TWard
10-13-2017, 02:21 PM
I'm surprised this hasn't been brought up. I try to avoid non-card talk but this is just sheer ridiculousness. I just don't understand this honestly.
Not fair at all. I may be a homer and biased, but it's just amazing to me how Memphis gets all their stuff vacated but UNC, with one of the biggest cheating scandals of all-time, gets off scot-free. It just doesn't make any sense to me.
North Carolina avoided major sanctions after the NCAA could not conclude the school violated academic rules when it made available deficient Department of African and Afro-American Studies "paper courses" to the general student body, including student-athletes.
How and why North Carolina escaped sanctions
North Carolina does not have to give back any basketball national championships. It was not hit with any postseason bans or reductions in scholarships. The Tar Heels, basically, walked away clean and free. It's time to explain how it happened.
NCAA vs. North Carolina: How we got to this point
The NCAA wants to penalize North Carolina over academic matters. UNC says the NCAA has no jurisdiction. The long saga will move to its latest chapter when the NCAA announces its final ruling on Friday. Here's a full rundown of how we got here.
The NCAA said in a release Friday that the committee on infractions found two violations in this case: Former department chairman Julius Nyang'oro and retired office administrator Deborah Crowder failed to cooperate during the investigation. The only sanction connected with the probe is a five-year show cause for Nyang'oro lasting until Oct. 12, 2022. Crowder was not punished, but the NCAA says it is making note of her initial lack of cooperation.
"While student-athletes likely benefited from the so-called 'paper courses' offered by North Carolina, the information available in the record did not establish that the courses were solely created, offered and maintained as an orchestrated effort to benefit student-athletes," said Greg Sankey, the panel's chief hearing officer and commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, in the release. "The panel is troubled by the university's shifting positions about whether academic fraud occurred on its campus and the credibility of the Cadwalader report, which it distanced itself from after initially supporting the findings. However, NCAA policy is clear. The NCAA defers to its member schools to determine whether academic fraud occurred and, ultimately, the panel is bound to making decisions within the rules set by the membership."
The investigation centered on a system in which a significant percentage of student-athletes took classes that had academic irregularities -- and whether that resulted in those athletes receiving an impermissible benefit. The classes were taken by more than 3,100 students -- nearly half of them athletes -- from 1993 to 2011. However, the investigation was focused from 2002-11.
The independent study-style courses came in the Department of African and Afro-American Studies and often required no attendance, as well as grade changes, forged faculty signatures and just one paper at the conclusion of the semester. The athletes were reportedly guided into the classes to help them remain academically eligible.
North Carolina has maintained that the NCAA has no jurisdiction over this academic matter, and has denied that student-athletes received impermissible benefits due to the fact that the classes in question were offered to the entire student body.
Only two people at North Carolina ultimately received NCAA sanctions in the multi-year academic case. Former department chairman Julius Nyang'oro and retired office administrator Deborah Crowder were charged with refusing to cooperate with the NCAA probe. Peyton Williams/UNC via Getty Images
The panel also did not conclude, based on the record before it, that extra benefits were provided to student-athletes. The panel noted the former secretary credibly explained during the hearing that she treated all students the same.
"While student-athletes likely benefited from the courses, so did the general student body," said Sankey. "Additionally, the record did not establish that the university created and offered the courses as part of a systemic effort to benefit only student-athletes."
The Tar Heels won a pair of national titles within the span -- in 2005 and 2009. North Carolina also won a national championship this past season, but that title was never in question.
The NCAA, which had investigated the football program in 2010, reopened a new investigation in June of 2014 and issued the first notice of allegations in May of 2015 -- which included a lack of institutional control and also offering impermissible benefits to athletes. There was a second NOA in April of 2016 in which there was still a lack of institutional control, but no mention of men's basketball or football and also no impermissible benefits charge.
Sankey asked the enforcement staff to look at new information in November of 2016 -- and a third notice of allegations in December of 2016 included both men's basketball and football once again and had UNC facing five top-level charges -- including a lack of institutional control and the initial extra benefit charge. Two other charges pertained to Nyang'oro and Crowder failing to cooperate with the NCAA enforcement staff requests -- violating the NCAA principles of ethical conduct. The final one involved an academic counselor providing extra benefits by way of impermissible academic assistance and special arrangements to women's basketball players from 2003 to 2010.
North Carolina had a two-day hearing in mid-April in Nashville in front of the committee on infractions. Men's basketball coach Roy Williams, women's basketball coach Sylvia Hatchell, football coach Larry Fedora, athletic director Bubba Cunningham and chancellor Carol Folt were all in attendance.
The NCAA began investigating the North Carolina football program back in June of 2010 for impermissible benefits and academic fraud under former coach Butch Davis. The football program received a one-year postseason ban, lost 15 scholarships over a three-year period and also was forced to vacate 15 wins in March of 2012. The school conducted an internal faculty investigation in which it was found that there were issues with 54 classes in the Department of African and Afro-American Studies taught from 2007 to 2011. There was then another review from former North Carolina Gov. Jim Martin who found the sham classes went back to 1997.
North Carolina hired Kenneth Wainstein in February of 2014 to work on an independent investigation into the scandal. It found that former African studies department chairman Nyang'oro and Crowder created bogus classes and enrolled student-athletes to help them remain eligible over a span from 1993 to 2011. Crowder left the university in 2009.
