The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill football scandal is an incident in which the football program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was investigated and punished for multiple violations of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules and regulations, including academic fraud and improper benefits to student-athletes from sports agents. The NCAA investigation found that a tutor had completed coursework for several football players, among other improper services. Additionally, the investigation found that seven football players received thousands of dollars in valuables from sports agents or people associated with agents. The NCAA sanctions led to a postseason ban, a reduction of 15 scholarships, and three years of probation. It was the second major infraction case in North Carolina's history and the first since the men's basketball program was sanctioned in 1960 for recruiting violations.
Additionally, North Carolina football disassociated itself with several players involved in NCAA violations and fired football head coach Butch Davis in the summer before the 2011 season. In 2013, the district attorney of Orange County, North Carolina, the county where the university is located, initiated prosecution against five people involved in the scandal for violations of the state law about sports agents. Among the charged included the tutor found by the NCAA to have provided inappropriate academic assistance to players. The charges were later dropped.
History
Investigations and suspensions
On July 15, 2010, ESPN reported that the NCAA interviewed several North Carolina football players over alleged gifts, extra benefits, and sports agent involvement. Defensive tackle Marvin Austin, among players interviewed by the NCAA, made a post on Twitter on May 29. The post contained a reference to Club LIV, a nightclub in Miami, Florida in which a sports agent's party had taken place two months earlier. Austin was reported to have attended that party with North Carolina wide receiver Greg Little and South Carolina tight end Weslye Saunders, among other college football players.
On August 26, 2010, the NCAA began a separate investigation of North Carolina football that involved possible academic fraud involving a tutor in the university's academic support program. The tutor was later identified as Jennifer Wiley. According to athletic director Dick Baddour, the NCAA began the second investigation based on information shared by a player interviewed in the first investigation into sports agents. Another source familiar with the investigation said that Wiley was accused of "inappropriate help on papers that football players were required to write for classes." However, Baddour said on September 24 that Wiley declined to cooperate with the NCAA.
North Carolina suspended Austin on September 1, before the season began. In total, thirteen players missed North Carolina's September 4 season opener against LSU due to the NCAA investigation. The following day, defensive line coach and associate head coach John Blake was forced to resign; Blake had been under investigation for improper contact with sports agents, including Gary Wichard. On September 13, running back Shaun Draughn was the first of the 13 to be reinstated. On September 22, the NCAA suspended defensive backs Kendric Burney and Deunta Williams for six and four games, respectively, and credited the two for the two games both had already sat out. On October 11, 2010, North Carolina formally dismissed Austin from the team, and the NCAA declared wide receiver Little and defensive end Robert Quinn "permanently ineligible" due to receiving improper benefits.
McAdoo lawsuit against NCAA
Defensive end Michael McAdoo filed a lawsuit against the NCAA on July 1, 2011 seeking reinstatement to the North Carolina football team. This followed the NCAA finding McAdoo guilty of accepting improper benefits and committing academic fraud via coursework completed by Jennifer Wiley. The NCAA reached its verdict based on the UNC Undergraduate Honor Court finding that McAdoo committed academic dishonesty by having Wiley complete a bibliography and works-cited section on a research paper. From this lawsuit, McAdoo was forced to make public the paper; an analysis by Dan Kane of the Raleigh News & Observer found that the Honor Court failed to find multiple instances of plagiarism in McAdoo's paper. On July 13, a North Carolina Superior Court judge in Durham refused to grant an injunction against the NCAA, thus upholding ineligibility for McAdoo.
