Tarnished Heels: How Unethical Action and Deliberate Deceipt at the University of North Carolina Ended the Carolina Way

Tarnished Heels chronicles the numerous events that have affected the University of North Carolina and seriously brought into question what was once a sterling reputation, both athletically and academically. From the time that knowledge of controversial actions first emerged publicly in 2010, a number of transgressions, events, and discoveries would redefine what was known as "The Carolina Way." Players, coaches, faculty, and university leaders all played roles in the scandals, and in many cases appeared complicit. The uncovered issues were staggering; Football coaches were also deemed to be working with NFL agents. Players received cash payments, travel expenses, and impermissible academic help. A sports agent was hired to teach a class at the university. A parent of a basketball All-American was hired as a university employee. Hundreds of fraudulent classes were discovered, countless basketball and football players were enrolled in them, and dozens of grades were forged and changed without permission. Basketball players received impermissible benefits from a convicted felon, who was also directly connected to UNC alumni. Along the way doubts were also raised as to the effectiveness of the NCAA to properly and fairly handle the multiple situation, Ambiguity was evident in the NCAA to properly and fairly handle the multiple situations. Ambiguity was evident in the penalties that were hundred down to different college programs, and in some cases it appeared as if major athletic/academic infractions at UNC were ignored entirely. As events were closely examined and dissected, and past public documents serutinized, there were strong suggestions that the issues of fraud and benefits may have been occur ring far into the past - and spanning the years of multiple basketball-National Champion ships at the school. Still not willing to truly examine the depth of the issues that had negatively affected its campus, academics, and revenue sports teams, the University of North Carolina remains in moral limbo, and torn down what was once "The Carolina Way."