Another Late Night Bombshell from Yahoo! Sports – Blake Recommended Wichard to Bama Player

UNC Scandal29

Here is the link to the latest bombshell from Yahoo! Sports writers Charles Robinson & Dan Wetzel. It is also being reported on ESPN.com by Ivan Maisel.

A couple of quotes from the Yahoo story:

University of Alabama defensive end Marcell Dareus informed NCAA investigators that former University of North Carolina assistant coach John Blake recommended agent Gary Wichard to him in a phone conversation last summer, sources told Yahoo! Sports.

The sources said Dareus was extremely cooperative while describing his relationship with Blake to investigators, explaining that the former Tar Heels coach recruited him while he was starring at Birmingham’s Huffman High School. The sources said Dareus told NCAA investigators that Blake had maintained contact with him since that recruitment, and that during the summer Blake called both Dareus and Dareus’ friend, South Carolina tight end Weslye Saunders, to suggest they sign with Wichard. Both Dareus and Saunders were considered potential first-round picks entering this season.

The article also brings up Steve Spurrier’s comments about Blake’s reputation back in August. If you read between the lines, it sounds like Spurrier knew what UNC-CH Associate Head Coach John Blake was up to from the next state away but Butch Davis in the same locker room knew nothing. As Dr. Evil would say, Riiiiiiiight.

This might also explain why Marcell Dareus only got a 2 game suspension from the NCAA for being cooperative wouldn’t it?

The dots start to get connected regarding UNC-CH’s central role in this exploding scandal when you remember that according to this report , Marvin Austin paid for Dareus’ plane flight to Miami and arranged for his hotel room so Dareus could attend the Miami agent party.  Where did Austin get the money?  How many other plane flights and hotel rooms did Mavin pay for surrounding that party?  What was UNC-CH Associate Head Coach John Blake’s role?

A followup to the last Yahoo story, Charles Robinson (@WindyCityScribe) also shared on Twitter some info on the conflicting dates on the financial transactions between Wichard and Blake. Blake’s lawyers claim the payments stopped 3 years ago before Blake came to UNC. Robinson however said:

John Blake’s attorneys are incorrect about the Wichard wire transfers. Six transfers occurred when Blake was a UNC coach. Seeking comment.

Spoke to Blake’s attorneys. They are gathering the financial records and have agreed to be interviewed on Monday. The reporting was right.

UNC fans who want the dates, they’ll be in there for you when these attorneys speak to me and I write it. Again, the reporting was correct.

Last time I’m going to say it before I write my next piece: Gary Wichard wired money to John Blake six times when Blake was a coach at UNC.

Maybe that piece will be the next late night bombshell aiming for those pine trees at Kenan Stadium.

About WV Wolf

Graduated from NCSU in 1996 with a degree in statistics. Born and inbred in West "By God" Virginia and now live in Raleigh where I spend my time watching the Wolfpack, the Mountaineers and the Carolina Hurricanes as well as making bar graphs for SFN. I'm @wvncsu on the Twitter machine.

UNC Scandal

29 Responses to Another Late Night Bombshell from Yahoo! Sports – Blake Recommended Wichard to Bama Player

  1. old13 10/04/2010 at 12:27 AM #

    Seems like it’s about time someone started asking where DB, HT, BOT and BOG were when all these things were going on, and from at least three years back. (We know where BMFD was – polishing up is lies!) The chain of command AND responsibility goes upward!

    Maybe the BOG was too busy creating this mess to bother with the cheating and lying mess underway at UNC=CHeat:

    http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/10/03/717591/unc-system-facilities-are-in-a.html

    Now what exactly is it that the BOG is supposed to do!

  2. Wufpacker 10/04/2010 at 4:16 AM #

    But, but, but…

  3. Wufpacker 10/04/2010 at 4:18 AM #

    Hey Lucy!! You got some ‘splaining to do!!

  4. hoop 10/04/2010 at 5:04 AM #

    .
    And the hits keep coming!

  5. Gowolves 10/04/2010 at 5:25 AM #

    IF UNC tries to spin this new informtion then it will be the end of DB. We all know that Butch is gone. This just speeds it up. I cannot beleive he will finish out the season. Again Butch will say I didn’t know wht Blake was up to. If this is stance again it will show that Davis has no contol over his program. I think we should have poll when Davis will be let go. This continues to get worse and worse. I am loving it!

