North Carolina
UNC's Marvin Austin suspended indefinitely from football team
Sep 2, 2010
Chapel Hill, N.C. — University of North Carolina head coach Butch Davis suspended defensive tackle Marvin Austin indefinitely, according to a statement from the team released Wednesday.
“This decision is not a result of the ongoing NCAA review,” Davis said. “Marvin has violated team rules and has neglected his responsibilities to the team.”
Austin will not play Saturday in the team's season opener against LSU in Atlanta.
Rumors about which players would make the trip have intensified throughout the summer, ever since the university revealed in July that NCAA investigators had conducted interviews on campus, looking for evidence of possible agent-player contact. Austin's name has been prominent among those mentioned.
Austin, a senior, has been projected as a possible NFL first-round draft pick. He returned to campus this season after flirting with declaring for draft.
South Carolina tight end Weslye Saunders, a graduate of Durham Riverside, who also has been at the center of NCAA inquiries for possible improper agent contact, was also suspended this week by the Gamecocks. Saunders will not play Thursday night against Southern Mississippi, though South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said Saunders' suspension was not connected to the NCAA probe.
Copyright 2012 by WRAL.com and the Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Most Recent Comments
RE: UNC's Marvin Austin suspended indefinitely from football team
Yeah - we'd be all over your site as well. Plus, we're all DYING for football to start already and we have this pent up energy.... Well, I was looking forward to football.....until sometime in July.....Now I'm waiting for the other cleat to fall.
- Posted by jgunn
It may not be that bad, jgunn. On the 11pm news, they reported that some dude at ESPN reported that there could be upwards around 16 suspensions. Then he suggested that there might be rolling suspensions, since there are so many players involved. They said the running back position could be decimated by this, too, presumably meaning Draughn AND Houston were involved.
But what I gathered from that is that they aren't suspended for the season. Otherwise, they wouldn't have the option of "rolling suspensions". If it's just a player or two sitting out for a game here and a game there, Carolina won't even feel this. And they can probably pick and choose who sits out which game. So when they face a powerful offense like NC State, they'll surely play their top defenders. But when they play an FCS team, they can afford to bench them.
Carolina will come through this fine, except for the black eye they took to their image.
TBK, I think it WILL be that bad. There seem to be possible suspensions across the board. I didn't think only a player or two would be involved in academic misconduct - I would think that would be more widespread. Do you really think the NCAA and Chancellor Thorp would allow for rolling suspensions? I've heard that's happened before, but if these kids all cheated at once, shouldn't they all be punished at once? I think the sh!t storm will hit later tonight or tomorrow. I would say Carolina is deliberately holding off to keep LSU off balance, but any good coach would plan to play Carolina as if they're full strength, so that can't be the reason. This HAS to be a huge distraction to the team - I mean I wonder if the players even know who's in and who's out.
I think if the administration was honorable, they would do the right thing. If players cheated, not only should they be off the team, they should possibly be kicked out of school. These so-called student-athletes are also students. They should face the honor court if they are found to have cheated. But I don't think they will. FSU had a lot of players in a similar situation that were suspended, and I believe they did the rolling suspension thing. So it has a precedent. But again, if the university wants to clean up their image, they'll have to think twice about that. If they go that route, they'll give the appearance that they really just care about winning at all costs.
You know, you're right, TBK. I think if Chancellor Thorp has his way, the players who violated the academic honor code will be gone. And by gone, I mean they have to face the honor court, and if found guilty, face the SAME punishment any other student would face (I think it's suspension or even expulsion). And with all that Austin allegedly has done, the thought of him being on the field EVER again wearing a Carolina uniform is awful. So, I guess we'll all see what Carolina is made of when all this shakes out. I have more faith in Thorp than Baddour and Butch.
RE: UNC's Marvin Austin suspended indefinitely from football team
We've asked the same question on State threads where all the unc fans come out. I guess we just love to talk schmack to each other. But you have to admit, if the roles were reversed unc fans would be all over State's threads giving us h*!$.
