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East Oregonian
Saturday, October 14, 2017
College Athletics
UNC set to move past academic probe, not celebrating ruling
By AARON BEARD
Associated Press
North Carolina can move
forward, closing one of the
most embarrassing chapters
in the school’s history now
that the long-running NCAA
academic case has ended
with UNC facing no penalty.
Still, even with what
had to be the best possible
outcome — a weight being
lifted that has loomed over
the Chapel Hill campus for
years — school offi cials
greeted the news more with
cautious relief than exuber-
ance.
“This isn’t a time of cele-
bration,” chancellor Carol
Folt said Friday in a confer-
ence call with reporters.
The NCAA said an
infractions
committee
panel determined it “could
not conclude” there were
academic violations by
the school in the scandal
focused on irregular courses
featuring signifi cant athlete
enrollments.
The school had faced fi ve
serious charges — including
lack of institutional control
— and the possibility of
major sanctions such as
postseason bans or vacated
wins and championships.
Yet the case full of starts,
stops and twice-rewritten
charges reached a best-case-
scenario conclusion with the
panel’s Friday report.
“I think it’s important
to understand the panel
was in no way supporting
what
happened,”
said
Southeastern
Conference
Commissioner Greg Sankey,
the panel’s chief hearing
offi cer. “What happened
was troubling. And I think
that’s been acknowledged
by many different parties.
But the panel applied the
membership’s bylaws to the
fact.
“Albeit at times posi-
tions shifted and we were
skeptical of positions taken,
the panel couldn’t conclude
violations. That’s reality.”
Ultimately, the panel said
it found only two violations:
a failure-to-cooperate charge
against two people tied to
the problem courses in the
formerly named African
and Afro-American Studies
(AFAM) department.
Former AFAM chairman
Julius Nyang’oro faces
a fi ve-year show-cause
penalty through 2022 in
what amounts to the sole
penalty imposed in the case.
Nyang’oro had refused
to interview with NCAA
investigators after the case
was reopened in 2014.
The other person, retired
AFAM offi ce administrator
Deborah Crowder, initially
refused interviews but recon-
sidered and interviewed
with NCAA investigators
in May as well as attended
the school’s hearing with the
panel in August. Crowder —
who had enrolled students,
distributed assignments and
graded many of the papers
in the courses — was not
punished, but the NCAA
said it is making note of her
initial lack of cooperation.
Elliot Abrams, Crowder’s
attorney, said in a statement
the ruling affi rms her account
that she treated all students
equally.
Bill
Thomas,
Nyang’oro’s
attorney,
declined to comment to The
Associated Press.
North Carolina also
faced an improper-benefi ts
charge tied to athlete access
to the problem courses,
while former professor and
academic counselor for
women’s basketball Jan
Boxill was charged with
providing improper help on
assignments.
“Sometimes the behavior
that you’re not proud of just
doesn’t quite fi t into a bylaw
or a rule or something, and
that’s what we’ve been
talking about for fi ve years,”
UNC
athletic
director
Bubba Cunningham said.
“We’re not proud of the
behavior but we didn’t think
it violated the bylaw, and
today the Committee on
Infractions revealed to us
that they came to that same
conclusion.”
Michael L. Buckner, a
Florida attorney who has
worked on compliance
cases, called it “defi nitely
a best-case scenario” for
UNC.
“The NCAA is not an
academic
accreditation
agency,” Buckner said. “So
I appreciate the fact that the
committee did not act like a
pseudo-accreditation agency
in its decision, because they
easily could have and tried
to go underneath and behind
the university’s own inter-
pretation of its courses.
“But that’s the role of ...
the regional accreditation
agency that UNC belongs
to, not the NCAA.”
It’s a long-awaited step for
both the school and NCAA.
Investigators fi rst arrived at
UNC more than seven years
ago in a football probe that
ultimately spawned into this
case. Major penalties could
have led UNC to appeal or
even pursue legal action,
potentially stretching a
delay-fi lled case for several
years more.
Instead, the case reached
resolution roughly eight
weeks after UNC appeared
before the infractions panel
in Nashville, Tennessee,
for a two-day hearing that
included Folt, Cunningham,
men’s basketball coach Roy
Williams, football coach
Larry Fedora and women’s
basketball coach Sylvia
Hatchell. No coaches were
charged with wrongdoing.
The focus was indepen-
dent study-style AFAM
courses that were misiden-
tifi ed as lecture classes but
didn’t meet. They required
a research paper or two for
typically high grades.
In a 2014 investigation,
former U.S. Justice Depart-
ment
offi cial
Kenneth
Wainstein estimated more
than 3,100 students were
affected between 1993 and
2011, with athletes across
numerous sports making up
roughly half the enrollments.
On a conference call,
Sankey said it was “more
likely than not” that athletes
received fraudulent credit
and that counselors used
courses to help maintain
eligibility, but the organi-
zation’s bylaws leave it to
the schools themselves to
determine academic fraud.
He said the panel could not
use “those strong possibili-
ties” to determine whether
violations occurred as UNC
maintained the courses were
legitimate — though easy —
and benefi tted non-athlete
students, too.
