UNC's Roy Williams makes first public comments since Wainstein report
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WTVD) -- UNC Head Basketball Coach Roy Williams reacted to the Wainstein investigation Friday night calling it a "sad time."
Williams said, even though he was questioned as part of the investigation, he was dumbfounded by the report.
The Wainstein report was unveiled Wednesday and showed that during an almost 20-year span, ending in 2011, there were more than 3,000 cases of students enrolled in so-called "paper classes."
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL REPORT (.PDF)
There were fake Afro- and African-American history courses that awarded high grades to students who did minimal to no work at all. Almost half of them were student athletes whose eligibility hinged on grades from those classes.
The report says a basketball counselor who came to UNC with Roy Williams knew how the classes worked, but Williams told investigators that he was unaware.
Back in 2007, Williams expressed concern about the number of players he had enrolled in the classes and from that point on the number declined.
Friday night, Williams was asked if he was concerned the report will lead to his team forfeiting the 2005 and 2009 championships.
"Nobody knows what's going to happen with the NCAA, but I feel strongly, strongly that we did things the right way," said Williams. "I didn't like everything that was in the report. There's no question I would probably disagree with some of those things, but the thing about it is we tried to do the right thing. So I can't determine what the NCAA is going to do. They've got to do what they want to do. I personally don't see anything there in men's basketball that somebody can immediately look at and say this is going to happen or this is not going to happen. So, they've got to make those decisions."
During the Wainstein investigation, investigators briefed the NCAA of their findings. The NCAA has re-opened its investigation.
Experts say it would not be out of the question for games and/or titles to be vacated.
