Emmert: UNC Not Clear Yet

Not that anyone has suggested otherwise. Well, except for the members of the national media who threw a royal fit a few weeks back when UNC announced the NCAA had not found any violations based on the current information. Everyone else who has been paying attention to UNC's circumstances understood that as more facts unfolded, the NCAA could act. This is precisely what NCAA President Mark Emmert told CBS Sports Gary Parrish today in a radio interview.

"We'll continue to monitor the situation and see what the facts are as they unfold from the investigations that [UNC] is involved with," Emmert said. "... And [then we'll see] if there's anything further that we need to do at that time."

Emmert's comments represent the first public confirmation from the NCAA that North Carolina remains susceptible to further sanctions because of previously undiscovered but now documented classes that featured little or no instruction and appear designed to do nothing more than keep student-athletes eligible. In light of the developments, UNC chancellor Holden Thorp announced last month that he will step down at the end of this academic calendar.

"[North Carolina is] working very diligently to get to the bottom of it," Emmert said. "We'll just have to see what the facts are as they become clearer."

To be clear Emmert is not saying for certain UNC will be punished. There are multiple probes looking into the various aspects of the AFAM academic scandal and the NCAA is monitoring those investigations. If additional facts are revealed the NCAA will look at those and act accordingly.

And contrary to what some think, it will not be handled the way Penn State was handled. Academic fraud falls within the NCAA rule book and UNC's case(if there ultimately is one) will be processed based on those rules. Until then the NCAA will wait and see if the facts warrant such action.