Roy Williams says he’s heading into the Final Four with a touch of laryngitis along with a sinus infection, a head cold and a cut hand from his scissors incident on Sunday night.
Along with all of that, the North Carolina coach knows he will be asked in Houston about the NCAA’s investigation into the academic scandal that occurred in the North Carolina athletics program.
The Syracuse-North Carolina national semifinal is already being called the “Academic Fraud semifinal” because of the situations at the two ACC schools.
“I feel for Syracuse, I feel for North Carolina and we have no allegations against men’s basketball,” Williams said Wednesday on Mike & Mike.
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim was suspended for nine games as part of an NCAA investigation that found a history of improper benefits and academic misconduct stretching back years, yet the Orange made an improbable run to the Final Four by coming back from double-digits to stun No. 1 Virginia on Sunday.
Meantime, the NCAA charged North Carolina in May with five violations, including lack of institutional control.
“Sometime in the relatively near future we’ll move toward a resolution,” NCAA President Mark Emmert told USA TODAY Sports this week, adding that he did not have a specific deadline.
Williams knows he will be faced with a barrage of questions in the coming days but says he wants to try to focus on the kids and the games.
“These are four groups of outstanding young men that have played their tails off the entire year and now have reached part of their dream,” he said on Mike & Mike. “Let’s try to focus on that. Let these young men enjoy that part of it instead of getting off to some sidestreet issues.”
He added: “I don’t have any idea if that’s going to work [with the media] but that’s the way I’m going to approach it. I’m going to say I’ve talked about it enough, I’m not going to talk about it anymore…I’m sure that will shut them up.”
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