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Rashad McCants Speaks Out Again; Why He is Expecting Large Payouts from Both NCAA and UNC

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Rashad McCants returned to SiriusXM radio Monday to tell Mark Packer about payouts he is expecting, one from the NCAA and one from his alma mater.

According to the Charlotte Observer, the former University of North Carolina (UNC) basketball player did not, however, tell Packer he was now cooperating with the NCAA's reopened investigation. McCants said he is seeking compensation from UNC - Chapel Hill for an inadequate educational career.

"The question is what are we talking about, honestly," McCants said when Packer asked whether or not he was speaking to UNC officials. "I mean I have a check being written to me from the University of North Carolina for over $10 million due to the exploitation of me as a player and the lack of education that I received."

McCants appeared on ESPN's "Outside the Lines" about a month ago to support former UNC reading specialist Mary Willingham's claims that the school's African American Studies (AFAM) dept. was holding fraudulent classes. He said he and his teammates took these "paper classes" to stay academically eligible to play basketball and that coach Roy Williams knew about them all along.

Williams has since spoke with ESPN to deny these allegations. McCants also told Packer that his relationship with his former college coach and the Tar Heels' perceived unity during the 2004-2005 National Championship run was not what it appeared to be.

"It looks like the relationship is severed, but there was never really a relationship between me and Roy," McCants told Packer during his appearance on "College Sports Nation" on Friday, according to NBC Sports. "I was the player and he was the coach. That doesn't mean that every player on every team is friends with their coach.

"We were a very intelligent group of guys who knew what it took to win. That's what we knew. We knew we had to come together as a team and play together as a team and just follow the system. North Carolina has always had a system that if you play by the rules, you'll win. And that's evident. It had nothing to do with the tight-knit relationships, and brothers forever. It was never really that. We all had separate things we did on our own."

UNC confirmed to the Observer earlier this week that they sent an official letter to McCants requesting an audience with him on June 6. Along with two text messages, the UNC official said he had not heard from the former player at the time.

McCants would not say if he is cooperating with the NCAA's investigation into the alleged "paper classes" in UNC's AFAM dept. He only said the NCAA was granting him funds for an educational program helping young student-athletes make it in college.

"The NCAA has a check for me for over $300 million to help me facilitate these sports education programs across the country," McCants told Packer. "These are things that's in the works."

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