Following the indictments of five individuals connected to the the North Carolina football scandal, the University issued seven “letters of permanent disassociation,” including three to former UNC football players, Greg Little, Marvin Austin and Robert Quinn.
The trio committed various NCAA infractions that led to criminal charges filed against Jennifer Wiley Thompson, Terry Watson, Patrick Jones, Willie Barley Jr. and Michael Johnson Jr. in violation of the North Carolina Uniform Athlete Agents Act.
“It’s a necessary step that the University must take to make it clear to agents and those who violate the rules that this type of behavior can’t be tolerated,” Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham said.
“Certainly you never want to have to do something like this with your own student athletes, but they put the University at great risk.”
The letters sent to Little, Marvin and Austin state that the disassociation is “intended to restrict … involvement in further embarrassing the University and jeopardizing the University’s commitment to full NCAA rules compliance.”
Watson, Jones, Barley and Johnson were also sent letters of disassociation.
The University sent Thompson, a former UNC tutor, a disassociation letter signed by former Athletic Director Dick Baddour in November 2010.
The recent batch of letters, dated Nov. 15 and signed by Cunningham, prohibit the individuals from contacting any current or future UNC student athlete.
The letters also state that the University will not accept financial donations for the purpose of recruiting or any other reasons, and will not allow any of the recipients of the letters to have contact with prospective and enrolled student athletes.
