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UNC Academic Scandal: Rashad McCants Stands By His 'Paper Class' Admission, Calls on Roy Williams to be Accountable

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Rashad McCants is standing by his admission to taking fraudulent "paper classes" in order to remain eligible to play basketball at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill.

According to ESPN, McCants appeared on "Outside the Lines" (OTL) Wednesday to stand by comments he made last week on the show. In that interview, McCants alleged that several of his teammates were in paper classes and their coach, Roy Williams, knew it was going on.

Since, Williams has appeared on ESPN, granting Jay Bilas with a one-on-one interview while several former players looked on to support their coach. McCants was part of the 2004-2005 Tar Heels team that won the National Championship and sent four first round draft picks to the NBA that year.

"If you want to find the truth, the truth is there in the transcripts," McCants said on OTL Wednesday.

In the initial interview OTL displayed some of McCants' transcript, though it was labeled as "unofficial." In his so-called "paper classes," which were all within the African American Studies (AFAM) dept., McCants received 10 As, six Bs, one C and one D. In non-AFAM classes, he earned six Cs, one D and three Fs.

Williams denied knowing about these "paper classes," which only require students to write one paper to receive a grade for the entire course. According to Mary Willingham, the whistleblower and former UNC reading specialist, these classes catered almost exclusively to football and basketball players. Paper class students did not even write their own papers in some cases.

McCants told OTL last week that a tutor wrote his and in one semester, he even made the Dean's List because of his grades in four AFAM courses. McCants also stood by his admission that Williams steered him to take paper classes when the player was close to becoming academically ineligible.

"How are you getting paid millions of dollars to be a coach?" McCants said. "How is that you're not accountable for what your athletes do off the floor?

"Maybe he's getting a little old. You know, that's something that I can't ... I don't have any control over what he remembers. All I know is the truth. And I'm not up here to lie about anything."

ESPN basketball analyst and a former player Jalen Rose joined OTL Wednesday as a guest. Rose also questioned Williams' accountability for claiming to be involved in his players' academic careers, but to claim to not know anything about paper classes.

UNC-Chapel Hill even conducted its own investigation, first reported by the Raleigh News and Observer. The school found that more than half the classes in the AFAM dept. either rarely met or not at all and that a majority of its enrollments were basketball or football players.

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