College basketball's 30 biggest cheaters that tainted the game

College basketball’s 30 biggest cheaters that tainted the game

ATHENS, GREECE - APRIL 23: Rick Pitino, Head Coach of Panathinaikos OPAP Athens react during the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Play Off game 3 between Panathinaikos Opap Athens v Real Madrid at Olympic Sports Center Athens on April 23, 2019 in Athens, Greece. (Photo by Panagiotis Moschandreou/EB via Getty Images) /

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CHAPEL HILL, NC – DECEMBER 19: Rashad McCants #32 of the UNC Tar Heels looks out on the court during the game against the Vermont Catamounts at Dean E. Smith Center on December 19, 2002 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The Tar Heels won 80-54. (Photo by Craig Jones/Getty Images) /

25. North Carolina’s fishy academics

In a similar story as the Texas scandal we covered a few slides ago, North Carolina got caught with its hands in some fishy academic waters. Let’s offer a little context into the situation.

The lid was blown off of the scandal in 2014, when Mary Willingham, an academic tutor hired to help student-athletes, leveled damning accusations at the school. They included a student-established database with recycled papers, the fact that nearly 60 percent of football and basketball players read at a 4th-8th grade level, and that disadvantaged students were guided into a major that was known for having phony courses.

The allegations were backed up by former Tar Heels’ star Rashad McCants, a key member of the 2005 national championship team. McCants claimed that he had course work done for him while he was at the school and took phony classes, arguments refuted by the other 16 members of that team and head coach Roy Williams.

The university reached out to McCants to find out more about his allegations, but he didn’t respond to their request for information. The NCAA wasn’t able to speak with McCants either, leaving Willingham’s testimony as the main evidence of wrongdoing.

After an investigation, the NCAA declined to levy any sanctions against North Carolina, noting that they couldn’t prove the courses in question were designed just for student-athletes.