SI.com is FINALLY trying to bring the UNC academic scandal back to the forefront

[scottdude8]

Found this article through my FB feed: http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2017/03/28/unc-tar-heels-ncaa-investigation-final-four?utm_source=si.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=si.com&xid=socialflow_facebook_si

Nice to see that a major sports news organization is talking about the UNC academic scandal in some way, FINALLY. I can't remember ESPN ever discussing it during their tournament coverage, and CBS/Turner certainly haven't during UNC games. It's seemed for a while that only local news and our board seemed to still be offended by what is by all measures the worst academic scandal in NCAA history.

Maybe this will help the story gain some traction and get discussed on a wider scale. Yes, none of the current players have been implicated, but at the very least I think Roy Williams would be viewed as a villain on par with Calipari by the average college basketball fan if this scandal was covered the way it should be.

Meanwhile, the waiting game for that inevitable "punishment" continues...

[WiJoe]

Story not NEARLY strong enough.

"Ultimately, though, it might be UNC that gets the last laugh."

Hilarious!

I'll laugh in my sleep.

This story is cr*p. No stand. No criticism. Wimpy.

Cheats deny, deny, deny, delay, delay, delay.

Send $18 million and counting on legal fees.

Wait until the pope (bilas) starts pontificating this week. Totally nauseating.


JOKE!

[Nugget]

Story not NEARLY strong enough. ... This story is cr*p. No stand. No criticism. Wimpy.

I'd disagree -- I think Mandel does a pretty good job here. How is this "no stand" and "no criticism"?

"It’s long been a matter of when, not if, the NCAA levies some form of heavy penalty against the UNC athletic department. The case is widely considered the most egregious academic fraud scandal in NCAA history, so concerning to the Committee on Infractions that at one point last year the judges essentially sent the file back to the prosecutors to make a stronger case.

Knowing the severity of the allegations, other schools might have begged for mercy by self-imposing a postseason ban. North Carolina has done the opposite. It’s stalled, obfuscated and contested the NCAA’s authority, which has only served to draw out an already laborious process even further.

It’s a strategy that may only hurt the school in the long-term, but in the short-term it’s proven a stroke of genius."

And then, after giving a good, albeit truncated, timeline/summary of the developments this:

"Obviously, that’s a lot to follow. Which is presumably just how North Carolina would like it. The school would prefer you don’t get bogged down with the details of its fraudulent past and instead cheer on Jackson, Berry, Meeks and Hicks as they prepare to take on third-seeded Oregon on Saturday in Glendale, Ariz. After all, nothing would mitigate the potential sting of looming sanctions better than a national championship.

And besides, North Carolina AD Bubba Cunningham would have you believe that the NCAA, not his school, is the bad guy in all of this. Last month he lamented to CBSSports.com’s Dennis Dodd that the organization “overcharged” UNC and is essentially exerting judicial overreach. “Is this academic fraud? Yes, it is by a normal person’s standards,” he said. “But by the NCAA definition [it is not].”

It’s the kind of line that would make you chuckle if it wasn’t so infuriating."

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

It was a good piece. But I'll pay more attention when the CBS team takes up the issue on air... [waiting... waiting... waiting...]

[devil84]

Story not NEARLY strong enough.

"Ultimately, though, it might be UNC that gets the last laugh."

Hilarious!

I'll laugh in my sleep.

This story is cr*p. No stand. No criticism. Wimpy.

Cheats deny, deny, deny, delay, delay, delay.

Send $18 million and counting on legal fees.

Wait until the pope (bilas) starts pontificating this week. Totally nauseating.


JOKE!

Yeah, I'm with you on that, WiJoe. But we need to remember that many of us have followed this case in great detail, including reading every page of the Martin and Wainstein reports. I'm betting that most of the SI readers are slightly less familiar with the case. (And by slightly, I mean, "maybe they've heard of it.")

So, perhaps those readers have heard of all these other cases where one or two athletes got a tutor to write a paper. Or grades were changed for a few kids one year. And those schools got a swift and severe punishment. They might even be a fan of one of those universities. So, how do they feel when they read, "Ordinarily, that Notice of Allegations [link provided to the Carolina Commitment site with the NOA) would have led to a Committee on Infractions hearing, and, a few months later, sanctions. Nearly two years later, however, the case continues to drag on...."

