A day after suspending Marvin Austin for the season opener, the starting defensive tackle could find a baker’s dozen plus two of his North Carolina teammates right along side of him.
ESPN.com‘s Joe Schad is reporting that the Tar Heels are preparing to play LSU Saturday night without up to 16 players due to dual NCAA investigations. And it’s not as if we’re talking about the third-team long snapper, either.
Upwards of seven starters on defense, along with the Tar Heels’ top two running backs and their leading receiver, could find themselves banished come Saturday.
Defensive end Robert Quinn is being investigated by the NCAA, Schad reports, for both nefarious interaction with an agent and being involved in the academic aspect of the probe. Linebackers Bruce Carter and Quan Sturdivant and cornerbacks Kendric Burney and Charles Brown are among the fellow defensive starters who could find themselves suspended for at least the opener. While not mentioned by Schad in this report, safety Deunta Williams is another player who’s name was brought up in the initial investigation.
All of those players listed above have been linked previously to the probes.
Wide receiver Greg Little has been mentioned as a person of interest in the past and is still in danger of not making the trip to Atlanta Friday morning. Top backs Shaun Draughn and Ryan Houston, whose name’s have not been on the radar like the others, could also be sidelined.
In an attempt to ease the pain of losing a little over one-fifth of their 85-man roster, UNC, in conjunction with the NCAA, is exploring the possibility of “rolling suspensions” that would allow them to spread their losses over several games, Schad writes. With such a seemingly widespread problem, it would seem a little more than curious that the NCAA would do anything to help the Tar Heels weather the predicament they find themselves in.
The Tar Heels are scheduled to fly to Atlanta for the opener Friday morning, and the school hopes they have an answer one way or the other from the NCAA as to which players will need to be left behind.
Meanwhile, LSU and Les Miles, who could very well find himself on the proverbial hot seat come season’s end, are simply sitting back and preparing to feast on the fruit of other people’s misery. Such is life in the NCAA these days, it seems.
Butch Davis must go! UNC hasn’t been on probation since the late 50′s. Someone’s got to pay for this.
Why would the NCAA help UNC – Chapel Hill? They shouldn’t.
Man, this sucks for the fans. I was looking forward to seeing what the UNC defense looked like this year. Such is life, I guess. Hopefully this doesn’t affect any of the players’ draft status, but it probably will because people are lame.
Take your medicine in one game. You are going to lose anyway.
Hopefully this doesn’t affect any of the players’ draft status, but it probably will because people are lame.
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Why are people lame. It appears that the Tar Heels decided to turn pro a little too early. These kids “know” the rules–they are drilled & drilled on do & don’ts every season. Most of the offenders are Srs & some Jrs so they made a conscious decision and they have to live with it.
UNC has not won a football championship, in a generally weak, ACC in 30 YEARS!! Why do people get excited about this team. They have put out some good individual players, but not teams!
Right is right and wrong is wrong! If the 16 players cheated they should be suspended. If the rules infractions are serious they should be dismissed from the team. I will never understand why some people on this blog think it is ok for good players to cheat and get away with it. Would they feel the same way if it was somebody on the scout team?
I think it is OK for players to “cheat” if it’s the rules are arbitrary crap that’s designed to prop up a corrupt system.
Let UNC play, start paying players so this stuff doesn’t happen.
blitz, I don’t know why people are lame. It’s a question I grapple with every day, in many areas.
It’s a mighty high price to pay considering the only difference between them and every other program in the country is that their players got caught. This crap is going on everywhere and is rampant throughout college. Anyone who thinks it isn’t is just fooling themselves. Hell, I’d just play everyone every game and make the NCAA figure out which games to forfeit later. What a joke! This isn’t a Butch Davis problem any more than USC was a Pete Carroll problem or US.C. is a Steve Spurrier problem.
I hate to say it, but I was wondering how Butch got that program turned around and headed the right direction so fast. I’ll bet those players that forewent the NFL draft are wishing otherwise now. D’ouch !