CBS Sports: NCAA Must Hammer UNC For Fraud

Well, well, well. The national media is starting to turn. John Feinstein who contributes to CBS, The Washington Post and other major media outlets has called for the NCAA to drop the hammer on UNC.

A few days ago we reported that the NCAA had responded to UNC with a mandate that they meet with the NCAA in Nashville on August 16th. The request was for a number of high ranking UNC figures to be in attendance, including Roy Williams and Larry Fedora.

The recent Feinstein article is long, but filled with some great arguments as to why the NCAA can’t let the Heels get away with academic fraud. Here are some of the highlights from that piece:

…the NCAA and all its member schools – including athletic directors like Cunningham – are still claiming that their players are “student-athletes.” If that’s the case, if those two things are entwined, then academic fraud is absolutely within the umbrella of NCAA discipline.

If the NCAA lets UNC off with a wrist slap: loss of a few scholarships; a probation without sanctions; in fact, anything short of stripping at least one national title, it may very well face some kind of an uprising from other schools – led by Louisville, Syracuse, Connecticut, and others that have been punished in the recent past for crimes not comparable to those that took place in Chapel Hill.

The only question is whether academic fraud took place. The athletic director says it did. Which is why Carolina’s punishment must be harsh for the NCAA to retain what little credibility it has left.

We don’t want to take too much from Feinstein’s article because it’s a real good piece that we suggest you read in context. Check it out and let us know what you think.