After sanctioning the
football program in March
2012 in the original case, the
NCAA reopened an inves-
tigation in summer 2014,
fi led charges in May 2015,
revised them in April 2016
and again in December.
UNC had challenged the
NCAA’s jurisdiction, saying
its accreditation agency —
which sanctioned the school
with a year of probation
— was the proper authority
and that the NCAA was
overreaching in what should
be an academic matter .
UNC has argued non-ath-
letes had access to the
courses and athletes didn’t
receive special treatment. It
also challenged Wainstein’s
estimate of athlete enroll-
ments, saying Wainstein
counted athletes who were
no longer team members
and putting the fi gure at less
than 30 percent.
Sankey said the school
successfully
challenged
elements of the Wainstein
report, noting there were
“factual inaccuracies” that
led the panel to discount
some
of
Wainstein’s
fi ndings. Sankey also said
the panel would report its
fi ndings to the accreditation
agency “so that it is aware
of the NCAA’s fi nal deci-
sion and North Carolina’s
updated positions.”
Auto Racing
Ford teams head to Talladega aiming for restrictor plate race sweeep
By JENNA FRYER
Associated Press
TALLADEGA, Ala. —
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was all
over the scoreboard at Char-
lotte Motor Speedway. His
Roush-Fenway Racing team
worked all day to salvage a
strong fi nish in the opening
race of the second round of
NASCAR’s playoffs, and a
speeding penalty was threat-
ening to ruin the chance.
Stenhouse had one restart
to save his day Sunday,
and he picked off about
six drivers to squeak out a
13th-place fi nish.
His
reward?
Well,
Stenhouse is still last in the
playoff standings. But the
race this weekend is at Talla-
dega Superspeedway and
Stenhouse is probably the
only driver looking forward
to Sunday’s critical race.
Stenhouse scored his fi rst
career Cup victory at Talla-
dega in May, and followed
it with another win in July at
Daytona. He’s won the last
two restrictor-plate races of
the season, and fi gures his
best shot at making it into the
third round of the playoffs is
by making it 3 for 3 to land
an automatic berth.
“I know we’re going to
have a fast car. I’m not really
worried about the speed in
our car,” said Stenhouse,
who is in the playoffs for the
fi rst time. “The biggest thing
for me is you’ve got to have
these things play out exactly
right. I feel like the last two
played out really well for us.
I feel like we’re capable of
doing it, but I’m defi nitely
just not counting on it.”
Nope, Stenhouse has
to have a backup strategy
because there are so many
variables in a plate race. It
takes luck, skill, precision
and being in the right place
at the right time.
Talladega for the fi rst
three years of this playoff
format was an elimination
race, but it was moved this
season to the middle of the
second round. It’s placement
in the playoffs takes the
pressure off of Stenhouse to
win or else.
If he can’t win the race,
AP Photo/Ron Sanders, File
In this May 7, 2017, fi le photo, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (17)
celebrates at the start fi nish line after winning a Monster
Cup series race at Talladega Superspeedway.
he’ll take what he can get
in stage points. Although
he’s last right now in the
12-driver fi eld, Stenhouse is
just 10 points behind Jamie
McMurray at the cutoff line.
“If I can win two stages
and get 20 points, I could
vault ourselves ahead of the
cutoff line,” Stenhouse said.
“I think you’re going to see
at least 10 of us racing really
hard for that.”
And for the fi rst time
in these playoffs, the Ford
drivers might have a fi ghting
chance.
Toyota drivers Martin
Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch
have combined to win
the fi rst four races of the
playoffs, and Truex’s win at
Charlotte moved him into the
third round of the playoffs.
That victory was a relief for
Truex, who was eliminated
from the playoffs a year ago
at Talladega after an engine
failure. An accident during
the spring race here led to a
35th-place fi nish.
“There are so many
unknowns at Talladega, and
you can run up front all day
long and fi nish 25th,” said
Truex. “You can run up
front and run 20 laps and get
destroyed. You just never
know. There is so much out
of your control. To go there
and not have to worry about
all those things is defi nitely a
good feeling.”
In Friday’s fi rst practice,
Ford drivers took the fi rst
nine spots on the speed
chart; in the fastest 10-lap
averages, fi ve Ford drivers
led the charge. In the second
practice, the Chevrolets
picked up some speed and
Kasey Kahne and Dale Earn-
hardt Jr. went 1-2 to lead
their Hendrick Motorsports
Chevys to the top of the
board.
But, considering Kurt
Busch won the Daytona
500 in a Ford, the Doug
Yates-powered blue ovals
will be trying to give the
manufacturer and its engine
builder a season sweep.
“We work hard at making
sure we work with other Ford
drivers,” Stenhouse said. “I
think Doug’s engine package
fi ts these race track really
well. We work hard on our
cars. I think a lot of the crew
chiefs on the Ford cars really
have always taken a liking to
speedways and take pride in
it and really pay attention to
all the small details,
“And then we always
meet on the weekend. All
the Ford drivers get together
and fi gure out a game plan of
what we’re going to do and
how we’re going to work
together and make sure that
one of us succeed.”
