The NCAA is heading back to Chapel Hill, North Carolina. UNC has received a notice of inquiry from the NCAA that an investigation into academic concerns will officially be reopened in light of new evidence and reports concerning academic problems in the university’s athletics department.
The NCAA released the following statement Monday afternoon;
The university released a statement confirming a notice has been received by the school, but there will be no more comments from UNC about the investigation until it is completed.
In February UNC hired Kenneth Wainstein, a former U.S. Justice Department attorney, to lead the outside investigation focusing on lingering academic concerns following the NCAA’s original investigation. UNC previously disputed a report by CNN suggesting a number of student-athletes at the university were unable to complete college level work and faced problems of illiteracy. Former defensive end Michael McAdoo later claimed he was guided to no-show classes by a counselor hired by the university.
All of this information was reported after the NCAA wrapped up its initial investigation, but as with most investigations conducted by the NCAA there is always a statement confirming the case can be reopened if needed. Now it appears the NCAA has access to more information and may be able to get to talk to some witnesses or other people of interest who may have been unavailable or unwilling to cooperate previously.
What does this mean for UNC football? For now it is best to wait and see how deep the NCAA can dig at this time. The program may be able to get by without any punishments too severe for the program after already paying dues for previous incidents. As long as Larry Fedora has been running a clean program since being hired, the damage this investigation causes could be minimal. But if the NCAA finds similar problems still ongoing, it could be quite a different story.