Baddour sheds light on NCAA investigation

UNC athletic director Dick Baddour and head football coach Butch Davis addressed the media together on Thursday for the first time since news of the NCAA investigation into the football program broke nearly a month ago.

Baddour, who has previously proclaimed himself as spokesman for the University during the investigation, said the University has not hidden from questions regarding the NCAA inquiry. He asked that Davis not be asked questions regarding the investigation so he and his staff could focus on “what’s happening on the football field.”

His appearance at UNC football media day came after Kevin Best, director of football communications, reminded Baddour of the press conference on Wednesday.

“(Kevin) was saying that (he) anticipates there will be a lot of questions and we were talking about how we might deal with that,” Baddour said.

“I thought, if I’m the spokesperson, if there’s gonna be (a lot of questions), I think I need to go over there and do this.”

Baddour’s appearance came on the heels of a flurry of reports regarding the investigation.

The (Raleigh) News & Observer reported on Wednesday that former Tar Heel Kentwan Balmer paid for a California trip in 2009 for defensive tackle Marvin Austin and former UNC defensive tackle Cam Thomas.

Yahoo! Sports reported Monday that the NCAA was investigating ties between defensive line coach John Blake and agent Gary Wichard and the California trip Austin and Thomas took in 2009.

On Wednesday, Inside Carolina reported that UNC was expecting results from the NCAA review by the end of this week. Baddour debunked such claims by saying that he does not know when the NCAA will present its rulings to UNC.

“Clearly the NCAA gets it,” Baddour said. “They know when our first game is (Saturday, Sept. 4 against LSU), they know that we’re in training camp.”

“They’ve committed the resources to move this thing along. But there’s just so many things that we don’t have control over or they don’t have control over. And that may be how quickly you can get a certain record how quickly it can be reviewed, how quickly you can establish an interview or something like that. Everybody’s on the same page, it just may mean that there’s a timetable that’s just not predictable.”

Saying he does not know certain regulations and protocol, Baddour said that when he knows and is able to talk about the results, he will make them public.

Baddour reiterated his two “guiding principles.” The first of which, maintaining the integrity of the University and its football program. The second, that individuals who are apart of the investigation are treated fairly.

“Right off the bat, you see it’s very complicated, very detailed and it’s going to take a lot of time and a lot of work to sort it out,” Baddour said.

The work on UNC’s end of the investigation is heavy. Baddour said the NCAA wants UNC’s full cooperation, which is more than just responding to investigators’ questions.

“We expect you to help us make (those involved in this investigation) accessible in this process,” Baddour said the NCAA conveyed to him. “We expect you to schedule meetings. We expect you to assist us in gathering all kinds of records no matter what they may be. We expect you to help us move this along. And we impress upon you, and they say this strongly, we do not want you to talk with anyone about this process in any detail.”

In a NCAA.org article the NCAA/How We Work/Enforcement process/ explaining how the NCAA enforcement staff operates, director of enforcement Tom Hosty acknowledged the burden on institutions like UNC.

“We come on campus, and we’re basically asking people with regular jobs and responsibilities to make time in their schedule to accommodate all of our requests,” Hosty said. “We ask a lot. It’s a significant undertaking and can take a long time.”