A new list of NCAA allegations against UNC-Chapel Hill brings men's basketball and football back into the picture, expands the time frame of violations and deepens the potential penalties for a scheme of bogus classes that benefited athletes.
The third version of the NCAA's charges were released Thursday by UNC. This set of allegations is tougher than the first two, adding a violation of unethical conduct and providing extra benefits against the two architects of the bogus class scheme, Deborah Crowder and Julius Nyang'oro. It says UNC and its athletics department "leveraged the relationship with Crowder and Nyang'oro to obtain special arrangements for student-athletes in violation of extra-benefit legislation."
"Many at-risk student-athletes, particularly in the sports of football and men's basketball, used these courses for purposes of ensuring their continuing NCAA academic eligibility," the notice said.
The notice said the improper conduct occurred from the fall of 2002 to the end of summer 2011, a time frame that includes two UNC men's basketball championships. The 2005 championship involved athletes who had taken many of the fake classes.
The new notice replaces any previous notice of violations, but it is unchanged with regard to four charges that include lack of institutional control; most of the NCAA's exhibits are the same. The allegation of unethical conduct and extra benefits replaces a more lenient failure-to-monitor violation from the second set of allegations.
The second set of allegations was more favorable to UNC, and it did not mention football and men's basketball. UNC, however, fought those allegations by directly challenging the NCAA's jurisdiction. After a rare procedural hearing in October with the Committee on Infractions, the new tougher set of allegations was sent to UNC on Dec. 13.
