If we polled NC State fans for some of their least favorite players in college football history, South Carolina’s Weslye Saunders would rank much higher than anyone would ever expect from a tight end that plays for a non-conference opponent that calls Columbia, SC home.
Last August, we highlighted the following classless comment from Weslye before the season began in this entry:
“I’m going to talk to Coach (Steve) Spurrier beforehand and see if he’s OK if I get a 15-yard penalty,†Saunders said. “Because I’m gonna do some sort of extra celebration if I get a touchdown on the Wolfpack.â€
Saunders was stupid enough to follow that pre-game warning by participating in an incident on the field where he appeared to kick a Wolfpack football player. His daddy proceeded to waste no time or the resources of his financially struggling employer to write an irrelevant and ridiculously self-serving (non-sports) article defending his little boy the next week. (Linked here)
Saunders daddy, you ask? Well…that doesn’t work in the youngster’s favor, either. You see, Weslye has the unfortunate ‘pleasure’ of being the son of the News & Observer‘s racially-obsessed, NC State-hating general hypocrite, Barry Saunders. (With Barry’s spelling skills as evidenced by his son’s name, is it any wonder why so many people question how he has kept his job all of these years?)
Well…today it appears that the entitled and talented young Sauders has been rubbing elbows with some folks that have the NCAA interested in him. ESPN’s Joe Schad is reporting
South Carolina tight end Weslye Saunders confirmed Sunday that he recently spoke with NCAA investigators in connection with a probe of the North Carolina football program.
Saunders, considered one of the top tight ends in the country, is close friends with Tar Heels defensive end Marvin Austin, who was also recently questioned by investigators.
On Thursday, a source said that UNC football players — including Austin — were being interviewed by the NCAA this week and asked questions about agents and whether anyone had received gifts or extra benefits.
The source also said that the NCAA’s questions to players were intended to “make sure no Reggie Bush stuff is going on.”
“I’m not really sure what’s going on right now in terms of who’s in trouble and how much,” Saunders said Sunday.
Another source who has visited with Saunders said Sunday the NCAA is interested in time Saunders spent with Austin in South Florida this spring and who paid for hotel rooms and travel.
The investigation began with a phone call from the NCAA, North Carolina athletic director Dick Baddour said Thursday, though he declined to say when the call came or when investigators had visited the Chapel Hill campus.
A second source said Thursday that the NCAA asked all of UNC’s projected NFL draft picks, many of whom elected to stay in Chapel Hill, to provide phone records so investigators could see which agents they had spoken with.
The players were also asked who paid for the travel, who paid their rent and which agents they had met with and when, according to the second source. Austin recently tweeted about a trip to Miami.
Super kudos goes to Twitter’s @nickovercash and @dfcf99 for the following tweets this afternoon:
@dfcf99: Definitely a race thing @nickovercash: Wes saunders in trouble with ncaa? Time 4 daddy 2 write column blaming everyone but him
Glad to know that we aren’t the only ones that recognize it.
7:40pm Update: USC’s Eric Hyman Makes a Statement
From College Football Talk:
This evening, South Carolina has released a statement from athletic director Eric Hyman regarding the NCAA’s interest in one member of his football program.
“The NCAA has been in contact with us regarding possible rules violations in one of our programs. We have and will continue to cooperate fully with their inquiry. We have confidence in our compliance program and will work with the NCAA to bring this matter to a resolution in a timely fashion.”
Thus far, it’s student-athletes from North Carolina and South Carolina who have publicly been fingered as being of interest to the NCAA; according to a source, there’s the possibility that the names of at least two more prominent Div. 1-A schools could be made public over the next few days/weeks in relation to an NCAA investigation that has the potential to reach much, much further than its limited public scope right now.
Suffice to say, this is not the last we’ll hear about a probe that’s been described as “deep and far-reaching” by someone with knowledge of the situation.
