ACC Roundup - Basketball Season Is Here

With basketball season opening, there are some interesting stories around.

First off, UNC finally got around to firing and disciplining some other people involved in the massive academic fraud scandal.

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Brett Blanton, who was associate director of the Academic Support Program for Student-Athletes, and Travis Gore, an administrative assistant in the Department of African, African American and Diaspora Studies, were canned Thursday.

Not fired: Bobbi Owens. Owens, a professor of dramatic arts who was previously a senior associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences, is barred from leadership and programmatic roles.

She was not fired but clearly sees this disciplinary action as vindication: "I have always conducted myself with care and integrity, both as a faculty member and in the leadership roles I held, so I knew that eventually I would be vindicated. The review procedure in which I have been involved for the past year raises serious questions about the process that led to public accusations that were completely unfounded."

The obvious question: if the accusations were unfounded, why is she being disciplined?

Here's why: although there was no evidence tying her directly to what Deborah Crowder and Julius Nyang'oro were up to with the paper classes, her superiors pointed out that Owens had responded "several times" to Nyang'oro's  "inappropriate behavior" but didn't report him: "This level of responsibility is expected from someone in a position of responsibility such as you had during the relevant period."

So yes, she did not participate in the scheme but her passivity allowed it to go on. If that's vindication, then by all means, enjoy it.

From fraud to other crimes: over at Louisville, prostitute Katina Powell is set to meet with the NCAA and may turn over phone records, journals and other potential bits of evidence about the sex parties she alleges took place at Louisville.

And speaking of Louisville, big man Chinanu Onuaku has struggled with free throws during his college career, so he's trying something new.

Well, something very old: he's doing underhanded free throws. One of Rick Barry's kids did it at Charleston, but that's the only guy we can think of in decades who's done it. It's going to be fun to watch. And it's working, too.

Here's the opening day schedule for the ACC:

• Siena vs. Duke
• Temple @ UNC
• Gonzaga @ Pitt
• Lehigh @ Syracuse
• NCCU @ Clemson
• Samford @ Louisville
• Morgan State @ Virginia
• UT Rio Grande Valley @ Miami
• St. Francis @ Notre Dame
• UMBC @ Wake Forest
• Cornell @ Georgia Tech

The game to watch, in our opinion: NCCU @ Clemson. Clemson is low on players and had to go to double OT to beat Lenoir-Rhyne.