Elizabeth City State basketball player Miykael Faulcon aka the guy riding shotgun all throughout the Summer of P.J., has been cleared to play basketball by the NCAA. Faulcon was hit with a nine game suspension and asked to pay back $1440.98 of impermissible benefits to charity. Here is the reinstatement letter for Faulcon via WTVD's Derek Rowles.
Miykael Faulcon reinstated by #NCAA after summer incident w/PJ Hairston .. MF got 9 games, here's the NCAA letter pic.twitter.com/cgFHOYN49a
— Derek Rowles (@DerekRowles) December 18, 2013
Just prior to the season, Faulcon's name disappeared from the roster posted on the ECSU website fueling speculation as to his fate with the NCAA. His name then reappeared on the roster a couple of weeks ago leading to the conclusion this kind of outcome was forthcoming. As for the penalty, nine games is 30% of the season which is in line with how the NCAA handles cases of this nature. The dollar amount is similar to what the NCAA nailed former UNC football player Deunta Williams with and the penalty was also 30% or in football four games.
So what does this mean for P.J. Hairston and Leslie McDonald? No one knows. The water running through the rumor mill is clear as mud as this point. There is scuttlebutt pointing to positive and negative resolutions for one or both players. Bubba Cunningham told ESPN prior to Saturday's game versus Kentucky that the end was nigh. Dick Vitale claimed that UNC was getting cooperation from "other principals" and this whole business might get wrapped up soon.
The game versus Texas tonight will be UNC's tenth of the season which means, barring an announcement in the next nine hours, Hairston and McDonald's "time served" will exceed the 30% mark of nine games.
