ACC Roundup - Long-Running Farce In Chapel Hill Continues

If you thought that UNLV-CH learned something from the scandal it has endured for so long, well, not yet apparently.

Carolina has given A.D. Bubba Cunningham a significant raise and $1 million in deferred income over the next five years.

It was not a unanimous vote by the board of Governors as three members opposed it.

One, Marty Kotis, said that it was “bad optics,” presumably referring to the scandal.

Another, former Raleigh mayor Tom Fetzer said that it was “ludicrous” and elaborated: “If you read the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions report that became public on Friday, Oct. 13, it is clear that the NCAA questioned the credibility of UNC in their assertion that these courses were legitimate, which is a 180-degree change from their position when they embraced the Wainstein report. And assuming that the athletic director was complicit in UNC changing its story on these courses, it is a travesty to give him a raise.”

However, Chancellor Carol Folt was pleased that Cunningham had put academic performance goals in every coaching contract and that UNC had three years of a 3.0 grade point average among athletes.

She even gave the athletes a new title, moving them from student-athletes (some of whom were said to be barely literate by former academic support worker Mary Willingham) to...”scholar athletes.”

Apparently that whole nasty scandal business has been resolved and we have a brand new model for UNLV-CH to celebrate. Think Buddy Jesus - it’s about the same idea.

Just as an aside, after what we’ve just witnessed, is anyone outside of Chapel Hill taking the 3.0 business seriously? Maybe we should - they’re scholar-athletes now after all.

Over in Raleigh, where the Wolfpack has done a much more admirable job of upholding academic integrity in the UNC system, State opened up play with an exhibition win over Mars Hill, 109-66.

We’ve said for a long time that State’s DNA is supposed to be fast break, high scoring basketball and in his first outing, new coach Kevin Keatts delivered.

With Abdul-Malik Abu out with a strained knee ligament, the Pack played senior Lennard Freeman, back from his own knee injury, and sophomore Omer Yurtseven inside, along with four guards.

Adidas has hired a local law firm to deal with Rick Pitino’s lawsuit. That’s probably a smart move, particularly if an eventual trial is held in town.

Here’s an odd stat, admittedly from a small sample: Syracuse big man Paschal Chakwu has yet to hit a free throw for Syracuse.

Given Pitt’s almost total roster overhaul, Pitt’s exhibition Saturday against Slippery Rock could prove exceptionally interesting.

• Eight years later, Georgia Tech gets this ineligibility thing right
• NC State learning to embrace exhaustion in first exhibition
• Charity exhibition at UNC to help teams, Disaster Relief Fund
• Pitt basketball's first test (kind of): Slippery Rock
• Paul Zeise: How should fans evaluate Pitt basketball this season?