Former UNC Player Sues Suits in Indiana (Formerly Kansas) And UNC After Being Ruled “Permanently Ineligible” Over $110 And Some Tutoring

Former UNC football player Michael McAdoo has filed a lawsuit against the school and the NCAA  seeking reinstatement after being declared permanently ineligible for academic misconduct.  He is also seeking unspecified damages from the school and the NCAA in a lawsuit accuses of libel and “gross negligence” in ruling him ineligible based on inaccurate information.

According to the complaint, the NCAA ruled McAdoo ineligible for receiving improper assistance from tutor Jennifer Wiley “on multiple assignments across several academic terms.” But McAdoo’s lawyers argue that the school’s Honor Court found him guilty of only one infraction: Representing another’s work as his own after Wiley had formatted in-text citations and the “works cited” page for websites used to prepare his research paper.

The school’s Honor Court decided to suspend him from school for the spring semester, but allow him to re-enroll in the summer and then return to the football team this fall. It cleared him in a second case and the student attorney general decided there was insufficient evidence to pursue a third against him.

He had also received $110 in improper benefits. Most of that was connected to a trip to the Washington, D.C. area with teammates Marvin Austin and Greg Little, prompting the school to hold him out for the first three games of last season.

“All told, McAdoo has been declared permanently ineligible to play intercollegiate athletics because he received $110 in improper benefits (which he has since paid to charity), and because his university-assigned and trained tutor provided McAdoo with too much assistance … for one class in the summer of 2009,” the complaint states. “This punishment is grossly disproportionate to the facts of McAdoo’s case, and is inconsistent with the punishment meted out by the UNC Honor Court.”

The 6-foot-7, 245-pound lineman from Antioch, Tenn., turns 21 on Saturday.

The lawsuit seeks to compel chancellor Holden Thorp to reinstate McAdoo while also preventing the NCAA from interfering in the process or punishing the school if McAdoo returns. A hearing on that request is scheduled for July 15.

A school spokeswoman said the university is reviewing the lawsuit but had no further comment. 

Terp Starting O-Lineman Dismissed From Team

LEWIS #78

According to the Washington Post’s Terrapin Insider Eric Prisbell and other sources, Justin Lewis, who started in 12 of 13 games at right guard last season, has been dismissed from the Maryland football program because of an undisclosed violation of team policies, Coach Randy Edsall announced Tuesday.

“As with any organization there are policies which must be adhered to by all individuals and when they are not, there are consequences for an individual’s actions,” Edsall said in a news release issued by the school.

A native of Johnsonville, S.C., Lewis played in 24 career games, including 15 starts — all at right guard.

Evidently,  Lewis turned himself in to authorities Tuesday in response to a second-degree assault charge levied against him by a manager at a bar in College Park.

According to Alain Parcain, the manager at RJ Bentley's, Lewis punched him in the face for "looking at his girl."

Quote Of The Day

“At Duke, we had a target on our back every day. Expectations are high too. When you lose a game, it’s a big deal at Duke. I think that is very similar to how it is here. I am used to those expectations, and I just want to live up to them.”

Jon Scheyer, former Blue Devil, on joining Israeli pro-basketball powerhouse Maccabi Tel Aviv on Sunday.

To read more, click here.

R.I.P. John Mackey

Former Baltimore Colt John Mackey, a Hall of Fame tight end and former president of the NFL Players Association who struggled with dementia after his playing career, has died. He was 69.

Chad Steele, a spokesman for the Baltimore Ravens, said Thursday that Mackey’s wife notified the team about her husband’s death. No official cause was given.

Mackey played for the Baltimore Colts from 1963-71. He also played for the San Diego Chargers in 1972. He caught 331 passes for 5,236 yards and 38 touchdowns in a 10-season career.

After he retired, Mackey joined Mike Ditka as the first tight ends selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The John Mackey Award was established to honor the nation’s top college football tight end, and Syracuse retired his number in 2007.

Pictures Of The Day

Rooms with a view…Members of the German soccer squad Bayern Munich train in Arco, Italy for an upcoming up. (Photo by Daniel Karmann/DPA/ZUMAPRESS.com)

Speaking of cheaters…sorry “alleged” cheaters.  Baseball pitching star Roger Clemens and his wife Debbie arrive at the U.S. District Court on July 6, 2010 in Washington, DC. Seven-time Cy Young Award winner Clemens is on trial for making false statements, perjury and obstructing Congress when he testified in a February 2008 inquiry by the House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee on his alleged use of performance enhancing drugs.  Based on that stupid hir cut with the gel starfish looking think in the front:  GUILTY!  (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images North America)

Ahhh…it’s that time of year, we can smell the DMSO in the air! (Google it).  Race leader Thor “The Great Northern Potential And Probable Future In Not Current Cheater” Hushovd of Norway and Team Garmin-Cervelo rides at the front of the peloton on stage five of the 2011 Course Des Tricheurs from Carhaix to Cap Frehel on July 6, 2011 in Cap Frehel, France.  (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images Europe)

We know the Dodgers are a mess right now, but KISS?  Really?  Former KISS member and reality TV star Gene Simmons attends the Dodgers v NY Mets game to throw out the first pitch of the game at Dodger Stadium on July 5, 2011 in Los Angeles, California.  Talk about a grown man in dire need of a haircut…(Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images North America)
NFL Hall of Famer John Mackey showing off his Hall of Fame and Super Bowl rings at his Baltimore, Md. Home on March 22, 2007 in an AP file photo.

