Olympic Fan]

I listened to most of the press conference, and here is one thing I didn't hear (please tell me if I missed it): "Mary Willingham, we sincerely apologize for the despicable way we treated you. Our hurtful comments, assassination of your character and efforts to make your work environment on campus intolerable were wholly inappropriate and inexcusable. On the contrary, you exhibited great courage in the face of adversity, in stark contrast to a number of your colleagues."

Are you kidding? Over on IC, they are laughing that the Wainstein Report PROVES what a liar Mary Willingham (and Rashad McCants) is -- they see the report as a vindication that they did nothing wrong!

Driving home from Greensboro today, I listened to UNC apologists Dave Glenn and Art Chansky on the radio. They shared the same take -- because this involved regular students as well as athletes, there is nothing for the NCAA to see here.

[martydoesntfoul]

Are you kidding? Over on IC, they are laughing that the Wainstein Report PROVES what a liar Mary Willingham (and Rashad McCants) is -- they see the report as a vindication that they did nothing wrong!

Driving home from Greensboro today, I listened to UNC apologists Dave Glenn and Art Chansky on the radio. They shared the same take -- because this involved regular students as well as athletes, there is nothing for the NCAA to see here.

Signs the apocalypse is surely upon us.

[BigWayne]

Are you kidding? Over on IC, they are laughing that the Wainstein Report PROVES what a liar Mary Willingham (and Rashad McCants) is -- they see the report as a vindication that they did nothing wrong!

Driving home from Greensboro today, I listened to UNC apologists Dave Glenn and Art Chansky on the radio. They shared the same take -- because this involved regular students as well as athletes, there is nothing for the NCAA to see here.

They really don't get it. Maybe Roy can survive because of the regular students were included angle, but that is not the big issue. They have identified that specific athletes should have been ineligible. They haven't named names publicly, but they surely have to give the names to the NCAA. The games those athletes played in need to be forfeited and any championships vacated.

[diablesseblu]

Are you kidding? Over on IC, they are laughing that the Wainstein Report PROVES what a liar Mary Willingham (and Rashad McCants) is -- they see the report as a vindication that they did nothing wrong!

Driving home from Greensboro today, I listened to UNC apologists Dave Glenn and Art Chansky on the radio. They shared the same take -- because this involved regular students as well as athletes, there is nothing for the NCAA to see here.

I avoided David Glenn's show today for this very reason. He's a lawyer and should know better. UNC had to partially open these classes to non-athletes in order to keep the scam going. If they did not, some disaffected student would have complained. This could have blown up years ago.

Did Glenn/Chansky just avoid the eligibility to play issue?

[devildeac]

Soooo, does Cleveland State need to prepare their appeal yet or not?