North Carolina break rules with Iman?

[ChicosBailBonds]

http://www.charlotte.com/sports/story/285303.html

[MarquetteDano]

Maybe I am missing something.  So, UNC is stating that since those two are taking classes, they are able to "recruit".  Does that mean a big money booster just has to take once class and he can hound recruits all year?  Sounds dubious to me.  What is exactly the rule on this?

[muwarrior87]

I still don't think this will effect Shumpert's decision that much. I have a feeling us and GT are still the front runners and if this knocks UNC out of the race, all the better.

[mufan924]

sportingnews.com writers response to the situation --

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=275269

Is Carolina finer? Ask a Heel.

By Mike DeCourcy, Sporting News
Posted September 20, 2007

Yes, I know you want to understand the experience of majoring in journalism and communications at Point Park College. I mean, Point Park University. Much has changed since my graduation 25 years ago, including the name of the place.

You want to know if PPU is a fun place to learn, a place that can start you toward an interesting and fulfilling career and whether you, too, might snag a high-level spouse like mine.

Are you allowed to ask me these questions, though?

Well, I suppose so.

I'm not a former college athlete. (My double-figure scoring average in the intramural hoops league doesn't count). So I can tell you I love what the administration has done to renovate and expand my alma mater and that attending school in downtown Pittsburgh provided lots of options to work with the professional media during my student years.

If I were a former basketball player -- and if PPU were a major Division I school; come on, work with me here -- I could not talk to you about these experiences. That's against NCAA rules.

We're reminded of this because the compliance department at North Carolina has been compelled to open an investigation into exactly what former Tar Heel point guard Raymond Felton might have said to prospect Iman Shumpert of Illinois after they played pickup basketball during Shumpert's official visit to the UNC campus.

Here's how picayune this particular rule can be: Sean May, Felton's teammate with the Charlotte Bobcats, also played, as did Marvin Williams, a forward with the Atlanta Hawks. Whatever they might have said to Shumpert apparently is OK, because they are enrolled as students working toward completion of degrees left unfinished when they filed for early NBA draft entry. Felton is not currently in school, so he's considered an alum.

Also, the Carolina coaching staff had to explain to the former Heels that NCAA rules allow them to do no more than exchange casual greetings with the prospect, and maybe pass him the ball occasionally. But because this was an offseason pickup game, the coaches weren't permitted to observe and ensure everything went right.

You have to love it when two of the most illogical rules in the NCAA manual are combined in a circumstance such as this. It's like a green peppers-and-Skittles sandwich.

If there's anybody who should be giving information to athletes about whether to attend a particular university, it's the former athletes from that university. If they enjoyed the experience, they can say so -- and can offer insight no one else could have gained. What is it like to play for that coach? A current player can answer, but might be judicious with his words for fear of repercussion. The former player won't have to worry about running stairs if he makes a negative comment.

Marquette also is recruiting Shumpert, and he's scheduled to make a trip there in the next few weeks. Surely it would be helpful to Shumpert to know how significant a role coach Tom Crean played in Dwyane Wade's metamorphosis from lightly recruited prospect to NBA superstar. Well, Crean can talk about it to Shumpert -- but wouldn't that answer really be more direct coming from Wade?

The former player knows what it is like to attend school, compete athletically and live socially on a given campus -- and he knows what the training received at that school, in and out of basketball, has done to prepare him for the working world. The NCAA prohibition against providing that information makes no sense. None.

North Carolina is in no great jeopardy here, nor should it be. The news media must cover the story because it exists, sort of like an early season game against South Carolina State. It's not a big deal, though, other than serving an example of how ludicrous so many NCAA rules can be.