University officials have tried really, really hard to contained the school’s football scandal to the time period when Butch Davis was head football coach. And they have now failed. The Raleigh News & Observer (and by, extension, the Charlotte Observer) is reporting that a transcript used for training purposes at the school in 2001 is actually may be that of Julius Peppers with a different name attached — and the same sort of questionable practices to keep athletes eligible existed back then in the Department of African and Afro-American Studies:
At issue is whether individuals in the university set up a series of bogus, no-show classes that were predominantly taken by athletes, possibly with the intent of helping them maintain their eligibility to play sports.
Should Peppers be entangled in the practice it would suggest that trumped-up classes for athletes may have been going on much longer than university officials have confirmed. It may also draw the basketball program deeper into a situation that initially centered on football players.
Yup, it’s going to get even uglier.
Full disclosure: The current and past management of Meck Deck are all UNC-Chapel Hill alums.
