After an independent investigation revealed a culture of academic corruption at the University of North Carolina, the state of their athletic program is in jeopardy, as NCAA punishment is seemingly inevitable. After a Tar Heel exhibition game last night, Carolina head basketball coach Roy Williams spoke for the first time about the report since its release. Williams says he believes the university did things the right way and admitted he has no idea what’s coming from the NCAA.
“If this were my first 16 months of coaching, you wouldn’t see a 17th month,” Williams said. “It’s been a pain in the rear end, but I believe in this university. Nobody knows what’s going to happen with the NCAA, but I feel strongly, strongly that we did things the right way.”
“I personally don’t see anything there with men’s basketball that somebody can immediately look at and say, ‘This is going to happen or this is not going to happen,’ so they have to make those decisions,” Williams said.
Kenneth Wainstein’s report listed Roy Williams as someone who had questions about the steering of athletes toward the African American Studies program.
“I talked to coach [Joe] Holladay about this, to make sure we don’t push anybody in any direction, just make sure that we allow kids to choose their own major,” Williams said. “I didn’t like the fact that we had so many guys in the same major.”
This state of limbo has to be tough for Williams, his players, the university and its fans. Will the team have to vacate wins? Will they be stripped of any of their 5 National Championships? Will they lose scholarships? OR, will they be able to survive this scandal and continue to be one of the premier basketball programs in the this country? These are all questions that will eventually be answered. But amid all of this uncertainty there’s one thing we do know…something’s coming. The NCAA will have to send a message, but based on their inconsistency when it comes to handing down punishment to players and its member institutions, it’s hard to tell what that message will be.