UNC football players racked up $13K in parking tickets

North Carolina

UNC football players racked up $13K in parking tickets

Jun 17, 2011

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Chapel Hill, N.C. — The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill released thousands of pages of documents Thursday at the request of local media that could shed some light on the NCAA investigation into the university football program.

Documents released Monday are:

* Parking tickets issued by UNC to 11 players over a little more than three calendar years.

* Unredacted phone numbers on telephone bills for mobile phones provided to and used by UNC Director of Athletics Dick Baddour, head football coach Butch Davis and John Blake.

The media asked for parking tickets issued to 11 players. The records show that 395 citations – mostly for being in the wrong place, like a handicapped spot or blocking a dumpster, or parking without a permit – totaling $13,155 between March 2007 and August 2010. The records do not list the names of the offenders or whether the parking fines were paid.

Based on our review of the documents, there are currently 54 unpaid parking tickets totaling $2,035, 19 of those have been issued past August 3, 2010. There are still 35 outstanding tickets for $1,250 that fall within the public records request time frame from March 2007 to August 2010.

The university is saying there are 30 unpaid tickets that fall between March 2007 to August 2010. They are also saying that 39 were only a warning, nine were voided and one was appealed. The University's list also added an additional player to the 11 previously requested, the additional player had 68 tickets and those were a part of the previous 395.

One of the cars cited had license plate SW3UNC16. Cornerback Kendric Burney, who attended Southwest High School in Jacksonville, NC, and wears No. 16, was suspended by the NCAA for six games for accepting $1,333 in agent benefits that included trips to California, Atlanta and Las Vegas.

The black Nissan with the SW3UNC16 plate incurred 11 tickets and a total of $315 in fines.

One of the cars, a grey dodge charger, is registered to Gregory Lamar Little who is Greg Little's father. Wide receiver Little, who attended Hillside High School in Durham, NC, was declared "permanently ineligible" by the NCAA in October for accepting an estimated $4,952 in benefits.

The VIN number associated with the car registered to the Little family is also listed as the VIN number for three other license plate numbers that received parking tickets. The car with that VIN number got at least 16 tickets. Tickets were issued to that VIN number with three different license plates, including one 24-period where it got two tickets and had two different plates.

In a letter Thursday, the university said not all 11 players had been issued tickets. "Student-athletes at Carolina do not receive special treatment when it comes to parking," the letter stated. "The student-athletes are expected to pay their parking fines, just like any other student, faculty, staff member or visitor."

A university spokeswoman said the campus parking enforcement issued 47,092 tickets in the 2010-11 school year. The total value of the fines, including those voided by the university, was about $1.6 million.

Among the cars listed for players are two Land Rovers and a BMW. In releasing the records, the university linked the 12 players to 28 vehicles. A former player has told WRAL that Ryan Houston drove two Land Rovers. Tailback Houston missed the first five games for agent-related or academic misconduct issues. He was cleared to play in the game against Virginia on Nov. 13 but did not return to the field during the 2010 season. Houston retains a year of eligibility after undergoing successful shoulder surgery in the spring.

The NCAA has been investigating since last summer whether football players got improper benefits or had disallowed relationships with agents and boosters. In December, UNC identified 10 people – three of them former players – who provided some benefit to players on the 2010 squad.

The university has also been conducting an internal investigation into allegations of academic misconduct by players. Among the people who provided some benefit to players was Jennifer Wiley, a former tutor with the UNC Academic Support Program for Student-Athletes. Wiley also worked as a tutor for the son of head football coach Butch Davis.

Fourteen players missed some or all of the games played in the 2010 season. The NCAA declared two of them, receiver Greg Little and defensive end Robert Quinn, permanently ineligible, and UNC kicked a third, defensive tackle Marvin Austin, off the team.

WRAL News joined other media outlets in requesting that the university release information connected to the investigation, citing public records law. The university denied that claim, but the courts found in favor of the media.

Over the course of about eight months, UNC released:

* The names of all people accused of providing benefits to football players

* Records for the cell phone of former associate football coach John Blake between June 2009 and September 2010

* Emails sent to Chancellor Holden Thorp between August and December 2010 related to the football investigation

* The handbook used by tutors of student athletes

* The names and salaries of those who worked in the athletic support program between 2006-11

The media also asked for "all records of any investigation conducted by the university related to any misconduct by any UNC football coach or player, sports agent, athletic booster or academic tutor." The court has not ruled on that issue.