  6. tuckerdorm1983 10/04/2010 at 7:18 AM #

    look I keep telling you guys, Butch Davis and the whole coaching staff are gone. Adios. The program will have severe penalties. The NCAA has no choice. Its either put up or shut up time for the NCAA. What they do here will be an example for all the other teams in the NCAA not just in football, but all other sports including the cash cow basketball.

  7. ppack3 10/04/2010 at 7:33 AM #

    ^ Evertime news has broken, people start saying, “Davis is gone by tomorrow, for sure!” But, it never seems to happen. Until a player fessed up to having a conversation with Butch that included something about all of this investigation, before-hand, I have a hard time believing DB is going to ‘let him go.’ They are well within their rights to do so, at this point (and have been for a while) but, for some reason Dickie has Butchie in the ultimate bear hug!

    This thing with Blake is incredible. He was pitching these kids about Wichard, from Chapel Hill, when they weren’t buying what he was selling during their recruitment! Blake is so ballsy. He made calls to Wichard on his UNC issued Cell phone. He had traceable monies, in several different forms, given to him by Wichard. Presumeably, he called (at least) two players on other teams, trying to pimp them to Wichard. I could go on, but I have to go to work. You know, an honest job, for an honest day’s wage? That’s part of what pisses me off about this. But I digress.

  8. choppack1 10/04/2010 at 8:11 AM #

    Wow. You recruiting coodinator/Assistant Head Coach is a runner for an agent.

    Here’s what I don’t get. Dave Glenn now mentions Blake’s reputation as being a negative one. Did that change in the last 2 weeks?

  9. Spacewolf 10/04/2010 at 8:21 AM #

    For better of for worse, Baddour’s fate and Davis’ fate will be one and the same. The thing is, he *can’t* fire Davis mid-season. Who would coach the team? Is there any assistant on the staff who is above suspicion in this mess? With Tutorgate, is there anyone in the entire athletic department who is known to be clean?

  10. Old MacDonald 10/04/2010 at 8:23 AM #

    I just added a paragraph reminding everyone of that article explaining that Austin apparently paid for Dareus’ plane flight and hotel for that Miami agent party — so that brings the whole thing to question the Blake-Austin relationship and how Austin got the money to arrange such a plane flight and hotel.

  11. Old MacDonald 10/04/2010 at 8:24 AM #

    And Butch knew about none of this?

  12. section2chuck 10/04/2010 at 8:25 AM #

    I bet Nebraska is getting nervous..I remember the week leading up to last years NFL Draft, Ndamukong Suh was on ESPN, and he was praising John Blake for getting him to this point in his career..Hmmmm

    I thought it was funny he was giving John Blake credit, and John Blake wasnt even employed with Nebraska anymore…he didnt give credit to any Nebraska coaches….

  13. primacyone 10/04/2010 at 8:28 AM #

    So, Blake is working for Wichard and Starvin Marvin was working for Blake. Or was Starving Marvin working directly for Wichard?

    Either way, two SERIOUS agent runners INSIDE of your football prgram, and one is your Associate HEAD coach. WOW!

    Would make you think twice about the academeic fraud just bieng some small paotatoes mishap. Makes you think that the whole dang academic fraud prong was orchrastrated.

    And the reality appears to be that they still have not found/released everything. I’m expecting a recriting violations announcemnt before the end of next week . . . . but at this point, that even seems mild compared to above. WOW!

  14. Sweet jumper 10/04/2010 at 8:47 AM #

    My Carowhina friends are still in total denial. They are tickled with the ECU win and think Chief is doing a great job under very difficult circumstances. They say they would be undefeated and top 10 if they had all their players. I told one fellow to read the Yahoo articles and keep drinking the Kool Aid.

  15. packalum44 10/04/2010 at 8:50 AM #

    I’m assuming there is a good reason Butch is still around…I just don’t know why.

  16. packalum44 10/04/2010 at 8:52 AM #

    Sweetjumper you should have responded: You mean if they were allowed to get away with cheating like usual you’d be better?

  17. LRM 10/04/2010 at 8:58 AM #

    Beyond the potential legal concerns of Blake being a runner for Wichard are the ethical violations of a coach for one team contacting players on another — the associate head coach nonetheless.

