UNC Releases Records on Five Football Players

Posted on Oct. 29, 2012

UNC is complying fully with a Superior Court judge’s order and the terms of a settlement agreement reached with N.C. media organizations in a lawsuit about public records and the joint NCAA investigation into the University’s football program.

Under the agreement, the University has released statements of fact about football players and a reinstatement request to the NCAA that addressed impermissible benefits.

The 28-pages of documents contain details of the NCAA investigation concerning five players — Charles Brown ’11, Kendric Burney ’12, Michael McAdoo ’12, Robert Quinn ’12 and Deunta Williams ’10.

McAdoo was found to have received improper academic assistance from a tutor in the athletics academic support program. McAdoo was dismissed from the team and plagiarized school work that was made public during his efforts to have himself reinstated is believed to have been the beginning of revelations of academic fraud in the department of African and Afro-American studies.

Burney and Williams were ordered to repay improper benefits received from outside sources, and served suspensions of six and four games, respectively. Quinn was declared ineligible by UNC for violations of NCAA agent benefits and preferential treatment. Brown was suspended during the 2010 season but was given another year of eligibility after that. Details of his circumstances were not released, but the new documents released indicate Brown also received improper benefits.

Attorneys for both parties met with Judge Howard Manning Jr. ’65 in October to seek further guidance about how to apply the court’s September order with regard to certain records.

Under the order and agreement, the University will provide those additional records, which include the University’s response to the NCAA’s notice of allegations and its exhibits, on Nov. 5. In addition, Manning is reviewing outside counsel bills. UNC will release those when they are available.

The University will pay $45,000, a portion of the plaintiff’s attorney fees. Both parties agreed not to appeal.

The lawsuit was pushed primarily by The News & Observer of Raleigh. The newspaper quoted its executive editor, John Drescher ’83, as saying: “We are pleased with the agreement. We got almost everything we wanted.”

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More online…

• Read the Oct. 25 ruling at uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/5663/68/; read the newly released documents at uncnews.unc.edu/images/stories/pdf/102612.pdf.
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