Daily Quick Takes: Jameis Winston, Big 12 Logo, UNC Academics
Apr 12, 2014; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles quarterback Jameis Winston (5) looks to throw the ball during the spring game at Doak Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports
Today’s quick takes involve an investigation, a story about a logo, and more Jameis Winston drama.
NCAA Reopening UNC Academic Fraud Investigation
In the wake of former North Carolina basketball player Rashad McCants saying he took “sham classes”, the NCAA is coming
Apr 28, 2014; Greensboro, GA, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head basketball coach Roy Williams (left) and head football coach Larry Fedora look at a shot at the Chick-fil-A Challenge at Reynolds Plantation Resort. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey/CFA-pr via USA TODAY Sports **HAND OUT PHOTO **
back to Chapel Hill to re-open its academic fraud investigation of the school, according to reports. One piece of evidence this time against UNC revolves around UNC reading specialist Mary Willingham. According to a report on newsobserver.com, Willingham says many of the athletes she worked with admitted they had never read a book or didn’t know what a paragraph was, but many of them were able to play because the school provided improper help or tolerated plagiarism. CBS Sports has more details on the investigation here.
Obviously this doesn’t look good for the Tar Heels, and it could affect the football and basketball programs. Nobody was
surprised really when this happened two years ago because, honestly, who considered Butch Davis somebody with any integrity to begin with? The fact that he was fired surprised nobody. However, more evidence surfacing could put the football team in more trouble, and it would be devastating to college sports if a legendary basketball coach like Roy Williams is implicated in this too.
Jameis Winston buys $8-10 Million Insurance Policy
According to multiple news sources, Jameis Winston will be a millionaire now regardless of if he makes it to the NFL. Yahoo Sports reported that he purchased a $10 million disability and loss of value insurance policy. His policy would cost about $50,000 to $60,000 a year, which he can pay for by financing, and it would cover him if he were injured and could never play again. Also, due to the loss of value policy, if he fell in the draft, he could collect a percentage of it.
Obviously, this is a smart move, and taking out insurance policies is nothing new for college players. In Winston’s case, though, this may give credibility to his father’s claim that he plans to stay in college for two more years. Maybe that’s why he is trying to play it safe, and staying in college that long could only keep his draft stock stable or cause it to fall. He can’t have a much better year than he did last year, can he?
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Big 12 Changing Its Logo
ESPN is reporting that the Big 12 is redesigning its logo but will stick with the same roman numerals. The report says that it will feature a more “modern looking” design of “XII” to replace the current one. However, that doesn’t solve the problem. There’s still 10 teams in a conference that will have the roman numeral for 12!
This goes back to an argument I’ve made for years. Get rid of conferences based on numbers, especially if you know expansion or contraction is something in the future. Just give it a semi-regional name. The Big XII could be the Great Plains Conference or the Great West conference. If West Virginia throws a wrench into that, then just give it a non-regional name, the way the All-American conference did.