  18. Sweet jumper 10/04/2010 at 9:07 AM #

    Packalum44, I have asked several Carowhina fans over the last couple of weeks the following question: So you are saying if all the players that have been accused of academic fraud and of accepting benefits from agents were allowed to play you would win? They either don’t respond and leave mad or they say that none of that has been proven and then leave mad. Total Denial.

  19. Pack84 10/04/2010 at 9:21 AM #

    I’ve been told by a source that is trustworthy that BD has told UNC-CHeat he will leave voluntarily ONLY if they buy him out. I guess he’s looking for Blake-style hush money – just with a much bigger price tag. Obviously the holes are balking at this. They’re counting on the “significant NCAA sanctions” part of his contract to dismiss him with cause and not owe him a dime.

  20. bradleyb123 10/04/2010 at 9:26 AM #

    Pack84, that is the simplest explanation I’ve heard, and makes the most sense. I’ve been wondering how they could possibly hang on to Butch for so long. That would explain it. It’s just about money at this point.

    But this would indicate that Baddour and Thorpe have continually been lying through their teeth when discussing Butch.

  21. old13 10/04/2010 at 9:53 AM #

    “But this would indicate that Baddour and Thorpe have continually been lying through their teeth when discussing Butch.”

    And the UNC-CHeat BOT chair?

  22. packof81 10/04/2010 at 9:59 AM #

    “They either don’t respond and leave mad or they say that none of that has been proven and then leave mad. Total Denial.”

    Denial ain’t no river in Egypt.

    I’m not surprised Davis is digging in. I am somewhat surprised by the reaction of the school and their fans. At this point, the evidence is compelling.

    Hopefully, the tarholes will continue stonewalling. The longer they stonewall, the worse they look. It’s going to be death by a thousand cuts.

  23. ppack3 10/04/2010 at 10:01 AM #

    ^ B-rad, you and Pack84 HAVE to be correct about this. The question, “Why isn’t Butch gone yet?” is now rhetorical. Wo is the question, “Why is Dickie still backing Butchie?” And, to the assertion that Dickie is lying through his teeth about his backing of Butchie, this is all a political game, and politicians lie everyday in the name of ‘spin.’ This is how the spoken word of support from an AD has come be known as the proverbial kiss of death. It’s a lie, and is presumed to be a lie.

    Next point: I thought that the party(s) in Miami were a Drew Rosenhous thing? If that’s the case, it reminds me of the banter earlier in this process about the back-biting nature of the Agent business, and leads me to believe that several major Agencies were in play for UNC players, as well as for Darius and Wesley (presumably, among others). these kids were being wined and dined, flown all over the country. Hell, in Darius’ case, they tried to give him money under the guise of buying his bowl jersey. Maybe the title of the book should be, “Buy Any Means Necessary: The Carolina Way.”

  24. choppack1 10/04/2010 at 12:26 PM #

    Davis finally through Blake under the bus at his presser. Saying he’s sorry he ever trusted him.

    This is akin to Tiger’s future wife being sorry that she ever trusted him – w/ the notable exception that at least Tiger was called to the carpet and had to answer for his sins.

    But here’s the thing Butch is really starting to talk too much. If he was really concerned about the agent involvement – why not look into this BEFORE hiring him….or why not give him a different position other than Assistant Head Coach AND Recruiting Coordinator. Or why not have him watched like a hawk.

    Butch is quite a salesman – (and evidently so is Blake) – but I’m not buying this “I would HAVE NEVER” stuff that’s coming out of his mouth. I think he brought Blake in knowing that a) he was a great recruiter AND b) he had some baggage.

    The evidence out there – and it’s starting to look like there’s tons of circumstantial evidence – all pointed to the fact that if you did hire this guy – watch him very carefully – don’t take a “hands off” policy.

    This reminds of people who were shocked when John Edwards had that kid out of wedlock. There was tons of circumstantial evidence out there this man wasn’t the “aw shucks – I’m in it for the little guy/pilar of integrity” image he wasn’t potraying. Yet every time the evidence came up – the person was either attacked as being “jealous of his success” or it was ignored.

  25. highstick 10/04/2010 at 12:28 PM #

    Sgt. “Butch” Schultz….

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34ag4nkSh7Q

    “I see nothing, I know nothing, I didn’t even get up this morning”!!

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