Rivals Make Nice On “Basketball Day”

(Robert Willett/Raleigh News & Observer)

From Associated Press: Only on Tobacco Road could this scene unfold: Dean Smith slowly walked onto the stage, his arm held by Roy Williams, and sat next to Mike Krzyzewski. A few seats down was the sister of the late women’s coach Kay Yow.

Smith, Krzyzewski and Yow—three Hall of Fame coaches who have combined for more than 2,500 victories at North Carolina, Duke and North Carolina State, respectively—were honored Wednesday night on “Basketball Day” in North Carolina.

Each point of the state’s Triangle was represented and celebrated during a ceremony presented by the state’s sports hall of fame, with each receiving Naismith Good Sportsmanship Awards for their contributions to the game by the Naismith International Basketball Foundation.

“You can’t bring those three entities together and not have it be an incredible night,” Krzyzewski said (complimenting everybody else and himself!).

(Robert Willet/Raleigh News & Observer)

Krzyzewski enters his 37th season as a head coach with 900 wins—two shy of matching Bob Knight for the most by a Division I men’s coach. Smith retired in 1997 as the record-holder with 879 wins. Yow, who died in 2009 after a two-decade fight with cancer, won 737 games during her career.

“If anybody asked me who made ACC basketball, without a doubt, it’s Coach Smith,” said College of Charleston coach Bobby Cremins, a longtime rival of Smith’s and Krzyzewski’s from his time at Georgia Tech.

Then, he quipped: “I’m very proud of what I accomplished, and when I see what (Krzyzewski has) accomplished, I feel like a cockroach.”

The 80-year-old Smith, who rarely appears publicly, didn’t speak to the crowd and appeared on the stage for only about 10 minutes. Williams escorted him out and brought him to a seat between Krzyzewski and Charles Scott—the first black player in North Carolina history.

To read more, click here. 

Easterling Headed West…Or North or South, Who Knows?

Florida State’s most reliable receiver is leaving school to pursue a professional baseball career.

Taiwan Easterling, a three-year starter for the Seminoles who had at least one catch in each of his last 24 games, signed a professional contract with the Chicago Cubs and is foregoing his final year of football eligibility.

Easterling caught 43 passes for 551 yards and five touchdowns last season at Florida State, including the game-clinching score in the Seminoles 26-17 Peach Bowl victory over South Carolina. Easterling finished his career with 108 catches for 1,315 yards and eight touchdowns. His 108 catches rank 18th all-time at Florida State, one ahead of former Seminole Jesse Hester.

Easterling hit .296 for the Seminoles this season highlighted by a 4-for-4 performance in the NCAA Regional tournament.

Pictures Of The Day

Dirk went to Germany.  They were happy to see him.  Here, Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki poses after he left the mayor houses on June 28, 2011 in Wuerzburg, Germany. Nowitzki visits his hometown Wuerzburg after he and his team Dallas Mavericks won the 2011 NBA title. Evidently, German cheerleaders never go outside or they are all vampires.  (Photo by Ralph Orlowski/Bongarts/Getty Images)

Seeing double? Forevertheoptomist ridden by Kieren Fallon, right, on the way to winning the 1450 Bank of New York Mellon Dragon Stakes (really? Who names these races?) ahead of Kohala ridden by Graham Gibbons at Sandown in Surrey, England.  (Photo by Julian Herbert/Action Images/ZUMAPRESS.com)

A HUGE crowd turned out for the Henley Royal Regatta on June 30, 2011 in Henley-on-Thames, England. (Photo by Harry Engels/Getty Images Europe)

Jockey Giovanni Atzeni of Oca parish falls off his horse, ironically named Mississippi, during a trial race at Del Campo square in Siena, Italy.  (Photo by Agusuto Mattioli/Reuters)

Sweet!  Soccer fans, you gotta love 'em. Supporters of Mexico and Japan pose before the FIFA Women's World Cup 2011 Group B match between Japan and Mexico at the Fifa Womens World Cup Stadium on July 1, 2011 in Leverkusen, Germany.  (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images Europe)

Jo-Wilfred Tsonga of France dives for a shot during his semifinal round against Novak Djokovic of Serbia (who won the match) on Day Eleven at Wimbeldon.  (Photo by Carl de Souza/Getty Images)