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North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham comments on Rashad McCants situation

Rashad McCants

Getty Images

Getty Images

In June, former North Carolina guard Rashad McCants, a member of the team that won the 2005 national championship, went public with allegations that he took “paper classes” in order to remain eligible.

In the fall semester of 2004, McCants had failed two classes. The next semester he took four African and Afro-American Studies classes. Those classes required no attendance, only a paper at the end of the term. That spring, McCants made the Dean’s list.

North Carolina head coach Roy Williams denied the accusations. Many former Tar Heels have criticized the validity of McCants’ claims.

A month after ESPN’s Outside the Lines aired the interview, McCants said he had yet to hear from the university or the NCAA. A few days later, in a separate radio interview, he claimed he was going to receive $310 million from UNC and the NCAA.
MORE: Roy Williams responds to McCants | McCants: No relationship with Roy Williams

Those comments didn’t help McCants’ credibility, and he’s remained quiet since that radio interview. However, North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham had an interview with Andrew Carter of the News & Observer to discuss a variety of topics, including this ordeal with the former Tar Heel guard.

It was published on Friday. Here’s a portion:

AC: Rashad McCants over the summer was critical of his experience at UNC. The athletic department has tried to contact him. Have you been successful yet in reaching him?

BC: No.

AC: What’s your confidence level in the other side of McCants’ story?

BC: Well, I think we’ve provided a great experience to many, many students. And I’ve talked to a lot of the other players – I’ve talked to student-athletes in every sport that we have about their experience while they’re here – and I haven’t heard any give me the same story that I watched on television and read in the paper. They’re all very proud of their experience.


On June 30, the NCAA informed Cunningham that it would reopen the academic fraud investigation from 2012, in light of new allegations. Cunningham says investigators have been on campus conducting interviews since making the announcement.

This was part of a two part Q-&-A with the third-year athletic director: Part 1 | Part 2

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