OT: Maryland President Calls for UNC Death Penalty

Submitted by DogTown on
Maryland's president has called for the death penalty over North Carolina's academic fraud case. According to ESPN:
 
Maryland president Wallace Loh says he would expect North Carolina to get the "death penalty" over the academic allegations that have hung over the athletic program since 2010.
 
"For the things that happened in North Carolina, it's abysmal. I would think that this would lead to the implementation of the death penalty by the NCAA. But I'm not in charge of that."

ldevon1

April 11th, 2017 at 10:58 AM ^

was murdered and Dave Bliss was given a 10 yr show case penalty. They were paying players and the Universiity didn't get it. Now the rape cases. I don't know, murder, paying players, and rape seem to trump a grade scandal to me, but that's just my opinion. 

MI Expat NY

April 11th, 2017 at 11:24 AM ^

Yes, murder and rape are infinitely worse than academic cheating (paying players is in the same realm as an academic scandal).  However, those aren't really NCAA issues.  How schools respond to those issues are the issue, and even then, there's an argument to be made that it falls outside the NCAA purview.  I don't agree with that argument, but it is a reasonable one.  

Baylor basketball got hammered for their actual NCAA violations (none of which involved the murder).  They had a post-season ban, lost scholarships, had recuriting limitations implemented, and lost a season's slate of non-conference games.  The only reason they recovered in a relatively short time is that Scott Drew has proven to be a good program builder.  

I'd like to see UNC receive a similar punishment to what Baylor basketball got. 

Gameboy

April 11th, 2017 at 12:02 PM ^

But in that vain, you can argue that this is not NCAA issue either.

UNC has argued (successfully) that this fraud was not just for athletes but for general population students as well (half of students who took fake classes were non-athletes), and as such it is an accreditation problem (for which they are now on probation), not an NCAA problem.

MI Expat NY

April 11th, 2017 at 2:07 PM ^

The NCAA has regulations on athlete academic eligibility.  Any attempts by the school/coaches/etc. to bypass those regulations would be pretty clearly the NCAA's purview.  How the school goes about it may also create non-NCAA problems for the university.  

On the other hand, I don't believe there are any NCAA regulations regarding regular criminal conduct.  Murder, rape, theft, etc., by individual athleetes don't generally run afoul of NCAA regulations.  I would argue how school's behave after the fact is governed by the NCAA, though it's not a slam dunk.  

Maynard

April 11th, 2017 at 11:09 AM ^

I applaud him for calling out UNC. Just because there is a possibility of being called a hypocrite one day or because you don't call out every situation under the sun (Baylor, Penn St., etc.) doesn't mean you shouldn't address one you wish to. Fuck UNC (and Baylor, and Penn St., and hell with it, let's put in Michigan St. while we're at it). Bahaha

borninAnnArbor

April 11th, 2017 at 1:08 PM ^

What really bothers me is that the NCAA has set up a system where it helps to cheat. NC has a scandal and nothing happens. Thry win the national championship. Louisville recruits illegally, sure someone gets in trouble but no one important, and they have a national championship. Alabama cheats and some guy way down the line gets let go but the school have seval national championships. OSU essentially pays players, and except for the one year, is excelling.

smwilliams

April 11th, 2017 at 11:30 AM ^

Correct. And the NCAA has basically gone on the record and said they would never use the death penalty for a major program again after seeing what it did to SMU. 

Again, if the systemic cover-up of a pedophile head coach over decades doesn't get you the death penalty, then nothing will. 

Commie_High96

April 11th, 2017 at 9:01 PM ^

I'm not saying Penn State shouldn't have been punished severely, but the actions there were criminal, and there have been criminal actions along side the NCAA sanctions. The intent of UNC was to purely subvert NCAA rules on a institutional basis in an ongoing conspiracy. This was a direct attack on the NCAA and there will be no criminal charges here, UNC should be dealt with more severely by the NCAA than Penn State was, and not let up on.

Dylan

April 11th, 2017 at 10:15 AM ^

There is absolutely zero practical chance North Carolina ever faces the elimination of its basketball program. It would take something like the AD and coach demanding each player fulfill some sort of assassination quota every month.  Seriously.  It's UNC Basketball.

CRISPed in the DIAG

April 11th, 2017 at 10:38 AM ^

Maryland - thinks they're everyone's rival. There are some salty tears in his statement. I'll be shocked if there is any punishment let alone the "death penalty."

1) No one will ever get the "death penalty" again. The SEC blatantly pays its players. Other campuses institutionally cover up rape and child abuse. Scholarship and post-season bans are the ceiling.

2) Death penalties were handed out when the egregious offenses, you know, were actually taking place. As opposed to  6-10 years ago.

3) UNC is an otherwise flagship academic public university.

4) Any program that holds view itself in an overly sanctimonious manner is bound to receive this type of abuse following allegations (e.g. "The Carolina Way" is synonymous with "Michigan Man") . It's happened to us. Penn State.

Ypsiwolverine

April 11th, 2017 at 10:53 AM ^

Since the scandal wasn't limited to athletes, I think they should lose their academic accreditation. Of course that is even less likely than the death penalty.

UM Griff

April 11th, 2017 at 10:53 AM ^

Due to the institutionalization of their academic cheating, but will likely get no more than a slap on the wrist.

The NCAA is a totally spineless organization.

Naked Bootlegger

April 11th, 2017 at 11:10 AM ^

I was going to comment how ballsy it is for a ACC school president to publicly call out another ACC university in such a manner.  And then I remembered that Maryland is in the B1G.