New records from UNC name three people who provided illegal benefits to football players, including a representative from one of the nation’s largest sports agencies.
The individuals — Chris Hawkins, Michael Katz and Todd Stewart — are named in five reinstatement letters the University submitted to the NCAA. The letters give new insight into the extent to which UNC players violated rules prohibiting gifts and monetary benefits.
The records were provided to The Daily Tar Heel after several weeks of requests. UNC previously said it would not release the names of the agents, citing a federal student privacy law.
The reinstatement letters are heavily redacted to protect the student-athletes’ identities. They do not include dates indicating when they were sent to the NCAA, and, in some cases, nearly entire pages are redacted.
The most-mentioned figure in the reinstatement letters is Hawkins, a former UNC player from 2001-03. Hawkins was dismissed from the team his senior year, but lives in Durham at another former player’s home.
Hawkins is mentioned in three of the five letters, which describe friendly relations with players that began before their freshman years. He was introduced as a “good guy” who would look out for the players, the letters say.
UNC believes Hawkins provided benefits, set up meetings between players, financial advisers and agents, offered to purchase gear from players and told agents that he represented some UNC players, according to an Oct. 4 letter from athletic director Dick Baddour.
The Oct. 4 letter to Hawkins bans him from UNC athletic facilities and instructs him to cease all contact with current or potential student-athletes for a minimum of five years.
Two of the letters reference Michael Katz as providing wristbands for admittance to a pool party. Katz works as director of marketing and client services for Rosenhaus Sports, a Miami Beach-based agency that represents a number of high-profile NFL clients.