————
NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series
Alabama 500 at Talladega
Race Sunday, 11 a.m. (TV: NBC)
Playoff Standings
Through Oct. 5
Driver
Points behind
1. Martin Truex Jr.*
—
2. Kyle Larson
-34
3. Kevin Harvick
-37
4. Chase Elliott
-47
5. Denny Hamlin
-50
6. Kyle Busch
-51
7. Jimmie Johnson
-55
8. Jamie McMurray
-62
9. Matt Kenseth
-63
10. Brad Keselowski
-64
11. Ryan Blaney
-67
12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
-72
*-clinched spot to next round
EASTERN OREGON
marketplace
Place classified ads online at www.eastoregonmarketplace.com or call 1-800-962-2819 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
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333 E. Main St.
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Pendleton, OR 97801 Hermiston, OR 97838
See www.eastoregonmarketplace.com for classified ads from all over Eastern Oregon
EAST OREGONIAN • HERMISTON HERALD • BLUE MOUNTAIN EAGLE • WALLOWA COUNTY CHIEFTAIN
110 Announcements
181 Lost & Found
360 Garage Sales
360 Garage Sales
501 Open Houses
504 Homes for Sales
JUSTIN AND BURKS
Moving and Estate Sale
Cleaning out sale!
Lots of Christmas, camping,
fishing, golf clubs, gardening,
clothing, athletic wear.... lots of
misc.
1610 SW 18th Pendleton.
Friday & Saturday 8am-1pm
Open House Oct.14
1-4pm
642 NW 7th
Fully remodeled 3 bed 2 bath
1800 sq ft. $179,000 or
Call Heidi at (541)206-9588
For private showing
Call the “Weekend & After Hours
Realtor” to view homes at a con-
venient time for you. Available
on Short Notice, Special Financ-
ing Program Information! Call
Matt Vogler, 541.377.9470
John J. Howard & Assoc.
(541) 377-9470
Living estate sale. Our client has
sold their Mill Creek cabin of 45
years.
Rustic, interesting collection.
166 Good Things to
Davis Orchards
Fruit Stand
9am-5pm
Closed Saturday
Apples: Gala, Golden &
Red Delicious, Honeycrisp,
Granny Smith, Fuji; Italian
Prunes
53285 Appleton Road
Milton Freewater, Oregon
541-938-7093
Tri Color Corgi missing since
10/6 from my fenced yard in
the Overlook development in
Pendleton. We miss her dear-
ly! (541)969-9743
204 Automobiles
2014 GMC Terrain FWD 4cyl,
Loaded SLT, Leather, Bluetooth,
Sunroof, more. 29,400K Ex-
cellent Condition, $18,950. NO
Dealers! Call 541-962-5467
CALL
1-800-962-2819
50’s naugahyde sofa and chair-
excellent condition, Coca-Cola
sign and thermometer, huge
collection of crumbers, beer
signs and mugs, rusty tools and
outdoor decor, bird houses and
feeders, great old lanterns, nu-
merous brass blow-torches, 20’s
icebox, huge whale bone, record
albums, black iron lamp post,
snow plow for Honda 4-Wheeler
This sale is being held in our
back barn.
BUY IT! SELL IT!
FIND IT!
2011 Ford E-350 Van
Good condition
$6900/ OBO
541-276-2211 ext. 215
DOWNUNDER???????!!??
Sign up for your Tour to Aus-
tralia in April 2018. This will be
your trip of a lifetime. The tour is
made to fit the group! Referenc-
es available! Call Kerry 541-377-
6855 or email your questions to
kjcbaird@gmail.com
Turn Here Realty
541-377-6855
If you like rust, you will love this
sale!
Eastern Oregon
Events
CALL 1-800-962-2819
to advertise here!
See local events at:
easternoregonevents.com
504 Homes for Sales
85137 Tum A Lum Road
Milton-Freewater
Saturday 9am-3pm
Sunday 10am-3pm
WHATEVER YOU ARE
looking for, don’t buy until you’ve
checked the Classifieds!
Credit/debit cards and cash.
No checks please.
No early sales.
BUYER meets seller every day
of the week in the classified
columns of this newspaper.
Attention Investors! Reduced
Price, Modern Duplex built in
2012, Stucco Exterior with great
city views. 3 bedroom and 2
bedroom units.Now $179,900.
Call Matt Vogler, 541.377.9470.
John J. Howard & Assoc.
(541) 377-9470
Classified Ads work hard for you!
$129,900- East end CONDO
IN CLIFFDWELLERS. 3 bed-
rooms, 1.5 baths. Deck over-
looking river. Condo complex
includes swimming pool. Vicki
541-969-9441cell. #17141137
Coldwell Banker Whitney
541-276-0021
NEW LISTING 5.2 acres of
mountain property 3 b/r 2 bath
manufactured home with de-
tached garage and large shop.
Year round living. Secluded.
$212,900 Call Cathy for more
info (541) 215-0103.
Garton & Associates
(541) 276-0931
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