CHAPEL HILL, N.C. ― North Carolina’s long-running academic fraud scandal case seems stuck in procedural limbo.
The NCAA charged the school in May with five violations, including lack of institutional control, but there has been little movement since. The NCAA is reviewing information reported by UNC in August and could amend the Notice of Allegations (NOA) used to specify violations. Until then, the case ― an offshoot of a review launched nearly six years ago ― can’t advance toward resolution.
“It’s very taxing on a lot of people for a variety of reasons,” athletic director Bubba Cunningham said in an interview with The Associated Press. “It’s been used against us in recruiting. It has been damaging to the reputation of the university.
“But the Syracuse case was eight years. And we’re talking about a case that was closed in 2012, then reopened in 2014, and we’re talking about issues that occurred from the 1990s through 2011. It’s a unique case.”
It’s not unusual for the process to linger for years, and some schools don’t want to wait before facing anticipated penalties.
Syracuse’s case began in 2007 and crawled forward until the school imposed a postseason ban for men’s basketball last February. The NCAA added more penalties a month later ― including a suspension for Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim ― for academic, drug and gift violations in multiple sports.
At Mississippi, officials last month confirmed an NOA against the school. That case began in 2012 and led to a self-imposed postseason ban for women’s basketball that year. It now includes football and track and field.
