NCAA reopens academic fraud investigation into North Carolina athletics

The NCAA is reopening its investigation of academic irregularities at the University of North Carolina in the wake of former Tar Heel basketball player, Rashad McCants, who said he didn’t attend class yet somehow made the dean’s list.

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North Carolina had to see this coming. The university was under investigation in 2011 when they were cited for academic misconduct and other violations within the academic department. The football program was largely responsible as head coach Butch Davis lost his job and numerous players were suspended, including Marvin Austin, Robert Quinn and Greg Little.

The NCAA released the following statement on the matter:

“The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, was cited by the Division I Committee on Infractions in 2012 for violations in its athletics program, including academic misconduct. As with any case, the NCAA enforcement staff makes clear it will revisit the matter if additional information becomes available,” the NCAA said in a statement. …The enforcement staff is exploring this new information to ensure an exhaustive investigation is conducted based on all available information. The NCAA will not comment further to protect the integrity of the investigation.”

The NCAA believes people who were unwilling to disclose information three years ago will be more receptive to cooperating with the NCAA this time around and UNC athletic director Bubba Cuningham said, “We remain committed to learning from our past so that we can move forward to building a stronger University.”

You can read the full statement from Cunningham below:

"The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has received a verbal notice of inquiry from the NCAA that it will reopen its 2011 examination of academic irregularities. The NCAA has determined that additional people with information and others who were previously uncooperative might now be willing to speak with the enforcement staff."

"Since 2011, the University has conducted and commissioned numerous reviews of this matter and provided the NCAA with updates. In February, the University retained former federal prosecutor Kenneth Wainstein to conduct an independent investigation and instructed him to share relevant information directly and confidentially with the NCAA."

"The University has instituted numerous academic reforms based on findings from earlier reports that can be found at http://carolinacommitment.unc.edu/ We remain committed to learning from our past so that we can move forward to building a stronger University."

"Consistent with NCAA protocols, we will have no further comment on this matter until the process is complete."

Could this be the end for men’s basketball coach Roy Williams based on what the NCAA uncovers in their investigation?

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