CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Senior tailback Ryan Houston was back in uniform Saturday after sitting out UNC’s first five games as part of the NCAA’s investigation into agent benefits and possible academic misconduct. But he did not play during the Tar Heels' 44-10 victory, leaving open the possibility that he might redshirt, and return next season.
“We’re going to talk with Ryan. There was a discussion about the possibility – might he redshirt and come back and play next year? [With the] health to this football team, who knows?” coach Butch Davis said. “It’s hard to project.
“… We obviously didn’t find out [about his return] until late Thursday night, and he had missed all the week’s preparation. Bombs would have had to go off, and he could have gone in, and he could have played a little bit at running back, but he hadn’t had any contact, he hadn’t been hit in six or seven weeks. … This just came totally out of left field, and kind of caught us all off-guard and unprepared. I want to talk to his mom and dad, and probably him, Monday, and find out [about redshirting]. As I told him today, ‘Be ready, be focused, be prepared to come in, and maybe potentially help us if we need it. Hopefully, a disaster won’t come off, and we can have a calm discussion about it.’
“But if that had happened, there’s no question in my mind that he would have run out there, and we’d have started handing the ball to 32 and pounding.”
-- Robbi Pickeral
Sunday, October 17, 2010
UNC RB Houston could redshirt
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12 comments:
Hopefully, this will give him time to get a homely, or male tutor to help him with his studies and on course to get some type of degree to keep him eligible. Maybe the next coach will renew his scholarship contract and not place him out on waivers like Coach Davis has been know to do to unsuspecting players. Run Ryan Run!!
Anonymous 3:36 is a mouth-breathing, retarded, welfare-loving State fan. Thanks for giving us a living example of what is wrong with America today.
3:36 is a life long UNC fan, but not a grad that is sick of what has become of sports at UNC and all colleges for that matter. Many were surprised when young Ryan was admitted to UNC, based on his High School academic career, just saying... I hope he does get a degree, any degree it doesn't matter right?
UNC-CH: The most corrupt athletics department in the nation. CONgratulations!
Interesting situation, if Houston redshirts this year, wouldn't he still have to serve his time next year of 5 games? 5 games are supposed to be taken away from his eligibility as a punishment. If he redshirts and plays all of next year, he would skip/bypass his punishment.
Butch Davis is quoted as saying that Houston has been cleared on all wrong doing / allegations. I really would be great if the media could really dig into issues like this so that we could get a clear meaning of "cleared"....
His 5-6 game suspension was solely for the AGENT stuff....so if he plays after 6 games that means that UNC doesnt think cheating deserves a suspension. At any other school the "cheating" alone would mean suspension for a semester and most likely kicked out of school. At UNC it could mean nothing. We'll see. Duke suspended starting QB Zack Asack for one year when he committed plagiarism. UNC sees no issues, obviously.....
News flash UNC grads have lower starting salaries than state grads and UNC has an overall lower job placement for grads than state. Can't get a job writing poetry and being liberal. Before anyone calls BS check the Triangle Business Journal and you can see for yourself.
The Carolina way is dead. Nothing but a bunch of liars and cheaters in Chapel Hill these days. Butch Davis is a fine representative of the formerly great UNC. Pathetic!
So, Burney is the guy who was handed a 6 game suspension by the NCAA for benefits from agents/boosters/etc. But there has been some question as to whether he would make it back at all due to his involvement in the academic investigation as well. He had his Honor Court appointment last night.
Essentially, Burney plead guilty to cheating and took an F in the class. Since he was already on a NCAA exemption allowing him to only take the 3 credit hours this semester he needed to graduate, that F would have made him ineligible without enough credits. So, instead of actually punishing Burney for cheating, UNC decided to allow him to enroll in another 3 hour course this morning. Since the semester is half over, I can only assume it will be some sort of online class or independent study...there's no way you could enroll and catch up in a real class at this point (then again, miracles seem to be possible for UNC athletes).
So, in short:
1) Someone got to the honor court.
2) When you hear "cleared," it certainly doesn't mean not guilty.
3) When you hear "cleared," it probably means that UNC pulled some strings to get a player back on the field.
4) Everything over at UNC seems to be a complete and total sham these days.
With the NCAA looking over their shoulder throughout this academic "investigation," one would assume that they are simply adding marks in the negative column on their LOIC balance sheet each time UNC does whatever it takes to get another player back on the field. The Carolina Way...
Why would a professor grant Burney special permission to enroll just so Burney can play football? I could see a prof doing it to help the kid graduate. However, it is hard to imagine the university putting a professor in the position of having to make this decision.
Anonymous 11:01, are you serious?? Is it not possible that there is something in it for the professor to grant what seems an unusual and unethical request at most universities and colleges for personal gain or satisfaction. UNC's administration is showing true blue colors in allowing deceit and allowing those few that break the rules to be eligible and play. I feel for those UNC Grads that have to do it the right way, without the athletic intervention by Dick Baddour and Chief Davis. This is a time bomb waiting to explode in the public's face, death penalty, here it comes for FB in Chapel Hill
Poor Ryan, now he will have to make some hard decisions and be accountable after his mess comes out of the UNC closet.
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