Mark Emmert: Allegations vs. Tar Heels likely within a month

HOUSTON --- NCAA president Mark Emmert said the final notice of allegations for the North Carolina investigation into academic fraud "will be done in the coming weeks or a month or so.''

In an interview with ESPNafter his news conference Thursday, Emmert said the enforcement staff wants to get it done but also wants to make sure the facts are straight.

"The next step is the delivery of allegations,'' Emmert said.

The case was slowed in August, when the university found more violations, which involved multiple athletes in a number of sports, as well as general students, taking no-show classes in the Afro and African-American studies program.

"It's a great, big, complicated case, and it's taking a long time to get all the information in place,'' Emmert said. "We're not putting a timetable on it.''

Emmert said he had not been briefed on what would be in the notice of allegations.

North Carolina coach Roy Williams was asked about the ongoing investigation during Thursday's news conference and said, "We have talked about it so much. It's been such a big story that I'm tired of it.''

Williams added that the allegations had "nothing to do with these players. These players were not involved. It affected us as a distraction, as the way people looked at us personally.''

Meanwhile, Emmert said he spoke with North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory this week after McCrory read the NCAA's comments about theconcern over his controversial signing of the HB2 bill last Wednesday.

The state's new religious exemption law has been interpreted by the LGBT community as preventing transgender people from using the bathroom of their gender identity, regardless of their gender at birth.

The NBA issued a statement saying it would re-evaluate the 2017 NBA All-Star Game in Charlotte, while the Charlotte Hornets and Carolina Hurricanes issued statements supporting diversity. The city of Atlanta has made overtures to the NBA to lure the All-Star Game, in light of North Carolina's law.

The NCAA is set to host the first and second rounds of the 2017 men's basketball tournamentin Greensboro and then in Charlotte in 2018. Emmert said the NCAA will host other championship events in the state.

"The governor called me and wanted to talk about it,'' Emmert told ESPN. "He heard my comments about how we consider issues of inclusion and openness in decisions around sites moving forward.''

Emmert said McCrory expressed his views and desire to make sure North Carolina would still be considered for a host site.

"We had a frank and open conversation, and it was amicable,'' Emmert said."He understands my position, and I think I understand his.''

Emmert said there was no timetable for a decision on whether to keep the events in the state. Emmert said he also met with Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner about the vote that occurred in November. Houston residents voted down a Houston Human Rights Ordinance that would have had a bathroom bill component similar to the one being discussed in North Carolina. Emmert said the makeup of the bills was different, butthe decision to host the Final Four in Houston was made long before the vote in November.

"The Final Four is not something you can move in nine months' notice,'' Emmert said. "We talked about the issue with the new mayor. This was a case where they didn't change the law. The referendum went to the full populous, and it was voted down.''

Williams deferred when asked whether he was worried about the NCAA deciding to not host events in North Carolina in the future. He said he didn't know much about the law and shouldn't talk about it without more knowledge.

"That's a tough, difficult question you're asking of someone who doesn't know completely as much as I'd like to know before I make statements about a law," Williams said. "I hope that it doesn't put our state in a bad light in any direction.

Williams said, "North Carolina basketball has always been about diversity."

"My mentor was big about diversity and including everyone," Williams said. "That's something that I very much appreciated since I was a kid."

A year ago, the NCAA used its leverage to lean on the state of Indiana after it had passed a controversial religious freedom act that was viewed as challenging the civil rights of the LGBT community. Indiana Gov. Mike Pence ultimately amended the law the week of the Final Four last year.

Emmert calledthe issues surrounding Selection Sunday unfortunate clerical errors: a leaked bracket and an errant text to South Carolina instead of USC congratulating the school for making the tournament.

"[The bracket] got picked up by someone, and we're very disappointed,'' Emmert said. "We're dealing with all those issues internally and believe it can't happen going forward.''

Emmert said the text to South Carolina was about a charter flight.

"It was the wrong USC,'' Emmert said. "It was a simple clerical error, and everybody understands it has to be fixed and won't happen again.''

Emmert also spoke out in defense of postseason bans as a deterrent for violations. He added that the nine-game suspension for Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim under the head-coach control penalty helped create a record of accountability.

"Coaches need to be responsible for what goes on in their program, whether they have knowledge or not. They need to have accountability," Emmert said. "The best penalty is to remove them from games. The committee on infractions will continue to use those penalties when they deem it important.''

Information from ESPN's Eamonn Brennan was used in this report.