McAdoo tells NY Times he was steered to AFAM

North Carolina

McAdoo tells NY Times he was steered to AFAM

Feb 7, 2013

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Chapel Hill, N.C. — Former University of North Carolina football player Michael McAdoo is once again speaking out against the school, alleging that he and other athletes got special treatment.

It is the latest blow to UNC’s reputation, which has been forced to forfeit football victories, pay a fine and has seen four independent investigations into academic practices.

A criminal probe into the matter is still ongoing. Orange County District Attorney Jim Woodall met with State Bureau of Investigation agents last week. Indications are that they may have a decision on charges by the end of the month.

In an interview with the New York Times published Monday, McAdoo claimed that he was recruited to the university with a promise that he could pursue a criminal justice degree. UNC does not offer a criminal justice degree. More Info Archive: UNC football investigations

According to the article, counselors at UNC selected the African and African-American Studies major for him because it worked around the Tar Heels’ practice schedule

It is not a new practice for college athletes to select majors that allow scheduling around the commitments to practices, workouts and games.

McAdoo further told the New York Times that he was “assigned” a Swahili course, never attended it and never met the professor. It was for this class, SWAH403, that McAdoo turned in the paper that subsequently led to his NCAA ineligibility. The paper for the course was found to be largely plagiarized.

A spokesperson at UNC said Wednesday, “Number one, I cannot comment on any student’s academic record. Number two, I cannot comment on Michael’s situation because of ongoing litigation.

“As far as the counselors, I would refer you to the Martin report for what counselors did or didn’t do.”

The university contracted former North Carolina Gov. Jim Martin last fall to investigate allegations of academic improprieties, including no-show classes, changed grades and special treatment for athletes. In December, Martin released a 74-page report on his findings, pointing to the AFAM department as a trouble spot but concluding that athletes were not the driving force behind the irregularities. More Info More UNC Stories

In all, 216 courses in a nine-year span showed “anomalies” and there were no fewer than 454 unauthorized grade changes over an 18-year period.

McAdoo, who has moved on from UNC to the NFL where he is on the Baltimore Ravens, has been in and out of court with a lawsuit against the NCAA and UNC. His lawyers have argued that McAdoo hadn’t received any procedural protections guaranteed to him by the honor code before the NCAA made its decision to rule him permanently ineligible. Also, by being ruled ineligible, he did not have the opportunity to improve his potential draft status, thus potentially earning more money.

In January, the North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that McAdoo had no standing to sue the university or the NCAA.

McAdoo, now on the injured reserve for the Ravens, signed for the league minimum $270,000 in 2011.

“I would still like to get a college degree someday,” Mcadoo was quoted of saying in the New York Times. “But not at the University of North Carolina. They just wasted my time.”

Web Editor: Aaron Schoonmaker

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RE: McAdoo tells NY Times he was steered to AFAM

Best comment I've seen about this never ending scandal was in today's N&O. They reprinted it from their website"

What about the athletes themselves? Doesn't UNC have an honor code? Didn't they have an obligation to report that the classes were fraudulent?

RE: McAdoo tells NY Times he was steered to AFAM

McAdoo needs to man up and accept his own responsibility in the mess.

RE: McAdoo tells NY Times he was steered to AFAM

I have to agree with TBK and a host of others in this one. The entire curricula was a total joke. People knew this long before it hit the fan. But, it continued onward to help students and athletes. McAdoo isn't smart either. Still. I tought it was a huge mistake for UNC to allow former Gov. Jim Martin to lead his investigation. It didn't help anything. Band-aids can't cover up a huge puncture wound. To clean it all up, there should have been an outside group to lead, and find the many faults at UNC-CH. This situation isn't over yet.
- Posted by Hokie 94

Apparently, it is not a problem (in the eyes of the NCAA) if non-athletes were also involved.

So I guess we can give cars and money to our players as long as we also give cars and money to a couple of regular students, as well.
- Posted by TruthBKnown Returned

Have to admit that line of reasoning is not rational. Talk about two wrongs....

One thing that bothers me is that people are discrediting the STUDENTS at Carolina. Non-athlete students had to be at the top of their high school class to even be admitted into Carolina. They had to work very hard to complete their classes and graduate. My daughter was a chemistry major under grad and went to grad school at Carolina, and she worked very, very hard. I realize Carolina brought on these problems and made them worse by not coming clean. It's still unfair to the actual students, and 99% of the kids attending Carolina are students.
- Posted by jgunn

I'm pretty sure most of us know that the "real" students actually do their work and the athletes have been the problem. But then, some "regular students" were in those bogus classes, too.

But if regular students and professors are unhappy with the hit to their image, they can always come clean with whatever they know so it can be pinned where it belongs -- on the athletics department. We all know that's where the problem lies, but the NCAA (apparently) requires a smoking, irrefutable gun before they will do anything about it.

RE: McAdoo tells NY Times he was steered to AFAM

I have to agree with TBK and a host of others in this one. The entire curricula was a total joke. People knew this long before it hit the fan. But, it continued onward to help students and athletes. McAdoo isn't smart either. Still. I tought it was a huge mistake for UNC to allow former Gov. Jim Martin to lead his investigation. It didn't help anything. Band-aids can't cover up a huge puncture wound. To clean it all up, there should have been an outside group to lead, and find the many faults at UNC-CH. This situation isn't over yet.
- Posted by Hokie 94

Apparently, it is not a problem (in the eyes of the NCAA) if non-athletes were also involved.

So I guess we can give cars and money to our players as long as we also give cars and money to a couple of regular students, as well.
- Posted by TruthBKnown Returned

Have to admit that line of reasoning is not rational. Talk about two wrongs....

One thing that bothers me is that people are discrediting the STUDENTS at Carolina. Non-athlete students had to be at the top of their high school class to even be admitted into Carolina. They had to work very hard to complete their classes and graduate. My daughter was a chemistry major under grad and went to grad school at Carolina, and she worked very, very hard. I realize Carolina brought on these problems and made them worse by not coming clean. It's still unfair to the actual students, and 99% of the kids attending Carolina are students.

RE: McAdoo tells NY Times he was steered to AFAM

I think this canary is about to SING...
- Posted by PackFan1983

Unless he gets PAID first... like all the other canaries that have flown the coop.

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