Quinn, Little and Austin will never play here again!
After being sick for a couple of days, sick enough that blogging/podcasting/anything else having to do with the internet were just not on the program, I am back (and hopefully better than ever or at least not worst than before) to talk about what has been an eventful week for North Carolina to say the least. I will try to get to all that I can (including Heels in the League), but I have to begin with the bombshell that was the NCAA ruling on WR Greg Little, DE Robert Quinn and DT Marvin Austin. Before I begin all of this let me just say that I truly believed that Austin would be gone for good (playing wise) a long time ago and so would Little when the first presser was held. On the other hand I thought Quinn would be back (say after six games). As it stands now the senior DT has been dismissed from the team, while the senior wide out and junior DE have been rules ineligible and UNC will not appeal the decision made by the NCAA.
It’s a sad story, maybe more for the fans and the school than for the players, but it’s still a sad story. The reality is that most (if not all) these players once the National Football League Draft comes along will become millionares and might not ever think back at what could have been, and will probably say their high school when they do Sunday Night Football. But for the fans, you know the ones that have not left Chapel Hill, this was a sad state of events. Sure, we will get over it, because as I told anyone that reads my blog or listens to my podcast, if you love the school first then the rest is a lot easier to absorb as a whole. Make no mistake, the Carolina family took a hit as a whole, but on the other hand the individuals that made all of this possible will be punished by getting millions of dollars in garuanteed money in their first contract. Somehow that just does not sound fair.
This is some of what has been said about the situation…
University of North Carolina football student-athletes Greg Little and Robert Quinn are permanently ineligible, according to a decision today by the NCAA student-athlete reinstatement staff. The university declared both student-athletes ineligible for violations of NCAA agent benefits, preferential treatment and ethical conduct rules. According to the facts submitted by the university, the total value of the benefits is approximately $4,952 for Little and $5,642 for Quinn.
Little accepted diamond earrings, as well as travel accommodations for the Bahamas, Washington D.C. and two trips to Miami, among other benefits. Quinn accepted two black diamond watches, a pair of matching earrings and travel accommodations for a trip to Miami, among other benefits.
Based upon information gathered by the institution and the NCAA Agent, Gambling and Amateurism staff during its joint investigation, unethical conduct charges were found against both student-athletes for providing false and misleading information. According to the facts submitted by the university, each student-athlete was not truthful during three separate interviews with university and NCAA enforcement staff members. Further, Little and Quinn only provided more accurate information when presented with evidence that was contrary to their assertions.
But what hurts, truly hurts, because I do believe in the Carolina way, is not the fact that these young men made the mistakes they did, but then they tried to cover them up by lying to both the NCAA investigators and the Carolina officials. Maybe they do not understand that this could be part of why all of the players have been slowed to coming back, because once investigators find lies it seems they tend to stop and re-start to make sure no one else lied. Basically re-doing an investigation inside the investigation based primarily on where someone lied. I can deal with the fact a young man went on a vacation that he should have never gone to, or taken stuff that he should not have because of eligibility issues, but then, when caught, whether anyone, everyone, or noone knew, lieing about it just makes it all ten fold worst. Had they admitted it maybe the other players would be back on the field and maybe I could forgive them. Now, too many players are still out and I can’t (not that they care for my forgiveness or not). And, if the NCAA decided to make another example and give North Carolina some sanctions for all of this, those players and the ex coach (yes let’s add him to the mix) won’t feel any of that. Who will feel it will be the fan base, the team and anyone else attached to the program.
From what Athletic Director had to say is basically this: UNC is strong with their compliance, but not strong enough and needs to do more. He also made sure to say that all of this had nothing to do with ex coach John Blake, which by now I have no idea if it makes any difference anymore. The AD also talked about the same thing that was brought up in the first presses, “institutional control”, and that he would fight anyone talking about this. While I understand why he had to say that to me on that issue the key is “show me, don’t talk about it”. The ABC’ers and haters will always think that there were problems in the program and no matter what Baddour, Davis or anyone else does that will always be the case. The best thing to do in this situation is to just walk the walk and talk the talk and do not care what the rest of the world thinks of it.
Head coach also talks about this situation and what can be done better, which again to me is all good, but only with facts to the words will it make it better. I feel that all of this is more about making the masses feel better than actually making it all work, a bit of CYA rather than elbow grease, and I am not the only one that feels that way. Bonami Jones, who is a Sirius radio host (and has been on my podcast), said that all of this sounds “hollow” to him. I might not have pushed it as far as Jones did, but then again, I am a Tar Heel and he is not. This is some of what he said in the piece he wrote for ESPN…
While announcing that Austin, Greg Little and Robert Quinn — none of whom should last beyond the third round of the 2011 NFL draft — would not return to the field for the Tar Heels, Baddour and Davis clung to their shared cluelessness and newfound enlightenment. That enlightenment prompted UNC to overhaul its oversight of players, which will now include a sign-out sheet for players who go out of town to make sure they’re not in untoward places. High school teachers, who can’t even get kids to come straight back to class with their hall passes, just laughed in unison.
The solution, at least in Chapel Hill, is to create a system that makes it more efficient to be lied to so, if the NCAA calls again, coaches can say they tried their best.
And this is an ex sports agent talking on Mike & Mike in the Morning about some of the same stuff that the NCAA is looking into at UNC (and maybe other colleges)…
Maybe this will make me very unpopular with the fan base I am part of, but in my humble opinion as a blogger and a diehard Tar heel, there is no excuses for what these three players did. None. Zero. Nothing. I am truly tired of this story, and glad that it has come to an end, but the fact is this: there needs to be a way to fix these problems and there needs a way to punish players that do this even when they are leaving for the next lever. Whether the school knew or not, the fact that players that did nothing wrong might now have to pay for the “sins” of others is wrong and absurd. Yet that it what is going to happen. To say that the way to fix it is what both the AD and the HC “going to try harder” is not enough, at least not enough for this old Heel. And make no mistake, while fans were willing to overlook all of this because they wanted the players back on the field, the NCAA could not care less and make sure to give that extra punishment because the players did wrong and then lied about it all.
The last point I will make on all of this is that all the insiders that brought out theories and other stuff about the NCAA two pronged invesigation had no clue about what was going on. Only the Univerisity of North Carolina and the NCAA know what is really going on and it seems that they won’t be disclosing much of it to anyone. In the end, it is time to let all of this go and keep going with the players that are on the field and are 3 and 2 (1-1 in the ACC) on the year. For both the players that did this, the ones that are on the field, the coaching staff, the higher ups of UNC and the NCAA I offer this old saying that was always told to me: “nothing changes if nothing changes”. So if you want this not to happen again stop talking about “doing the best you can” and figure out what the best is and make it work!
