Robbi Pickeral at ACC Now writes that UNC AD Dick Baddour offered a number of clarifications from the Thursday's press conference regarding potential academic misconduct at UNC.
The piece notes:
The school started looking into the possible misconduct when a player being interviewed during the NCAA's investigation into possible improprieties with sports agents brought up the tutor's name. That interview, however, was not associated with any academic issue, Baddour said, and the player did not bring up the tutor's name in an academic context. But once UNC heard the tutor's name, "we thought we should do our due diligence, and started looking into things."
This says a couple of things to me. First, it backs up the self-reported aspect that UNC has claimed. Second, what exactly has gone on with this tutor before that the mere mention of her name raised a red flag when mentioned outside of an academic context? It was made pretty clear during the presser that the tutor was not employed by the university anymore, so maybe there was a reason why.
Baddour said that the tutor was employed by the university before she was hired by Davis. When Davis signed on to become head football coach in the fall of 2006, he approached the academic support office and asked for suggestions for an academic adviser to tutor his son, Drew (who is now 17 and the starting quarterback at East Chapel Hill High). "She had been involved in the academic support program, and I'm confident in saying at that time, she was highly regarded," Baddour said. He said that Davis did not put his players in contact with the tutor.
I have thought the chicken or the egg question is important - did the tutor work for Davis first and then the school, or vice versa? But important in what way remains to be seen.
"But the first thing you want to do is see, in this particular case, who the tutor was registered to be working with, and who was assigned to her - and do due diligence in those areas. You've got to keep in mind that we're not at the end, but as I said last night, we are past the beginning. So I'm not prepared to say. ... I don't think we can include or exclude anything."
What this says to me is that the tutor was not assigned to the football team as a part of her work with the university and that they are now looking into whether or not this woman has done something similar for others she was working with. One of the early theories advanced was that this tutor was just looking to get in good with the football team and this may advance that idea.
One other thing to note is that Baddour is actually talking, as opposed to the cone of silence on Agent-gate. I think this goes to show the gravity with which the academic investigation is being handled, as the large-scale reputation of the university is on the line.