RALEIGH, N.C. _ N.C. State University is refusing to turn over records _ which should be public _ that could shine a light on a corruption scandal involving Adidas and former basketball star Dennis Smith Jr., multiple media outlets claim in a new lawsuit.
The News & Observer, The New York Times, WRAL and ABC11 have sued N.C. State, claiming the school has been "knowingly and intentionally violating" the law by refusing to turn over public records.
At issue is a high-profile scandal involving college basketball players and coaches in which several people went to prison after being convicted of federal crimes including fraud. The FBI's investigation into college basketball and the subsequent trial focused on Adidas, the apparel company that has contracts with N.C. State, Miami, Louisville, Georgia Tech, East Carolina and other college sports programs.
Duke, UNC and Wake Forest have contracts with Nike and were not implicated in this investigation.
For the last two years, N&O sports reporter Steve Wiseman and investigative reporter Dan Kane have been asking N.C. State officials for documents the university provided under federal subpoena in the investigation, which includes electronic communications and phone records. They have also sought documents related to the NCAA's investigation, which is separate from the criminal investigation. That includes cell phone records from former head coach Mark Gottfried that Gottfried is fighting to keep confidential, in a separate court case, the N&O has reported.
After months of incomplete responses, the N&O and its media partners filed the lawsuit.
If the lawsuit is successful, it's possible that it would create more transparency _ not just at N.C. State, but at all UNC System schools.
N.C. State isn't the only school to have hidden records related to an NCAA investigation. UNC-Chapel Hill also refused to release records related to its bogus class scandal, including interviews of campus officials conducted jointly by campus leaders and the NCAA, the N&O has previously reported.
The media organizations are asking for a court order "declaring the requested records and information are public records pursuant to the Public Records Law and requiring the defendant, and all similarly situated constituent institutions of The University of North Carolina System, to provide plaintiffs with copies of the same, access to same or otherwise provide the information made public by statute."
The records from the NCAA investigation are of particular interest to the media organizations. Officials at N.C. State have refused to turn them over, claiming they don't have ownership of the documents because they exist only on an online "portal" controlled by the NCAA, and the NCAA requires university officials to sign a confidentiality agreement before accessing the portal.
However, according to a copy of that agreement obtained by the N&O, it specifically says that N.C. State is allowed to break confidentiality if "such disclosure is required by state law."
The lawsuit argues that the NCAA records should indeed be considered public records since state law defines public records as all documents "made or received ... in connection with the transaction of public business by any agency of North Carolina government or its subdivisions."
Officials at N.C. State, however, have claimed they did not technically "receive" any of the NCAA's documents because they've only looked at the documents on that portal, and therefore don't have to let the public see any of it.
"The NCAA did not provide the university with the individual documents identified in the exhibits," a university spokesman told an N&O reporter by email in July, in denying a records request. "Those documents are only accessible for viewing on a NCAA protected site. The university does not have the ability to print, download, or copy these documents and is thus unable to provide that content at this time."
