More Trouble For UNC Football

Football players at North Carolina made up more than a third of enrollments in suspect classes within a department that the school investigated for academic fraud.

According to UNC, football players represented 246 of 686 enrollments (36 percent) in the 54 courses within the Department of African and Afro-AmericanStudies between summer 2007 and summer 2011. Those classes lacked appropriate supervision and were called ''aberrant'' or were ''taught irregularly'' with limited contact between instructors and students, according to a university report released Friday.

Men's basketball players represented 23 enrollments, roughly 3 percent, during that span.

The school's investigation found fraud and poor oversight, including unauthorized grade changes and reports of grade rolls with what appear to be forged faculty signatures. The report found no evidence of favorable treatment for student-athletes or grades awarded without written work.

The News and Observer of Raleigh first reported the athlete enrollment figures Monday.

The probe was a result of an NCAA investigation into the football program. In one of the suspect classes, a former football player wrote a research paper that later led to accusations of plagiarism.

The report directed blame toward the former department chairman and a now-retired administrator.