Then later, "NCAA discipline is notoriously inconsistent from one case to the next." Hmm...they've got to be nodding their heads now. And maybe their blood pressure is rising.

Further down the story is, "The case is widely considered the most egregious academic fraud scandal in NCAA history."

Williams is quoted as saying, "I'm tired of this junk." Wait, what? It goes on to spell out what a stupid comment that is: "While the coach's frustration with the long wait is understandable, perhaps he should also feel a bit grateful for the opportunity it provided." Meaning these back-to-back Final Fours.

It talks about the $18 million in legal fees perhaps being well-spent if they get the National Championship.

Then they recap the "now six-year old investigation." The "bogus lecture courses" that go back to 1993. That athletes are "disproportionately enrolled in them." "Wainstein...finds nearly half of the 3,100 students who took the non-existent classes were athletes." The first NOA gives them 90 days to respond, and Carolina finds "unrelated recruiting violations in men's soccer." After UNC loses the 2016 title game, "the NCAA issues a mysteriously watered down amended notice," removing the men's basketball references and "conveniently exempts the Tar Heels' 2005 national title team." UNC responds "defiantly." Yes, these are quotes from the article, using their words, not mine. These are fairly loaded words if you haven't read about this before.

After reading this, how many people are still sympathetic to the Tar Heels? There were many more than a couple of athletes. It's much longer more than a year or two of fraud. Two national title games are referenced -- two more than many schools could even dream about. And if that reader is a fan of a school who was swiftly punished for far, far less, I'd think their blood would boil.

This piece isn't written for us. It's the piece we've been begging people (in addition to Dan Kane) to write. It hits the highlights and doesn't draw conclusions. I think many people could draw some conclusions from it. Most of them not good.

It's a start. We need more. And it isn't coming from ESPN, where the head honcho is a Carolina grad.

[jv001]

Yeah, I'm with you on that, WiJoe. But we need to remember that many of us have followed this case in great detail, including reading every page of the Martin and Wainstein reports. I'm betting that most of the SI readers are slightly less familiar with the case. (And by slightly, I mean, "maybe they've heard of it.")

So, perhaps those readers have heard of all these other cases where one or two athletes got a tutor to write a paper. Or grades were changed for a few kids one year. And those schools got a swift and severe punishment. They might even be a fan of one of those universities. So, how do they feel when they read, "Ordinarily, that Notice of Allegations [link provided to the Carolina Commitment site with the NOA) would have led to a Committee on Infractions hearing, and, a few months later, sanctions. Nearly two years later, however, the case continues to drag on..."

Then later, "NCAA discipline is notoriously inconsistent from one case to the next." Hmm...they've got to be nodding their heads now. And maybe their blood pressure is rising.

Further down the story is, "The case is widely considered the most egregious academic fraud scandal in NCAA history."

Williams is quoted as saying, "I'm tired of this junk." Wait, what? It goes on to spell out what a stupid comment that is: "While the coach's frustration with the long wait is understandable, perhaps he should also feel a bit grateful for the opportunity it provided." Meaning these back-to-back Final Fours.

It talks about the $18 million in legal fees perhaps being well-spent if they get the National Championship.

Then they recap the "now six-year old investigation." The "bogus lecture courses" that go back to 1993. That athletes are "disproportionately enrolled in them." "Wainstein...finds nearly half of the 3,100 students who took the non-existent classes were athletes." The first NOA gives them 90 days to respond, and Carolina finds "unrelated recruiting violations in men's soccer." After UNC loses the 2016 title game, "the NCAA issues a mysteriously watered down amended notice," removing the men's basketball references and "conveniently exempts the Tar Heels' 2005 national title team." UNC responds "defiantly." Yes, these are quotes from the article, using their words, not mine. These are fairly loaded words if you haven't read about this before.

After reading this, how many people are still sympathetic to the Tar Heels? There were many more than a couple of athletes. It's much longer more than a year or two of fraud. Two national title games are referenced -- two more than many schools could even dream about. And if that reader is a fan of a school who was swiftly punished for far, far less, I'd think their blood would boil.

This piece isn't written for us. It's the piece we've been begging people (in addition to Dan Kane) to write. It hits the highlights and doesn't draw conclusions. I think many people could draw some conclusions from it. Most of them not good.

