UNC football team under investigation for hazing

The University is investigating allegations of hazing among UNC football players.

Yahoo News reported Tuesday a group of North Carolina football players allegedly hazed and assaulted wide-receiver Jackson Boyer earlier in August.

The University is aware of an incident involving members of the team, said team spokesman Kevin Best in a statement.

He did not describe the allegations as hazing and did not elaborate on which players were involved.

“We take this allegation seriously, and the university is conducting a thorough review,” Best said in the statement.

Several members of the team engaged in a hazing, and eventually a group assaulted Boyer, which left him concussed, according to the Yahoo report. The report stated several sources confirmed this incident and described it as hazing.

News reports said the incident happened in the first week of August during training camp at Aloft Hotel in Chapel Hill. The team often stays in a hotel during training and before home games to prevent distractions.

Boyer, a redshirt freshman and a walk-on from Chapel Hill, did not respond to a phone call and Facebook message for comment. His parents also did not respond to requests for comment.

Chapel Hill Police Lt. Donnie Rhoads said there have been no criminal reports at Aloft Chapel Hill this month.

He also said he hadn’t heard of a police investigation into football team hazing. Under North Carolina law, hazing is illegal. The law defines hazing as subjecting “another student to physical injury as part of an initiation, or as a prerequisite to membership, into any organized school group, including any society, athletic team, fraternity or sorority, or other similar group.”

A receptionist at the Aloft Chapel Hill, where the team stayed during training camp, said he had only heard of the incident through the media. He said he could not find any reports of an assault at the hotel and declined to comment further on the incident.

Karen Moon, a spokeswoman for the University, deferred all comment to the athletic department’s communications office.

Senior writers Grace Raynor and Bradley Saacks contributed reporting.

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