Tar Heels Tutor Quits Over P.J. Hairston

After the troubles of the football program a few years ago, and the revelation that learning specialist Mary Willingham was being punished for speaking out about the academic side of sports at Chapel Hill, you'd think North Carolina would try to avoid controversy.
But this is college sports. So guess what?
Basketball star P.J. Hairston was allowed back on the team this season, after a reckless driving charge (oh, and separate charges for possession of marijuana and driving without a license in a 2013 Yukon owned by a convicted felon with a gun found inside). Well, tutor Jack Halperin had enough, and handed in his resignation to The Daily Tar Heel:

Roy, after 23 years as an academic tutor, and after going through the devastating football scandal, I am resigning in protest of your disgraceful decision to allow P.J. Hairston to remain on the team.
If I were arrested driving with no license, illegal drugs and a gun in a felon’s car, my employment at this University would end immediately.
Hairston’s DTH headline quote was, “I will play this season.” Since when does the criminal decide his fate?
Jack Halperin Athletic academic tutor

So maybe that's the reason we don't pay student athletes?
Read more at College Football Talk and the Daily Tar Heel.

Do You Know Your UNLV Head Coaches?

If you guessed Bobby Hauck for football and Dave Rice for basketball, you'd be right. But if you guessed Lon Kreuger for basketball, you'd be wrong: he was with UNLV back in 2010, but is now coaching the Oklahoma Sooners. But a billboard popped up this week in Vegas advertising season tix, and the image was of Hauck and Kreuger, not Rice. But this was the billboard company's fault, and with a fair reason: they just pulled an old vinyl out of storage to cover a blank spot, and didn't realize it was three years old.
Read more at the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Don't Worry, Tarheel Fan: P.J. Hairston's Coming Back!

That's what UNC AD Bubba Cunningham (BUBBA!) promised at a faculty retreat. He said Hairston would return to play, "but not all the games." The man who leaked this out? A journalism professor: Andy Bechtel.

Bubba Cunningham takes a PJ question. "Will he play?" Answer: "Yes, but not all the games."
— Andy Bechtel (@andybechtel) August 15, 2013

Hairston was UNC's leading scorer (14.6 per), but he's had a rash of off-the-field issues that resulted in a suspension in the offseason. But now UNC might look past a speeding a reckless driving charge. And a seperate possession of marijuana and driving without a license charge (which he's gone through a drug program for). And the fact there was a gun in the 2013 Yukon he was driving. And the fact the car was rented by a Haydn "Fats" Thomas, a convicted felon.
Yes, UNC forgives!
Read more at ESPN.

Towson Coach Gets Contract Extension Despite No Postseason

Towson University just backed the truck up to Pat Skerry, who in two years has taken Towson to 1-31, then 18-13. But the team did not make the postseason, as their Academic Progress Rate was too low to make the postseason. Yes, Towson just extended a contract of a coach whose players' grades are too low for postseason play.
Towson, of course, shut down their storied baseball and soccer teams earlier this year claiming budget concerns. Skerry will also begin play in a new $62M arena.
Read more at College Basketball Talk.

Brittney Griner Told Not To Discuss Being Gay At Baylor

The former Baylor basketball star, drafted first overall by the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, said in an Sports Illustrated article last month she was always openly gay. But in an upcoming ESPN interview, she reveals she was pressured by Baylor's coaching staff to not mention her sexuality openly. "It was a recruiting thing...The coaches thought that if it seemed like they condoned it, people wouldn't let their kids come play for Baylor." Griner has been openly gay since high school, and even told coach Kim Mulkey while she was recruiting her, and was told it would not be a problem.
Baylor is a private Baptist college, and has policies on heterosexual extramarital conduct as well as "homosexual behavior," and encourages students to consult the "Spiritual Life Office." Baylor's athletic program was the center of an infamous 2003 scandal, when then-men's coach Dave Bliss covered up multiple NCAA violations, including failed drug tests, paying players, and actually claiming a murdered player was dealing drugs to pay his tuition when it was Bliss' own money.
Read more at espnW.

Twitter Goes Nuts Over High School Recruit

Usually, high school recruits announce their college signings in a crowded gym, on national TV, and at a table with a half-dozen hats. Basketballer Andrew Wiggins thought he'd avoid that by making a quiet announcement, to local newspaper reporter Grant Traylor, but even that wasn't enough to avoid the recruiting world:

"Traylor had 1,962 followers on Twitter two days ago. Then it was learned that he'd be the first reporter to know Wiggins' college destination, at which point his follower account ballooned to 17,800, and each 140-character burst of information was treated as breaking news. Literally everything Traylor tweeted was retweeted hundreds, if not thousands, of times."

Tuesday, Wiggins chose Kansas University over Florida State and Kentucky. You can guess how that went:

"Within minutes of the announcement, countless fans who don't spend their days pulling for KU attacked. They tweeted at Wiggins to express their disappointment by telling him they hope he does everything from 'tear his ACL' to 'die in a plane crash.' Some also wanted him to 'burn in hell' because, in their opinions, he's a 'bitch' who is 'fu--ing retarded' and a 'piece of sh-t' who should have his 'neck snapped.'"

By NBA rules, Wiggins only has to play one year, then he can declare for next year's NBA draft. Read more at CBS Sports.