It's a start. We need more. And it isn't coming from ESPN, where the head honcho is a Carolina grad.

Bam! Can you imagine if Duke was the school that had committed the academic fraud? It might even reach the "tripping" news on Grayson. I hate the cheats and ESPN. GoDuke!

[weezie]

... "The case is widely considered the most egregious academic fraud scandal in NCAA history."

After reading this, how many people are still sympathetic to the Tar Heels?

Going way out on that limb devil84. You're assuming their fans can read. I think we now know that many cannot read, nor can a large percentage of their athletes.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Going way out on that limb devil84. You're assuming their fans can read. I think we now know that many cannot read, nor can a large percentage of their athletes.

Excellent point as usually, weezie. We know now what their "diplomas" are worth,and also after this last two years finally know why JR can't Reid.

[weezie]

Excellent point as usually, weezie. We know now what their "diplomas" are worth,and also after this last two years finally know why JR can't Reid.

Touche Mtn.

[wsb3]

Be nice if any so called journalist would actually dare to question Roy.Not you Bilas.

I have 2 reasonable questions to begin with.

1. Did you know about fake classes your players were taking? We know his answer.

2. Isn't your not knowing just as bad? You sat in living rooms & told Mom& Dad about what a fine education your son would receive.

If Huck ever really got grilled he would be as nervous as he is when forced to part with one of his precious timeouts.

[DU82]

Going way out on that limb devil84. You're assuming their fans can read. I think we now know that many cannot read, nor can a large percentage of their athletes.

Perhaps you can translate it into Swahili for them.

[Atlanta Duke]

It was a good piece. But I'll pay more attention when the CBS team takes up the issue on air... [waiting... waiting... waiting...]

This is what you will get more of from CBS

Jim Nantz’s NCAA whitewashing enables scandal and disgrace

http://nypost.com/2017/03/27/jim-nantzs-ncaa-whitewashing-enables-scandal-and-disgrace/

[JStuart]

Found this article through my FB feed: http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2017/03/28/unc-tar-heels-ncaa-investigation-final-four?utm_source=si.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=si.com&xid=socialflow_facebook_si

Nice to see that a major sports news organization is talking about the UNC academic scandal in some way, FINALLY. I can't remember ESPN ever discussing it during their tournament coverage, and CBS/Turner certainly haven't during UNC games. It's seemed for a while that only local news and our board seemed to still be offended by what is by all measures the worst academic scandal in NCAA history.

Maybe this will help the story gain some traction and get discussed on a wider scale. Yes, none of the current players have been implicated, but at the very least I think Roy Williams would be viewed as a villain on par with Calipari by the average college basketball fan if this scandal was covered the way it should be.

Meanwhile, the waiting game for that inevitable "punishment" continues...

Compare this to the pre-Tournament issue, where unc's Jackson is on the cover (used to be a jinx, remember?), a subject of the big story about the NCAA's, and also a topic in the Regional discussion. They also picked unc for the title, too. Used to be the best issue of the year, last century. I couldn't finish the mag this year. Too much light-blue. SI has lost it for me. Alas.

[weezie]

...SI has lost it for me. Alas.

It's more of a picture magazine anyway. Easier for hole players to follow and make up their own stories.

[Fish80]

Lid blows off this week? Good for TV? Conspiracy? 😳

[devil84]

Going way out on that limb devil84. You're assuming their fans can read. I think we now know that many cannot read, nor can a large percentage of their athletes.

I'm not talking about Tar Heel fans -- SI isn't a coloring book! ;) I'm not at all concerned about them in this instance. They'll always be sympathetic to themselves.

I'm talking about the people who are fans of other schools. Literally any other school. Syracuse, Ohio State, SMU, Memphis, any school who has been sanctioned by the NCAA, anybody who Carolina has beaten recently in the tournament...IOW, people who have forgotten about it, hadn't followed it closely, or never heard of it and who would be really angry if they understood what's been going on. THOSE are the fans that need to hear the story. It needs to be a primer, something that DBR and PackPride audiences would think too basic, but that's because we've read the Wainstein and other reports cover-to-cover. Twice.

So, the non-Tar Heel, non-ABC fans: Can they read this story and still be sympathetic to the Tar Heels? Will they want to know more information? I'd hope they'd click on a few of those numerous links embedded in the article and demand to know why the Tar Heels haven't been punished.