Rob Long: Are The Tar Heels Worthy Of NCAA 'Death Penalty'?
The University of North Carolina's basketball team, the Tar Heels are National Champions of men's basketball. That's no surprise. The team went to the NCAA Championship during the 2015-16 season before losing to Villanova on a last second shot. With the Tar Heels NBA-sized front court, Roy Williams' crew came into the 2016-17 seasons as a favorite to reach another Final Four.
After an impressive 14-4 record against some of the best competition in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the team was poised to make another March run. While they failed to win the ACC Tournament, no one questioned the make-up of this team and their ability to go deep into the Tournament.
The questions surrounding this program was not on the floor, the questions were based on the off the court uncertainty. Academic scandal has been a cloud of darkness with the University since 2010. The dark cloud, the elephant in the room or whatever cliché you care to use here, many have wondered how the NCAA was going to resolve these allegations.
Immediately after the Tar Heels won the National Championship, we at 105.7 The Fan immediately took phone calls and texts questioning how North Carolina was even able to be in a position to win a championship with these allegations and evidence against the Athletic Department.
It almost seems as if the NCAA is ignoring this story and many believe it's because of the prestige and history of the University of North Carolina's basketball program.
Well, there's one person with a voice who isn't ignoring this.
University of Maryland President Wallace Loh believes the punishment for the Tar Heels is simple. Lo was quoted saying, "As president, I sit over a number of dormant volcanoes," he said during a University of Maryland senate meeting Thursday. "One of them is an athletic scandal. It blows up, it blows up the university, it's reputation, it blows up the president."
He continued to say, "For the things that happened in North Carolina, it's abysmal. I would think that this would lead to the implementation of the death penalty by the NCAA. But I'm not in charge of that."
As a sports talk radio host, I've heard that from callers and listeners, but like President Loh, they aren't in charge of this investigation, the NCAA is. Like them, I'm waiting and wondering what's next? The NCAA seems to be dragging it's proverbial feet over this incident. It makes me wonder if this involved a school that didn't carry the name of the University of North Carolina, would there have already been a resolution? Let's hope President Loh's comments are taken seriously and not swept under the carpet. This is when people who hold others accountable are called "haters". That's the phrase often used when someone is right about calling someone else out.