WRAL Sports Fan

Report: Tar Heel assistant Blake under investigation

By Ryan Craig and Jeff Gravley
Aug 10, 2010

It appears North Carolina's involvement with NCAA investigations isn't just about a player or players accepting illegal benefits – one of its most prominent assistant coaches may also be under the microscope.

Yahoo! Sports is reporting that John Blake, Carolina's defensive line coach and the Tar Heels' ace recruiter, is under investigation by the NCAA about the depth of his relationship with sports agent Gary Wichard.

Blake and Wichard have known each other since 1985. Sources are telling Yahoo that the investigation is focusing on Blake's role with Pro Tect Management, an agency founded and run by Wichard.

Wichard denies that Blake ever worked for him, but a copy of a past Pro Tect brochure obtained by Yahoo contains photos of Blake with the title "Vice President/Football Operations."

NFLPA records also indicated that Wichard signed seven players that were connected to Blake's past stops in college football, including former UNC player Kentwan Balmer.

"That's a pretty strong link between Gary, John Blake and those players," Yahoo reporter Bryan Fischer told 620 The Buzz. "This is something that we've heard for years and years for various assistant coaches sending their players to agents. This case it's a lot of players connected between the two of them."

The NCAA is also looking into whether Wichard and UNC defensive tackle Marvin Austin had improper contact. Austin traveled to California in the summer of 2009 to work out with Balmer at Proactive Sports Performance, which is two miles away from Wichard's agency. Wichard also said that Balmer paid for Austin's visit, which would be an NCAA  violation.

Fischer said that while it's hard to characterize what the NCAA has on everybody at this point, the biggest problem Blake or Austin can face in the NCAA's eyes is lying.

"That is kind of a death spell," Fischer said. "That's the one thing you have to worry about if you're any of the players or in this case John Blake, is lying [to the NCAA] about relationships, where you were, how you paid for things. That's how they're really going to have to go after these people."

Fischer reiterated how thorough the NCAA has to be in its investigation before a ruling can be made, but he predicts it could come quickly.

"I think the NCAA knows that they can't  have a case like USC where it drags out over years. They have to move quickly and worry about a lot of people being involved and really wrap things up quickly with the season fast approaching. I think you'll see some movement in the next month or so."

The Tar Heel assistant was not available for comment but UNC Director of Athletics Dick Baddour issued a statement Monday night.

“Talking about any aspect of the NCAA review, including answering any questions about our staff or student-athletes, would be inappropriate," Baddour said. "As we have stated repeatedly, the NCAA has told us to refrain from making any public comments about this review. We continue to cooperate fully with the NCAA and are hopeful of a quick resolution to this matter.”