Heels defense heads All-ACC team

A sign of the UNC program's progression under coach Butch Davis, the Tar Heels landed five defensive players on the ACC's preseason all-conference football team, which was released on Wednesday.

Defensive end Robert Quinn, defensive tackle Marvin Austin, linebacker Quan Sturdivant, cornerback Kendrick Burney and safety Deunta Williams were all selected. The team was voted on by the media attending the ACC Kickoff press conferences in Greensboro Sunday and Monday. North Carolina had the nation's No. 6 defense last season.

By comparison, Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder, the preseason pick for league player of the year, is one of two Seminoles on the team.

Also on the offense, Duke wide receiver Donovan Varner and N.C. State tight end George Bryan were the lone Triangle players picked.

DE Robert Quinn causing problems ... for UNC

How good is defensive end Robert Quinn? So good the UNC coaching staff essentially had to tell him to “take a knee” in the spring football game, coach Butch Davis said. Quinn was so dominant the Tar Heels couldn’t block him, which meant they couldn’t practice their offense.

Quinn, a junior, ripped off 11.0 sacks in 2009, and if you watched Carolina play at all you couldn’t help but be stunned by his development. He came into the spring even better. “He wanted to dominate every drill,” Davis said with a smile that suggested he had seen something special.

Quinn is an unusual player. He survived brain surgery as a high school senior and you figured it was a cool story that he was in college and playing at all. He also has an almost childish exuberance when you’re around him. Hewore four SillyBandz on his wrist to the ACC Football kickoff this week, and it’s not often you see 270-pound NFL prospects wearing the same bling as elementary school kids.

That gentle off-the-field nature belies a player who could be one of UNC’s best. He doesn’t have the nasty streak of Lawrence Taylor but he has a burst and overall game that reminds you of that former Tar Heel great. Taylor had 16.0 sacks as a senior in 1980, which remains a school record. But it was how he got those sacks that made Taylor so great – he didn’t just come around the edge, he roared around it with an intent to destroy.

Quinn says he wants to get 20 sacks this season, a figure that makes you want to chuckle – at least until you hear Butch Davis talk about him. You can be confident Quinn won’t be taking a knee against Carolina opponents this fall.

UNC's Davis: Eliminate all contact with agents

University of North Carolina football coach Butch Davis sidestepped questions requiring specific information about the ongoing NCAA inquiry into the Tar Heels program.

But Davis was pointed Thursday when discussing how he believes the NCAA should go about stopping illegal activities between agents and eligible student-athletes.

``Having been in college football and in the NFL and having seen this from the standpoint of 12 to 15 years ago,'' Davis said. ``The process excluded agents from the process until the completion of eligibility. It made it a completely black and white issue.
``I do think, when the NCAA changed the rules to allow agents to visit players 18 months prior to their graduation, it's made everybody in America's job significantly tougher.''

Current NCAA rules allow eligible athletes to meet with agents provided the athlete covers his own expenses and that no agreement of representation is established. The NCAA rulebook lists an example scenario where an athlete has dinner with an agent.

``A student-athlete could go to dinner with an agent and no NCAA violations would result if the student-athlete provided his own transportation and paid for his meal,'' the book states.

But Davis believes the current situation, where UNC, Alabama, Florida and South Carolina are currently under NCAA investigation pertaining to athletes and agents, is a direct result of this gray area in the rule.

UNC players Marvin Austin and Greg Little are at the heart of the inquiry. Durham native Weslye Saunders, a tight end at South Carolina, has also met with NCAA officials in Columbia, S.C., about his possible involvement with agents.

Speaking Thursday at the Pigskin Preview press conference in Durham that involved coaches from UNC, N.C. State, Duke, East Carolina and N.C. Central, Davis did say the NCAA has given UNC high marks for the way it educates its athletes on the rules.

``The feedback we've gotten,'' Davis said, ``is that we are doing everything that we can to educate our young people about all kinds of things that have to do with intercollegiate athletics.''

State of North Carolina can punish rogue agents

The NCAA is investigating the conduct of UNC’s Marvin Austin and other players – and the state of North Carolina should, too. Under state law, sports agents can be convicted of a felony for furnishing “anything of value” to an athlete in North Carolina.

Many fans might not know that sports agents here are regulated by the state. Agents have to register with the Secretary of State, and their license can be revoked if they induce an athlete in the state of North Carolina to lose their eligibility.

But the state can do more than revoke a license – it can pursue criminal charges.

As a part of the Uniform Athletes Agents Act, agents can be found guilty of a felony if they “furnish anything of value to a student-athlete before the student-athlete enters into the agency contract” or they “furnish anything of value to any individual other than the student-athlete or another registered athlete agent.”

You can bet that finding agents guilty of felonies would work wonders to squelch how they approach athletes in this state.

NCAA probe of UNC also involves South Carolina

The (Columbia) State newspaper is reporting today that Durham native Weslye Saunders, a senior tight end at South Carolina, was also interviewed by NCAA officials about his possible involvement with agents.

Joseph Person of The State reports that Saunders was interviewed by the NCAA last week in Columbia. UNC football players Marvin Austin and Greg Little are the center of an NCAA investigation about their possible involvement with agents.

Saunders, the son of News and Observer metro columnist Barry Saunders, is friends with Austin. Saunders considered entering the NFL Draft following last season and received information from the league's underclassman advisory committee. But he changed his mind in January and stayed in school at South Carolina.

High picks continue for the Triangle, UNC

It wasn't long ago when high picks in the baseball draft were rare in this area, but that's not the case now. The University of North Carolina has been stuffing the draft with top picks, and that trend continued Monday.

Tar Heels pitcher Matt Harvey was the seventh pick overall, to the New York Mets.

Carolina now has 12 first-round picks in school history, and five - Daniel Bard, Andrew Miller, Dustin Ackley and Alex White - were picked since 2006.

Bard has a 2.03 ERA for Boston as a reliever this season. Marlins prospect Miller has struggled in AA ball. The Mariners tried Ackley at second base, but he struggled to hit. He is back at first base now, his position at UNC, but is still hitting just .251 with one homer and 18 RBI for Double-A West Tennessee.

White, a Cleveland Indians prospect, is 2-1 for Akron in the Double-A Eastern League, with an ERA of 1.83.

Suite life at Kenan Stadium includes beer, wine

The University of North Carolina is looking to sell luxury seats in the new Kenan Stadium end zone, and the Tar Heels are using a familiar tactic to draw fans.

Beer.

Yep, you’re not allowed to take alcohol into Kenan Stadium – wouldn’t want that on a college campus – but to help sell seats in the new end zone, the school will sell beer and wine to donors who can afford seats that start at $750, according to The News & Observer.

It’s a five-story, $70 million project that will rip down the old fieldhouse in Kenan and fill it with upscale seating.

You can’t help but be a bit sad about the coming changes – the old fieldhouse adds to the quaint and historic feel of Kenan. But you have to admit the additions to Kenan in recent decades have made the stadium even more impressive.

The new addition in the endzone should be first-rate as well. But the fact that the school will allow the sales of alcohol there is, well, amusing. And it’s a reminder of the uneasy, and inconsistent, relationship collegiate sports have with alcohol.

A UNC student who can walk home to Teague dorm would be pilloried for heading into the stadium with a can of Budweiser. But an alum who knocks down beers in a suite and then drives back to Greensboro … well, that’s another matter.

By the way, News14 has a story on the new facility here.