“We are displeased with the University of North Carolina’s decision not to submit the necessary paperwork to the NCAA requesting to have P.J. reinstated,” the statement read. “This process has been long, and for it to end without having a final decision from the governing body is a shame. Ultimately this affects P.J., and his eligibility to play Division I colligate (sic) basketball for the remainder of this season, as well as next season.
“Despite our disappointment, we wish the team continued success.”
Last season, Hairston led UNC in scoring with 14.6 points per game, moving into the starting lineup midway through the season. He scored 707 points in his UNC career, making 127 3-pointers in 71 games.
Hairston has practiced with the team this season, and Williams put the guard through an intense conditioning program as punishment for his actions during the summer. Williams said in a statement that Hairston was called the “perfect teammate” by one of the players on the team.
“I was so mad early, and I had been so proud of him,” Williams said. “He’s handled everything, and I admire him. I don’t admire the actions that caused all of it, and he knows that, but I’ve admired the way he’s handled things so greatly that it’s off the charts.”
Williams said he hadn’t yet spoken to Hairston or addressed the team about the final decision, and he said he wasn’t involved in the decision-making process. Cunningham, the UNC compliance office and the NCAA are the only ones with access to specific information about the case, Cunningham said.
“The head coach is the one that’s involved in the turmoil from the personal standpoint,” Williams said. “I’m the guy that goes and sits in the living room.”
Neither Williams nor Cunningham could provide definitive answers on Hairston’s next course of action, but he does have the option to continue his involvement with the team, Cunningham said.
“P.J.’s going to take some time to think about what he’s going to do next,” Cunningham said. “Participation here is not an option. Being on the team is an option. But he has a lot of different options ahead of him, and I think he’d like to take some time to think about it.”
Hairston will announce his future plans within the next few weeks, according to his family statement.
Sophomore forward J.P. Tokoto said that he has seen Hairston since the decision was made and that “he’s doing fine.” He said Hairston’s message to his teammates was to come together and not let the decision affect them.
“Now we know as a team what’s going on with what the final decision is,” Tokoto said. “We can finally just kind of get things finalized and figure out who we are as a team and what we have and what we can work with this year.
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“It’s kind of a relief. It’s kind of sad, too.”
Cunningham said UNC was originally hoping for a resolution before school started, but the University and the NCAA continued to gather information up until last week. He said if a student athlete receives benefits totaling more than $700, he must miss 30 percent of his team’s games. He did not say what Hairston’s impermissible benefits amounted to.
UNC has gone 7-3 this season without Hairston, beating the top three preseason teams Michigan State, Louisville and Kentucky. Still, Williams said, Hairston’s loss has impacted the Tar Heels.
“He’s been the most dominating player in our practice on the perimeter that I’ve ever coached, so it’s already affected our team from a won-loss standpoint,” Williams said. “From a mental standpoint, my team has been so resilient, but they’re gonna hurt from this.
“This is a kid that I took off the media guide, poster, told him he couldn’t be the captain … I ran him until he almost dropped. So they’re going to hurt for him. There’s no question about that, but the actions were there. And all of us in life pay for our actions, and these are some very difficult consequences.”
Read Roy Williams’ complete statement below:
“I am extremely disappointed for P.J., his family and our team as he will no longer be playing basketball at North Carolina. P.J. made mistakes and I was very disappointed by his actions and now he is suffering the very difficult consequences. He is not a bad kid; he just made some mistakes.”
“Since summer, P.J. has been outstanding with our basketball program and with his schoolwork. He went through an extremely intense conditioning program with flying colors. He has been called a ‘perfect teammate’ by one of our other players. He has dominated our practices and at times has been as good as any perimeter player I have ever coached, giving great effort to help our team. He cares deeply about Carolina and the basketball program.”
“P.J. has learned from this experience and will continue to grow as a player and adult. I will support him and help him as much as I possibly can as he enters this next phase of his life and basketball career.”
