Via Inside Carolina.
Senior tight end Nelson Hurst will receive a career-ending medical hardship, according to multiple sources close to the situation.
When contacted about Hurst's situation, a UNC official was unable to comment.
According to the sources, Hurst is suffering from serious back problems.
It is an unfortunate turn for Hurst who undoubtedly would have loved to finish his final season at UNC.
A medical hardship means Hurst can stay on scholarship to finish his degree but it does not count against team scholarship count. This is a fairly important point for UNC at this stage. Under the NCAA penalties handed down last month, UNC is limited to 80 scholarships for the 2012 season. Prior to that UNC was operating on the self-imposed three scholarship reduction which meant the Heels needed to shed two scholarships to get in line with the mandated penalty(or defer the three year penalty until 2013.)
In March, punter C.J. Feagles left the team pushing UNC's scholarship count down to 81. Hurst's medical hardship brings the count to 80 matching the limit prescribed by the NCAA penalties. It is possible there could be additional defections, especially once spring practice ends and players a get adjusted to the new coaching staff.