Associated Press
The college football notebook …
North Carolina has received a notice of allegations from the NCAA outlining violations in the football program.
Team spokesman Kevin Best confirmed that the school had received the notice and that UNC planned to release it later Tuesday. The NCAA has been looking into improper benefits and academic misconduct involving a tutor since first visiting the Chapel Hill campus.
The university has 90 days to respond to the notice. It comes two weeks after the NCAA said it planned to complete the investigation this month in a belated ěnotice of inquiry,î a procedural step that stands as a formal notification of an investigation into a sports program.
Fourteen players missed at least one game last season due to the investigation. Seven were ruled out for the entire year, while an eighth was cleared at midseason but decided to redshirt.
The NCAA has also examined the close friendship between former associate head coach John Blake and late NFL agent Gary Wichard. Blakeís attorneys have confirmed Wichard loaned money to Blake, but they characterized the transactions as one friend helping another through tough financial times.
Wichard died in March from diabetes and pancreatic cancer. Less than two weeks earlier, investigators with the North Carolina Secretary of Stateís offices issued a search warrant for financial records connected to Wichard and his California-based firm ó Pro Tect Management LLC ó as part of a separate probe into whether the states sports agent laws were broken.
Blake resigned in September, the day after the Tar Heels lost to LSU in the season opener.
EAST CAROLINA
GREENVILLE ó East Carolina cornerback Emanuel Davis and wide receiver Michael Bowman will miss the team’s season opener after their arrests last weekend.
Coach Ruffin McNeill said Tuesday the two would be suspended for the game against South Carolina on Sept. 3.
Davis is a two-time all-Conference USA selection who has 27 career starts. Bowman is a projected starter who was fourth on the teamwith 47 catches.
The two were arrested Sautrday. Davis was charged with intoxication, being disruptive in public and resisting a public officer. Bowman was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting a public officer.
McNeill said the two would also serve 25 hours of community service.
OHIO STATE CARS
COLUMBUS, Ohio ó Ohio State University on Tuesday dropped its review of car purchases by football players and family members after two separate investigations found dealerships made money on almost all of the sales.
“We have seen no evidence that would lead us to believe that Ohio State student athletes violated any policies when purchasing used cars,” said university spokesman Jim Lynch.