UNC spent the better part of this decade under NCAA investigation.
The body governing collegiate athletics then cleared UNC last fall of violating any NCAA guidelines connected with the university’s paper-class scandal. While the newest investigation does not have the same breadth or intensity, the NCAA officials are once again reviewing possible violations in Chapel Hill.
“We had students that sold some of the shoes that they were provided,” UNC athletics director Bubba Cunningham told reporters during a break at the UNC Board of Trustees meeting on Thursday. “And that’s an extra benefit violation, and we reported that quite some time ago.”
Cunningham said the issue developed with players from the football team selling university-issued shoes; he added the issue was limited to the football program. The university then self-reported the violation earlier this year, but it was brought to light earlier this week in a report by WRAL.
Cunningham said suspension of the players involved remains a possibility, depending on the ultimate outcome of the adjudication process.
“I think our compliance office does a great job with education,” Cunningham said. “And students know the rules, and occasionally we make mistakes. And we had a couple of students that made some mistakes, and there’s obviously penalties associated with that.”
Cunningham said there were “a number” of students involved but said he did not immediately know the specific number when speaking with reporters. He added he believed the university found out about the issue through social media.
“Which typically is how things happen nowadays,” Cunningham said. “And as soon as it happened, we jumped right on it. Within 24 hours we had it contained, and we supplied it to the NCAA as quickly as we could.”
UNC Chancellor Carol Folt said it was the goal of the university to operate without any violations and that this instance being classified as a “secondary” violation by the NCAA did not lessen the importance in her mind.
“I have complete confidence in Bubba that we’re doing every single thing right,” Folt said. “To make sure that we handle it; we deal with it properly, and we do everything we can to make sure these things don’t happen again.
“I’m always disappointed when we don’t do exactly what we want to do, but I feel very confident about what we’re doing to deal with it.”
Cunningham said he expects the process to reach its conclusion over the next couple of weeks and that all the documentation will be made public at that time. The football season begins on September 1 with a trip to California.
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