Archive: UNC football investigations

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RE: UNC football players racked up $13K in parking tickets

It's wow time. I haven't visited this one in a few days. I think JGunn hit it regarding Dick Baddour. I've said since last June that it starts in the AD's office. He is totally accountable for all under his direction. That's why he is making huge bucks. It starts and stops in HIS OFFICE. Hire/fire. Now the BOG's need to fire down.

RE: UNC football players racked up $13K in parking tickets

66 pages...............wow. Grats people!!!

RE: UNC football players racked up $13K in parking tickets

Just move on? How bout Carolina moving OUT of the ACC, you're embarrassing the rest of the conference, you've proved you're actually an independent the way you disregard the rules you helped put in place that the rest us have to abide by. NCAA is a joke anyway, they're scared of the Chapel Hill money!

RE: UNC football players racked up $13K in parking tickets

Just a thought... I'm starting to wonder what Butch Davis has on Baddour and/or Thorp. It's remarkable that he has survived all this muck. Can't help but wonder if he's prepared to "drop dime" on other Carolina athletics programs...... including the only one that REALLY matters to most Carolina fans, if he were to be fired.
- Posted by TruthBKnown Left The Building

I would bet any amount of money that Butch doesn't have anything on Thorpe. Dick-less may be another story. Last summer, I was convinced Thorpe was waiting for the NCAA to make it's ruling so he wouldn't have to pay Butch a dime when he was forced to "resign". I remember the look on Thorp's face during those pressers and it wasn't pretty. He was pizzed. Pizzed that this happened at the University that he believes in and cares for. Pizzed that a few boneheaded athletes and coaches have forever sullied the reputation of the school that he loves. Thorpe is an academic guy. His only mistake was trusting Dick-less Baddour to do his job.
- Posted by jgunn

I remember all that, too. I guess I didn't mean Butch has something on Baddour and Thorp specifically, but rather, on the university or athletics program (see the part I wrote about "dropping dime" on other athletics programs).

If Butch knows something about Roy and/or the basketball program, then he very well might have Baddour and Thorp by the "short and curlies".

RE: UNC football players racked up $13K in parking tickets

Not a single call on Butch Davis' cell phone from UNC. However, his 216 was receiving calls from Blake.

You just can't make this stuff up. And the strangest of the strange is that there are a few hard-heads that CONTINUE to defend Butch. It's surreal.
- Posted by TruthBKnown Left The Building

Blake can't call him at all? Maybe it wasnt business, maybe it was...I'm not defending him. I want to know where the proof is and seems like some are jumping to conclusions about this.. It is odd that he didnt use his business phone, odd indeed.
- Posted by 45HEELSFAN45

I'm saying, it's odd that Blake would call him on his 216 phone and not his "official" work phone. But then again, NOBODY called him on his "official" work phone.

I feel confident that Butch's 216 phone is and should be treated as any other work phone, since it's pretty easy to deduce that he was using it for work calls. And if he was expensing that phone bill to his expense account at Carolina, then it's a no-brainer that it is and should be treated as any other work phone.

Btw, I also heard that Carolina is still fighting the release of Butch's emails. Anybody else find that odd?
- Posted by TruthBKnown Left The Building

I don't find it as odd as much as a waste of time; UNC can be forced to cough them up. I can only hope there won't be missing parts to those records; the last thing we need is a phonegate.
- Posted by jgunn

You hit on a key point. It's a waste of time because they can be FORCED to release them. So why would they fight a fight they KNOW they can't win? They're not dumb. I think the answer is they want to DELAY everything as much as possible. The longer they delay (1) the longer they keep their jobs (and continue to get paid), and (2) the more time they have for the masses to get tired of hearing about it, and (3) the more time passes, the greater the chance the NCAA could rule on them before they find out something they don't already know.

I think #2 and/or #3 are the most likely.

They may not win a lawsuit, but if they get the delay that they REALLY want, then they are winning (in a sense).

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