- Posted by 1Packfan
Yeah - we'd be all over your site as well. Plus, we're all DYING for football to start already and we have this pent up energy.... Well, I
was looking forward to football.....until sometime in July.....Now I'm waiting for the other cleat to fall.
It may not be that bad, jgunn. On the 11pm news, they reported that some dude at ESPN reported that there could be upwards around 16 suspensions. Then he suggested that there might be rolling suspensions, since there are so many players involved. They said the running back position could be decimated by this, too, presumably meaning Draughn AND Houston were involved.
But what I gathered from that is that they aren't suspended for the season. Otherwise, they wouldn't have the option of "rolling suspensions". If it's just a player or two sitting out for a game here and a game there, Carolina won't even feel this. And they can probably pick and choose who sits out which game. So when they face a powerful offense like NC State, they'll surely play their top defenders. But when they play an FCS team, they can afford to bench them.
Carolina will come through this fine, except for the black eye they took to their image.
TBK, I think it WILL be that bad. There seem to be possible suspensions across the board. I didn't think only a player or two would be involved in academic misconduct - I would think that would be more widespread. Do you really think the NCAA and Chancellor Thorp would allow for rolling suspensions? I've heard that's happened before, but if these kids all cheated at once, shouldn't they all be punished at once? I think the sh!t storm will hit later tonight or tomorrow. I would say Carolina is deliberately holding off to keep LSU off balance, but any good coach would plan to play Carolina as if they're full strength, so that can't be the reason. This HAS to be a huge distraction to the team - I mean I wonder if the players even know who's in and who's out.
I think if the administration was honorable, they would do the right thing. If players cheated, not only should they be off the team, they should possibly be kicked out of school. These so-called student-athletes are also students. They should face the honor court if they are found to have cheated. But I don't think they will. FSU had a lot of players in a similar situation that were suspended, and I believe they did the rolling suspension thing. So it has a precedent. But again, if the university wants to clean up their image, they'll have to think twice about that. If they go that route, they'll give the appearance that they really just care about winning at all costs.
RE: UNC's Marvin Austin suspended indefinitely from football team
you think your recruits will stick around when the ncaa hammer falls?
- Posted by DiscoStu65
Yep. Leave for what? At most, players would be suspended for however long the NCAA hands down.
if you guys get banned from post season play, don't you think your top recruits will jump ship and go eslewhere?
onyourheels, you guys have absolutely out recruited us. by a wide margin this year. i've got no argument there. it will be interesting to see if we pick up any of those guys if the above scenario plays out.
With all of the talk about Carolina players being cheaters, thugs, uneducated and losers, here you have a State fan saying I hope we pick up some of their recruits :) Classic.
We'd only pick up the ones that aren't thugs. They're not ALL thugs.
RE: UNC's Marvin Austin suspended indefinitely from football team
if you guys get banned from post season play, don't you think your top recruits will jump ship and go eslewhere?
Jump ship for what? All of this going on has nothing to do with them.
wow, i'm going to try to dumb this down even further for you. if you guys are banned from post season play, how many recruits do you think you will lose as a result of them not wanting to play for a team on probation?
imho, i would want to go somewhere where i could potentially play in a bcs bowl immediately, not have to wait 2-4 years.
And again...what makes YOU think any of them will want to leave? UNC hasn't been to a major bowl yet in the modern era for any reason, but we still get recruits. So why would that stop?
Was that dumb enough for you?
Um, because of the "if they are banned from postseason play" premise?
It's one thing to have not played in a major bowl. It's completely different to KNOW the team is not going to ANY bowl for a predetermined period of time.
If you don't think a one- or two-year ban from postseason play can have a significant impact on recruiting, you aren't using the common sense you were supposed to have been born with.
RE: UNC's Marvin Austin suspended indefinitely from football team
EE-don't say that, toby has come close to having a winning record and syd is close to.
- Posted by onyourheels
Oh yeah...reasons for hope....
Y'all sure are worried about State...... for fans that supposedly don't care about State.
Rank: Sports Legend 
Rank: 
