UPDATED at 8pm on October 23rd 2014

Yesterday, it came out that North Carolina’s baseball program was involved with the paper classes scandal that has affected the basketball and football program in the Waintstein Report. In the report, it is clearly stated that the UNC baseball coaching staff had no knowledge of the scandal in the Waintstein report which says the following about the coaching staff’s knowledge.

The baseball coaches similarly professed little knowledge about the AFAM paper classes, although two baseball players told us that the paper classes were common knowledge among their teammates. Head Baseball Coach Mike Fox explained that he had no knowledge of the paper classes or any other course that was designed to keep student-athletes eligible. Fox knew that Chapel Hill offered independent studies, but he discouraged his players from taking them, preferring that his players physically attend class. Fox stated, and his assistant coaches and former players confirmed, that he places an emphasis on academics and would bench his athletes if he learned that they were not attending class. Assistant Baseball Coach Scott Forbes explained that the team has a strict class attendance policy, and it is well known in the baseball program that if you do not go to class, you do not play. Forbes claimed that he was generally aware of what classes his players were taking, although he did not recall any student-athletes taking AFAM courses.

This is clearly not true with an email from Associate Director of the Academic Support Program for Student Athletes Brent Branton to UNC Baseball head coach Mike Fox, Assistant Coaches Scott Forbes, and Scott Jackson.

This following email is from UNC’s Mike Fox to UNC Former Associate Athletic Director John Blanchard and Former Assistant Athletic Director for Certification and Eligibility; Tutorial Coordinator, Academic Support Program for Student-athletes Susan Maloy. It clearly looks like that Fox wanted an exception to the Add/Drop rules at UNC with a student athlete wanting to add an independent study in the middle of the semester on October 16, 2007. The semester in 2007, started on August 21st and students at UNC can only add classes for the first five days of the semester.

Just finished long convo with Gerald Gurney – who has studied every NCAA academic fraud case and their adjudication since 1953…1/2 — Mark Armstrong (@ArmstrongABC11) October 23, 2014

Long story short — he called this the ‘blue ribbon case’ of academic fraud. Called it textbook LOIC and fully expects vacated wins/title. — Mark Armstrong (@ArmstrongABC11) October 23, 2014

Karen Moon who is the Director of Communications and Public Affairs for the University of North Carolina has offered the following statement on if any discipline will take place with Coach Fox in regards to the inconstancies between his statements and email communications.