On Monday (Aug. 6), 13 UNC football players were suspended for at least one game to start the 2018 season. Of that group, nine of those players — including quarterback Chazz Surratt and defensive end Malik Carney will miss four games.
This news comes out three weeks after the story first broke during ACC media days in Charlotte. The university self-reported the violations.
The suspensions for UNC football are related to 15 players from the football team who sold school-issued shoes (UNC Retro Air Jordan 3) in exchange for $2,500 in cash.
Due to positional overlap and health/safety concerns, some of the suspensions will be staggered. For instance, Carney will sit against East Carolina, Central Florida, Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech. Fellow defensive end Tomon Fox will miss Miami, Syracuse, Virginia and Georgia Tech.
The other suspensions will come in the opener against Cal on Sept. 1.
Very bad news for UNC with 13 players suspended pic.twitter.com/09WC1C59KE
— Barnt (@barntwn) August 6, 2018
UNC football is set to open the 2018 season on the road against an up-and-coming California team; Surratt was in contention to be the starter for the game, too. That, however, will no longer be the case. The job should belong to lefty Nathan Elliott, which Larry Fedora confirmed at today’s press conference.
Three players of the UNC football players suspended sold their shoes directly to retail outlets; upon discovery of the violation, those shoes could not be found.
According to Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham, though, there’s not too much else to see here — beyond the suspensions: “This case is closed, and as soon as the suspensions are served, this will be the end of it.”
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