Secondary violation to Tar Heels basketball team?

I know most of us think some of the NCAA's rules are completely bullshit but they are te rules. So why does a UNC coach screw up and the school change the story, especially for the "recruitment" of a possible walk-on player? Hmmm, are we Carolina and above the law?

UNC to report secondary violation
By Larry Keech and Rob Daniels, Greensboro News & Record Staff Writers

North Carolina will self-report a secondary violation of NCAA basketball recruiting rules to the ACC because a Carolina assistant coach and a walk-on prospect met after a recent game in Winston-Salem.

Justin Bohlander, a 6-foot-7 forward at R.J. Reynolds High School, and Fred Quartlebaum, the assistant, met face-to-face after Reynolds' victory over West Charlotte on Saturday. The meeting took place during a designated 40-day "evaluation period" in which coaches are not permitted to have anything but inadvertent off-campus contact with prospects.

In cases where contact is deemed a violation but is an isolated incident, a program would not likely suffer substantial penalties. NCAA officials did not return telephone calls this week.

"Coach Q (Quartlebaum) was here for the West Charlotte game," Bohlander said Wednesday night. "He came downstairs (to the locker room) and congratulated me. He told me they were interested in me as a walk-on and that the rules would allow coach (Matt) Doherty to call me once. He told me how to contact their office by fax and by mail."

When told of Bohlander's comments Thursday night, UNC athletics director Dick Baddour met with Quartlebaum and Doherty before speaking on the record. Then he gave an account that was different from Bohlander's.

"Based on my conversation with coach Quartlebaum, we do not have a violation," Baddour said at the time.

"He was aware that it was an evaluation period. He saw (Reynolds) coach Howard West outside the locker room, and the young man (Bohlander) approached him to say hello.

"He (Quartlebaum) then said: 'Justin, we're in a non-contact period, and I can't talk with you.' Then he said to coach West, 'Would you please explain that we can't have a contact?'

"He was satisfied that everybody understood the situation."

West, reached on Friday, maintained that Quartlebaum adhered to the spirit of NCAA regulations. But West confirmed that the UNC assistant and his player had talked, and West's explanation differed from Baddour's.

"He (Quartlebaum) came downstairs and started talking to (assistant) Coach (Andre) Gould and me," West said. "When J.B. (Bohlander) came out of the locker room, he stuck out his hand, and coach Quartlebaum said, 'Congratulations, you played well.'

"Then J.B. went back upstairs. He waited for me, and I relayed other information that coach Quartlebaum had told me.

"I've been coaching for 34 years. I know the rules. And I'm not about to let anything like a violation happen in my gym. This is totally ridiculous. It's another reason why people can't stand the NCAA."

When Bohlander was contacted Friday, he said his conversation with Quartlebaum was briefer than he had indicated two days earlier.

"He (Quartlebaum) just congratulated me," Bohlander said. "That was it. He didn't explain that to me. He didn't say that to me. I was talking to coach West, and he relayed it to me."

UNC changed its stance Friday, concluding that a violation actually had occurred.

NCAA rules violations have been infrequent in North Carolina's basketball history. The only probation resulting from a major infraction was a one-year term levied against former coach Frank McGuire's program in January 1961 for 15 instances of improper recruiting entertainment and lodging. The school had entertained prospects during the Dixie Classic holiday tournament.

A more recent secondary violation resulted in a two-game suspension for former UNC center Makhtar Ndiaye at the start of the 1996-97 season. Ndiaye had accepted a plane ticket from a shoe company representative to play in a summer all-star game in Las Vegas.

The Quartlebaum-Bohlander meeting took place during what is described as an "evaluation period" on the NCAA's Division I men's basketball recruiting calendar. During an evaluation period, college coaches are permitted to go off campus to evaluate prospects' performances, but in-person contact is disallowed.

Between Nov. 21, 2002, and March 15, 2003, NCAA rules allow institutions to stake out a 40-day evaluation period at their discretion. The remainder of the time between those dates is a "quiet period," during which coaches are not permitted to go off campus for contact or evaluation purposes.

Shane Lyons, the ACC's director of NCAA rules compliance and a former member of the NCAA's legislative services division for nine years, said there is no circumstance in which face-to-face contact during an evaluation period is allowed. Lyons declined to comment on the matter related to North Carolina.

After Bohlander transferred from Northwest Guilford to Reynolds in the summer of 2001, he spent most of last season as a reserve on a team that West guided to a third consecutive state 4-A championship. He averages 14 points, 6.5 assists and three blocked shots per game.

West became well-acquainted with Carolina's staff during its successful recruitment of Reyshawn Terry, Bohlander's 6-7 teammate and classmate. Aware of Bohlander's affinity for Carolina, the Reynolds coach began talking to Carolina about his potential as a walk-on when the player got off to a strong start in his senior season.

 

much ado about nothing William.

 

Ok, I agree Wossa. The NCAA has 100s of crazy, stupid rules. It's a MINOR violation, just wouldn't want them to be above the law and be doing something worse than this.

If I was an assistant coach, I'd sure be watching my steps, you are serving one year contracts at the pleasure of the head coach in most instances.

 

Their football team has reported secondary's before, too, but it's all coincidence. No big deal.