Such a joke.
Not fair at all. I may be a homer and biased, but it's just amazing to me how Memphis gets all their stuff vacated but UNC, with one of the biggest cheating scandals of all-time, gets off scot-free. It just doesn't make any sense to me.
North Carolina avoided major sanctions after the NCAA could not conclude the school violated academic rules when it made available deficient Department of African and Afro-American Studies "paper courses" to the general student body, including student-athletes.
How and why North Carolina escaped sanctions
North Carolina does not have to give back any basketball national championships. It was not hit with any postseason bans or reductions in scholarships. The Tar Heels, basically, walked away clean and free. It's time to explain how it happened.
NCAA vs. North Carolina: How we got to this point
The NCAA wants to penalize North Carolina over academic matters. UNC says the NCAA has no jurisdiction. The long saga will move to its latest chapter when the NCAA announces its final ruling on Friday. Here's a full rundown of how we got here.
The NCAA said in a release Friday that the committee on infractions found two violations in this case: Former department chairman Julius Nyang'oro and retired office administrator Deborah Crowder failed to cooperate during the investigation. The only sanction connected with the probe is a five-year show cause for Nyang'oro lasting until Oct. 12, 2022. Crowder was not punished, but the NCAA says it is making note of her initial lack of cooperation.
"While student-athletes likely benefited from the so-called 'paper courses' offered by North Carolina, the information available in the record did not establish that the courses were solely created, offered and maintained as an orchestrated effort to benefit student-athletes," said Greg Sankey, the panel's chief hearing officer and commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, in the release. "The panel is troubled by the university's shifting positions about whether academic fraud occurred on its campus and the credibility of the Cadwalader report, which it distanced itself from after initially supporting the findings. However, NCAA policy is clear. The NCAA defers to its member schools to determine whether academic fraud occurred and, ultimately, the panel is bound to making decisions within the rules set by the membership."
The investigation centered on a system in which a significant percentage of student-athletes took classes that had academic irregularities -- and whether that resulted in those athletes receiving an impermissible benefit. The classes were taken by more than 3,100 students -- nearly half of them athletes -- from 1993 to 2011. However, the investigation was focused from 2002-11.
The independent study-style courses came in the Department of African and Afro-American Studies and often required no attendance, as well as grade changes, forged faculty signatures and just one paper at the conclusion of the semester. The athletes were reportedly guided into the classes to help them remain academically eligible.
North Carolina has maintained that the NCAA has no jurisdiction over this academic matter, and has denied that student-athletes received impermissible benefits due to the fact that the classes in question were offered to the entire student body.
Only two people at North Carolina ultimately received NCAA sanctions in the multi-year academic case. Former department chairman Julius Nyang'oro and retired office administrator Deborah Crowder were charged with refusing to cooperate with the NCAA probe. Peyton Williams/UNC via Getty Images
The panel also did not conclude, based on the record before it, that extra benefits were provided to student-athletes. The panel noted the former secretary credibly explained during the hearing that she treated all students the same.
"While student-athletes likely benefited from the courses, so did the general student body," said Sankey. "Additionally, the record did not establish that the university created and offered the courses as part of a systemic effort to benefit only student-athletes."
The Tar Heels won a pair of national titles within the span -- in 2005 and 2009. North Carolina also won a national championship this past season, but that title was never in question.
The NCAA, which had investigated the football program in 2010, reopened a new investigation in June of 2014 and issued the first notice of allegations in May of 2015 -- which included a lack of institutional control and also offering impermissible benefits to athletes. There was a second NOA in April of 2016 in which there was still a lack of institutional control, but no mention of men's basketball or football and also no impermissible benefits charge.
Sankey asked the enforcement staff to look at new information in November of 2016 -- and a third notice of allegations in December of 2016 included both men's basketball and football once again and had UNC facing five top-level charges -- including a lack of institutional control and the initial extra benefit charge. Two other charges pertained to Nyang'oro and Crowder failing to cooperate with the NCAA enforcement staff requests -- violating the NCAA principles of ethical conduct. The final one involved an academic counselor providing extra benefits by way of impermissible academic assistance and special arrangements to women's basketball players from 2003 to 2010.
North Carolina had a two-day hearing in mid-April in Nashville in front of the committee on infractions. Men's basketball coach Roy Williams, women's basketball coach Sylvia Hatchell, football coach Larry Fedora, athletic director Bubba Cunningham and chancellor Carol Folt were all in attendance.
The NCAA began investigating the North Carolina football program back in June of 2010 for impermissible benefits and academic fraud under former coach Butch Davis. The football program received a one-year postseason ban, lost 15 scholarships over a three-year period and also was forced to vacate 15 wins in March of 2012. The school conducted an internal faculty investigation in which it was found that there were issues with 54 classes in the Department of African and Afro-American Studies taught from 2007 to 2011. There was then another review from former North Carolina Gov. Jim Martin who found the sham classes went back to 1997.
North Carolina hired Kenneth Wainstein in February of 2014 to work on an independent investigation into the scandal. It found that former African studies department chairman Nyang'oro and Crowder created bogus classes and enrolled student-athletes to help them remain eligible over a span from 1993 to 2011. Crowder left the university in 2009.
Such a joke.