99.9 The Fan host and ACC Sports editor David Glenn has offered up what I think is a fair assessment of the two prong investigation into UNC football. I would encourage you to read the whole piece since it contains a lot of good information Glenn has gleaned from various sources. I did want to highlight one part pertaining to the mysterious tutor allegedly involved in the academic prong of the investigation.
4. What about the tutor?
There are two main things slowing down the academic side of the investigation, which is being led by UNC officials:
(a) Through mid-September, at least, the tutor who is at the center of the controversy had refused to cooperate with the NCAA or UNC. Obviously, it is far more difficult to get to "the truth," whatever that turns out to be, when the person at the center of the situation declines to answer any questions about it.
(b) The NCAA is not in the business of advising schools that still have numerous loose ends in the information-gathering process. Basically, the advice of the NCAA in such situations is this: Proceed at your own risk.
When UNC presented its preliminary information on the academic investigation in early September, the NCAA offered little guidance in return. So the Tar Heels continued to hold multiple players out as a precaution.
There are also rumors the tutor in question has lawyered up. If she is refusing to talk it creates an issue for UNC when it comes to clarifying any player's status. Without the tutor saying who she helped and what kind of assistance she rendered it is difficult for the committee at UNC handling this prong to know what end is up. It is my understanding that certain players(Greg Little in particular) have confessed to academic misconduct. However it is possible some of the players being held out have not done that or denied wrongdoing altogether. I am speculating here but my guess is the picture for the players being held out is a little muddled where the tutor is concerned. Perhaps they received perfectly legal help from here or have said they did not cheat but UNC wants the tutor to back that up. If UNC simply takes the players' word for it, allows them to play and then the tutor opens up, you could end up with players on the field who might be ineligible. Let me stress that is my own take but it seems plausible where the 2nd group of players is concerned.
In terms of the first group which is presently ineligible, it is generally assumed their troubles are mostly agent related. However in the case of Little and possibly others it could very well be both. Glenn points out that the agent issues go beyond Little and Marvin Austin(who Glenn says is probably done as a Tar Heel, based on multiple sources.) Early on it was said Kendric Burney and Charles Brown were also involved and Glenn confirms that.
At this point no can say for sure when this will end. The agent side of the probe has plenty of moving parts to it and investigating Chris Hawkins, Gary Wichard, John Blake and multiple players going on multiple trips over a significant period of time means speed is not something we have the luxury of. On the academic side, Glenn said the NCAA has offered "little guidance" to UNC on the academic issues. Since that is the case, it is safe to assume UNC is going to err on the side of total due diligence which is why they are looking at the entire athletic department, basketball included. The thinking in Chapel Hill is they would rather leave no stone unturned(at least with current players) than be surprised by something down the road.