CHAPEL HILL – Among the topics during Roy Williams’ press conference Thursday in advance of Saturday’s game at Duke surrounded last week’s reports regarding the FBI’s investigation into agents, its link to college basketball, and players getting money from various entities.
The third question of the press conference went right to the heart of it, asking North Carolina’s coach if he’d like to see any changes as a result of what’s been revealed so far.
“First of all, I’d like more ethical behavior, moral behavior from everybody that’s involved,” Williams replied. “I guess we can say that about society. We even have laws because we have some people doing thing they shouldn’t do.
“Reforms? I don’t know, I really don’t, and I’ve thought a heck of a lot about it. I get mad at myself because I go back and say in 1906 the NCAA was formed because it had unethical and immoral behavior. I think it was University of Chicago that President (Theodore) Roosevelt said we needed something because there were some bad things going on with people paying extra money to football players.
“This is not something new. Now, the frequency, the depth to it, the amount of money are just off the charts. It’s part of our world. I wish there was some rule that we have because it’s completely disgusting when you’re talking about people giving outrageous amounts of money to people that do this way or on in their life – that’s hard.
“I don’t know that the NCAA is going to have a rule, because the agents, they don’t go by the NCAA rules, they couldn’t care less, it’s their business, what they do. The shoe companies may not care what the NCAA does. I don’t have an answer, I wish I did. It’s very frustrating, I don’t like what’s going on. For years, I’ve looked at situations in recruiting and decided not to go there because I didn’t feel like it was going to be my kind of ball game.
“It’s a shame the level that we’ve gotten to now. Every time you turn around something else comes out like this.”
Regarding agents, what does Williams think about along the lines of a free market situation for the players?
“Everybody says let them have more control, we’re not doing anything to restrict them right now from what’s going on,” Williams said. “They say let them give advice, I don’t buy that. We give them all the advice we can give. I’ve never had a player go in the draft that I didn’t tell him almost exactly where he was going to be drafted.
“Why do you need an agent to tell you what you want to hear so you’ll do what they want you to do.”
An example of a very minor violation is players going to dinner with an agent, in which two recent UNC players - Brice Johnson and Tony Bradley - had reportedly done.
“(Some say) that should be okay, but I don’t think that’s okay because I don’t trust the suckers. Period,” the coach said. “I’ve tried to do a lot of things with agents over the years, tried to keep a little sheltered cocoon and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, and it’s been very frustrating.”
UNC has players sign something stating they have not dealt with an agent before they arrive.
Williams also offers this to all players when they arrive:
“Two pieces of advice I give every one of them: Don’t take anything except from your parents and us, (and) I’m not going to give you anything illegally and you’re parents can give you any dadgum thing they want. If you follow that rule, there’s no problem.”
