http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/unc/unc-now/article19249779.html UNC still waiting on NCAA notice of allegations, despite buzz over Brandon Ingram comments 04/22/2015 4:43 PM CHAPEL HILL No, despite what you might have read Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning on message boards or Twitter or anywhere else, North Carolina has not received its notice of allegations from the NCAA. Not yet, anyway. Not as of Wednesday. And so the wait continues for one of the key steps in the NCAA’s investigative process. Not that you might have known as much based on the reaction – or perhaps overreaction – to what Kinston High basketball standout Brandon Ingram said during a nationally-televised interview Tuesday night. During an interview on ESPNU, Ingram, considered the top uncommitted prospect in his class, spoke about the uncertainty of the ongoing NCAA investigation at North Carolina, which has recruited him with more vigor than perhaps any other school. Ingram said UNC had received “the allegations” from the NCAA, and that it had received those on April 17. Ingram has followed closely the NCAA investigation, given that UNC has been recruiting him for years. His suitors also include Duke, N.C. State and Kentucky. He’s planning to announce his college decision Monday and, when he does, it will end one of the most highly contested recruiting competitions in recent memory in North Carolina. Naturally, when Ingram said what he said about UNC receiving “the allegations” people took that to mean that he was saying UNC had received from the NCAA a notice of allegations, which is a document that details violations the NCAA has uncovered during its investigation. The NCAA, after closing its first investigation at UNC in March 2012, reopened its investigation in late June. Since then, there’s been nothing to do but wait. The UNC administration has been waiting. Coaches, under siege by rival coaches who used the investigation as a means to scare potential recruits away from UNC, have been waiting. Everybody has been waiting. And so the Ingram sound bite about UNC receiving “the allegations,” which quickly spread, was something like throwing a piece of raw but nutritionally questionable meat to a starving pack of wolves. People devoured the morsel with little regard to the fact that it looked a little off and smelled funny. If UNC had received its notice of allegations, you can bet with confidence that it would not leak out so that a recruit – regardless of how coveted – would be in a position to break the news four days after the fact. Steve Kirschner, UNC athletic department spokesman, said Wednesday that the university had not received the notice of allegations and that no one knows when it will come. Whenever it does, UNC will have 90 days to respond, which will set off more waiting. During the ACC’s spring football teleconference, I asked UNC football coach Larry Fedora whether there’d been any update to the NCAA investigation timeline. He said no and added that UNC remains “at the mercy of the NCAA.” It’s unlikely – OK, it’s basically completely implausible – that Ingram just pulled what he said out of thin air. No one is suggesting that he lied or made it up. What’s more likely, though, is that UNC coach Roy Williams, hopeful as anyone for a quick conclusion to the NCAA investigation, has told Ingram one of two things, or maybe a combination of both: ▪ That UNC was planning to have the notice of allegations by April 17. And/or … ▪ That the notice of allegations will back up Williams’ belief that his program won’t bear the brunt of whatever sanctions are to come. Specter of unknown You have to remember that Williams, like pretty much all of his fellow UNC coaches, has been getting hammered on the recruiting trail. Fedora has dealt with this off and on since arriving at UNC in 2012. And during this recruiting cycle, especially, Williams has not only been recruiting against the likes of Duke and Kentucky, but also against an even more formidable adversary: the specter of the unknown. Successful recruiting can be as much about selling yourself as it is planting doubt about your opponent. And in basketball, at least, UNC can sell itself as well as any school in the country. It has the history and the tradition, the national championships, the long line of NBA players. Duke and Kentucky have those things, too, and they also have this: the ability to plant doubt about UNC’s future. No one knows what penalties UNC might face and how much, if it all, the men’s basketball program will be penalized for a long-running scheme of bogus African Studies courses that benefited a disproportionate number of athletes. Will UNC lose the 2005 national championship? Will Williams’ team face a postseason ban? Will it lose scholarships? No one knows. Logically, it follows that the men’s basketball program won’t be punished as severely as, say, the women’s basketball program, which was shown to have a direct link (Jan Boxill) between the team and the suspect classes. There are records that show that Boxill, who was a longtime academic adviser for the women’s basketball team, was directly involved in guiding players to bogus courses and arranging passing grades for players who completed suspect work. The African Studies paper class case at UNC is nuanced and layered. There is no precedent for the NCAA to use, no history of similar cases because the one at UNC is unique. And so there’s only questions and plenty of speculation about what might happen. There is nothing but a cloud of uncertainty and unknowns – a cloud of junk, Williams might call it. Top prospects shy away When I asked Williams in early March about his difficulty in recent seasons in recruiting the best high school prospects – guys like Jabari Parker and Andrew Wiggins and Jahlil Okafor – Williams cited the “junk” surrounding UNC as one of the main hurdles. He said in some cases he can’t even get high-end prospects to visit campus. Ingram has found himself in the middle of it all. Without question, the thought of playing at UNC interests him. He wouldn’t have been entertaining it for so long otherwise. And without question, the NCAA investigation at UNC – and the question of how it will affect the men’s basketball program – has played a starring role in his recruitment. The investigation likely comes up every time Williams meets with Ingram. You can imagine what those conversations might be like: questions upon questions without real answers. Which brings us to another question without a real answer: Why did Ingram say anything about UNC receiving “the allegations?” Ingram’s high school coach, Perry Tyndall, couldn’t be reached Wednesday. UNC isn’t allowed to comment on a recruit. Maybe UNC thought it was going to receive the notice of allegations by April 17 and that day came and went without their receipt. Maybe Williams feels confident enough in what the notice of allegations might contain to reassure Ingram that his future wouldn’t be in doubt if he chose UNC. Maybe Ingram misunderstood what he heard, or didn’t describe it properly. He’s a high school senior, after all, on the cusp of making the biggest decision of his life. There’s a lot to sort through and a lot going on: all the in-home visits, the conversations with Williams and Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and Kentucky’s John Calipari and others. And then there’s perhaps the most difficult part of all in his recruitment: making sense of where things stand at UNC, and trying to come up with answers where there’s only questions. _
You'll have to wait until Monday morning at 8:01 am for a response from the board's super fan stokes. Interesting article though. Will be interesting to see where Ingram chooses. I think the April 17 date thing was a line though fed to Ingram from Williams. Ingram probably naturally had a lot of concerns about UNC because of the allegations and Roy told him it would be figured out by the 17th which just so happened to be 2 days after spring the signing period began.
