Academic misconduct could go back years

WILMINGTON — With his arms around the two men leading UNC’s ongoing football investigation, President Erskine Bowles confirmed his trust in their judgment.

“I think you can be very, very proud of the way they’re handling this,” Bowles told members of the Board of Governors.

Bowles’ vote of confidence in Chancellor Holden Thorp and athletic director Dick Baddour came shortly after the pair acknowledged it was possible the academic misconduct between players and a tutor goes back several years.

It’s more bad news for a program that has seen the benching of 13 players and an assistant coach’s resignation within the past week. If officials find players received inappropriate academic help in previous seasons, team records could be at risk of being invalidated.

Baddour and Thorp were speaking Thursday to update members of the Board of Governors about the two ongoing investigations. The board, which meets monthly and oversees the 17-school system, requested the informal update at its regularly scheduled meeting.

Thorp and Baddour are leading the school’s internal investigation of academic misconduct alongside the NCAA’s look into whether players had improper contact with agents.

Both men said their fact-finding is nearly complete. Now the school is looking to determine each player’s eligibility on a case-by-case basis.

“I feel like we have most of the facts,” Thorp said after the meeting.

Those who sat out Saturday’s game against Louisiana State University won’t see field time until both the NCAA and the University are content with their eligibility.

It’s not clear yet which players were benched because of academic improprieties, misconduct with agents, or both.

Neither man would elaborate on how far back the academic misconduct goes. When asked if he anticipated it extending back multiple seasons, Baddour said yes.

“A lot of these players have been in school for awhile, so we’re looking at everything,” Thorp said.

As he did in August when the improprieties with a tutor were first revealed, Thorp apologized for negative spotlight the investigation has brought the University.

Board members asked questions about the timeline of the investigation and the extent of the violations but repeatedly expressed their confidence in UNC’s leadership.

“The board was completely satisfied,” Chairwoman Hannah Gage said afterwards. “Everyone is completely confident.

“People just have to be patient.”

Gage restated her belief that the investigation was a “campus responsibility” and said she had no reason to think the board would need to get involved beyond lending support.

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.