By Will Vandervort.
ACC Notebook
Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner John Swofford is starting to dance a little more than usual. And I don’t mean he has some new dance moves that he is trying to show off on the dance floor at the Westin Hotel in downtown Charlotte, N.C.
Instead the former North Carolina Athletic Director is dancing around the questions about the findings independent investigator Kenneth Wainstein, who was working for the University of North Carolina, brought to light last week. According to a story in The Star Newspaper in Wilmington, N.C., Swofford did anything but answer the questions in regards to what was going on at UNC as well as his involvement in the findings, which dates back to 1993 when he was the athletic director at the Chapel Hill based school.
“I think if you look at that report there, in my last few years there, there were some, in terms of numbers, very relatively minimal, independent study classes and (African and Afro-American Studies), but that really took off in about 2000,” said Swofford, who ran the UNC athletic department from 1980-1997. “So it never came up while I was there as an issue from any source. If it had, obviously, we would have addressed that with the appropriate people. But it never arose as any issue at all.”
The Star News Brett Friedlander, who covered the ACC’s Operation Basketball media event on Wednesday, reported in his story Thursday morning that Swofford sidestepped the issue, saying that it was the individuals involved, not the system that failed at UNC.
The “Paper Classes” began at UNC in 1992 according to Wainstein’s investigation.
Swofford told Friedlander and other reporters at the press conference on Wednesday, “You can have the best structures and setup in the world with anything, but if you have some individuals who choose to do something outside of the mission, so to speak, or in a different way, then that can undermine that.
“I asked that we move our academic counseling program for athletes out of athletics and into the college of arts and sciences, not because I saw any particular problems with it. It just philosophically was and still is something that I believe in, because I think there needs to be a certain separation of church and state, if you will, when it comes to academics.”
For more on this story, read Friedlander’s article at the StarNews.com.
More bad PR for FSU. While conducting a walkthrough Wednesday afternoon in a public park near their hotel in Louisville, Ky., Florida State staff members were rude and intimidating to people who were trying to take pictures of the second-ranked Seminoles as they finished preparations for tonight’s 7 p.m. ACC Showdown with the 25th-ranked Cardinals.
Courier Journal reporter Adam Himmelsbach, who covers Louisville, was one of the people in the park who the staffer tried to intimidate from taking pictures. As you can read in his story, Himmelsbach still took his pictures and proved just how rude the FSU staffers really were.
Streaks on the line. Florida State comes to Louisville with its ACC-best 23-game winning streak that is also the longest active streak in the nation. The Cardinals will put their own winning streak on the line in the nationally televised ESPN game against the Seminoles. Louisville has won 22 consecutive home games under head coach Bobby Petrino, 18 from his previous stint with the Cardinals from 2003 through 2006 and four straight this season.
Getting defensive. Clemson has been known more for its gaudy offensive statistics the previous three years under offensive coordinator Chad Morris, but Brent Venables’ defensive unit is making heads turn so far this season. The Tigers lead the nation in two important defensive categories: third down conversion percentage defense and team tackles for loss.
Clemson, which is also third nationally in total defense, has allowed its opponents to convert on third down only 23 percent of the time while making an average of 9.8 tackles for loss in each game. Clemson also ranks 6th nationally in red zone defense and is 11th in rushing defense, scoring defense and team pass efficiency defense.
One of a few. North Carolina quarterback Marquise Williams is one of five players in the country leading his team in both passing yards and rushing yards. He ranks second in the ACC and 15th in the country in total offense, averaging 316.5 total yards per game. Williams is tied for fifth at UNC in career touchdown passes with 33 and he owns the school-record for most career rushing touchdowns (14) by a quarterback.