what is interesting about the article? what is new? obviously this junk has hurt recruiting but they will still likely have the #1 team in the Country heading into next year and soon enough this mess will be behind the program.
why does this bother my fans? there is nothing interesting or new about the article. Ingram grew up a duke fan, they had a mass exodus and he thinks he will now be featured at duke rather than going to the #1 team and battle for PT on a deep and loaded team.
Ingram chooses Duke. He must've been concerned about the UNC scandal. He should've read the Weinstein Report
and yet the Heels will be the #1 team in the Country entering 2015-16. good luck to Brandon, now he will learn how to flop, play dirty and whine.
You are so funny! You really think UNC will be #1? Wow!!!! I must remind you of your predictions for this past season..... "UNC will compete for the title, and Duke will fade in the end". How did that work out for you? In football related predictions, you said Nacho would prosper, and so would the Eagles due to his play...... How did that work out for you? Junc, I'm beginning to believe your sports knowledge sucks!! It's biased, and way off base! Sorry dude, you were wrong both times, but in your mind I'm sure you will find some excuse as to why you were wrong on both predictions! Hahahah a! Tarheels suck, and so does Nacho!!
have you seen any of the early preseason top 25s for next year? Carolina is #1 in most of them. Carolina took Wisconsin down to the wire, they were very close to being a FF team. I was wrong about duke, a rare year where they got better later in the season. it doesn't happen often. they were handed a title just like the previous 2 though. Sanchez played very well in Philly, he elevated that offense but I don't see what that has to do w/ this discussion.
Pre-season rankings don't mean squat. I highly doubt that the Heels live up to the expectations. You always try to bash Duke, but even though you try it's foolish. "You almost beat Wisconsin", what's that mean? Duke beat Wisconsin twice, once at their house, and also smacked your favorite team around twice. You saying Duke had championships handed to them, is just a typical Heel fan stabbing at their biggest nemesis. Its really funny reading your posts though. It's fun reading your ideas of sports...... Very funny stuff. I know it was hard for you to swallow Duke hanging another banner. I know it's hard for you to realize the current gap between Duke basketball and UNC basketball. What are you gonna say if the NCAA investigates your team, and they end up taking your last two titles away? On the topic of Nacho, I was pointing out that another sports related prediction of yours, failed just like your basketball prediction. Nacho kept his team out of the playoffs with his "wonderful" play. Turnover machine is all he is. He played well in spurts just like he did in NY, but in the end cost his team when they needed him the most. There is no way to defend him, he is what he is. His career can't be defended, yet you try.
Both duke wins over Carolina were close and one was officials aided just like the championship game. Carolina had a ton of injuries and overcame to become one of the top teams in the Country by the end of the season. They didn't have a creampuff road to a FF like duke did, duke earned an easier path but not the joke path they got. duke basketball is certainly ahead of Carolina right now, 2 titles to none since 2010. Going into 2010 Carolina was even further ahead of duke than duke is of Carolina now. Things change, unfortunately duke has numerous scandals and they are swept under the rug while Carolina is in limbo even though they didn't do anything wrong. even w/ that they will have a title favorite next year. His defense cost his team, he elevated the Philly O leading them to almost a TD more per game against the tougher part of their sched. did he do enough? No but he did a good job. they had many issues on that team and QB wasn't one of them.
Obviously Roy isn't going anywhere. But this is the longest span in between Elite 8 appearances since he took over. Full disclosure, especially as a 'Nova fan, I know how ridiculous of a statement on its face this is. But compared to previous standards, the last few years haven't been up to them. With the drama hanging overhead and such a highly touted team, is it possible just a Sweet 16 wouldn't be enough for this upcoming season?
Roy is there until he retires but the fans are getting restless which I think is silly. it's only been 3 years since their last elite 8 and if they don't get a dirty cheapshot in the rd of 32 they have a great chance to win a Nat'l title. the last few years have been tough but '13 was a rebuilding year, '14 the Hairston stuff and this year they had a ton of key injuries but got healthier later in the year and played like a title contender but fell short against a really good Wisconsin team. No shame in that. Circumstances beyond his control w/ the NCAA stuff has hurt recruiting or they might have another FF by now. I really think he's done 2 great coaching jobs the last 2 seasons even though they didn't make an EE or FF. w/ all this said he and the team will be under a tremendous amount of pressure to get back to the FF next year. unless the NCAA mess is settled it may be a few years before they have another title contending team. Next years HS class is huge for them but if this keeps dragging out it could really hurt.
Not a Duke fan, but by any standard of objectivity one would have to admit that Duke is clearly the kingpin of the ACC and North Carolina's been relegated to playing"2nd fiddle" in their own state (that is provided NC State isn't beating them on their home court like they did the last time they played). But don't take my word for it, ESPN's been saying it for years, since 2008: "Duke is the most prestigious college basketball program since the 1985-86 season. By any measure of success, Duke is king of the hill in college basketball in the 64-team era of the NCAA tournament." And that was before Duke added an additional pair of championships. Lately it seems that Duke's been about 'banners' while UNC's been about "headlines" (if you get my drift).
