(Not So) New Public Document Release

@WalterByerz

Corrected.

How do you get around NCAA Bylaw 19.01.3 prohibition about public disclosure in a pending case? Why, release information by anonymous proxy.

Today, the public got its first glimpse of an NCAA internal email that has been a key piece of evidence in UNC's response to allegations stemming from the academic scandal in the African and African-American (AFAM) department up until 2011. The pseudonymous Twitter account @WalterByerz, for the first time, has provided actual evidence that wasn't previously part of the public record.

Updated: @WalterByerz did not reveal new information after all. The NCAA email is in Exhibit JUR-5 in the Exhibit File addendum to UNC's Response to the Amended NOA.

To his credit, he's brought it to the public's attention. I hadn't seen it previously. I was wrong to conclude that he'd been fed the info from UNC sources.

It is the March 3rd, 2013 email (or at least page 1 of it), the existence of which we first learned last October from later correspondence UNC had released. UNC's letters referenced the NCAA email, but did not show it.

I have reposted the email below and have updated the Recap page I'd published previously. To put it in context, here are the highlighted events for which this March 3rd 2013 internal NCAA email is relevant:

December 19th, 2012
Academic Anomalies Review: Report of Findings (Martin Report) is completed

March 8th, 2013
NCAA Academic & Membership Affairs (AMA) Steve Mallonee emails lead investigator on UNC's case NCAA Enforcement Mike Zonder reporting that they saw no Bylaw 10.1(b) Unethical Conduct related to academic fraud after reviewing the Martin Report.

September 26th, 2013
UNC Senior Associate Athletics Director Vince Ille and NCAA Enforcement Associate Director Mike Zonder exchange emails in which Zonder reaffirms that NCAA is not contemplating any further action.

In February 2014, UNC hires Kenneth Wainstein and in June 2014, NCAA does "reopen" it's investigation. Kathy Sulentic is now lead investigator for NCAA. Wainstein Report is released in October 2014. Fast forward to...

May 20th, 2015
NCAA issues Notice of Allegations in a new case. It doesn't charge 10.1(b) Academic Fraud. Instead, it alleges 16.11.2.1 Impermissible Benefits.

Summer 2015
UNC legal representatives from Bond, Schoeneck & King visit NCAA Enforcement in Indianapolis to review case records, and discover the March 8th, 2013 email chain regarding the AMA's post-Martin Report determination.

August 14th,  2015
The infractions process is halted when UNC reports unrelated information prior to having delivered a response to the Notice of Allegations.

October 1st, 2015
UNC requests its representatives be allowed to interview the individuals addressed in the March 8th, 2013 email.

October 2015 to January 2016
UNC and NCAA officials proceed to engage in dialogue over issues regarding the Notice of Allegations and NCAA's prior determinations before and after the earlier infractions case (seen in the six attachments to this later email)

April 25th, 2016
NCAA issues an Amended Notice of Allegations with the 16.11.2.1 allegation related to "anomalous courses" removed. Academic misconduct and impermissible benefits charges against Jan Boxill for reasons unrelated to the "anomalous courses" remain. Lack of Institutional Control (LOIC) also remain and Failure to Monitor allegation is added, based in part on the "anomalous courses" but without the foundation of the 16.11.2.1 (extra benefits) or 10.1 (academic misconduct) allegations.

August 1st, 2016
UNC responds to the Amended Notice of Allegations, raising several threshold issues of jurisdiction and NCAA procedure.

September 26th, 2016
Office of the Committee on Infractions (OCIO) informs all parties of a procedural hearing to be held October 28th, 2016, to review procedural and juridictional arguments UNC has raised in it's response to the Amended Notice of Allegations.

October 25th, 2016
Just before the October 28th, 2016 COI hearing, UNC releases its October 2015 to January 2016 correspondence with the NCAA in response to public records requests.

November 28th, 2016
Despite UNC's arguments, the COI panel rejects UNC's procedural and jurisdictional arguments and also advises Enforcement that it is able to consider the 16.11.2.1 allegations that had previously been charged.

December 11th, 2016
NCAA Enforcement issues a 2nd Amended Notice of Allegation, not only with 16.11.2.1 in relation to the "anomalous courses" restored, but also 10.1 Unethical Conduct that had not previously cited in the contested Allegation 1(b) of the original 2015 Notice of Allegation.

February 4th, 2016
The anonymous Twitter source, "WalterByerz" leaks Tweets the March 8th, 2013 NCAA internal email, also claiming that NCAA lead investigator of UNC case since April 2014, Kathy Sulentic, had attempted to hide the communication from UNC's representatives. The same anonymous source also claimed she had attempted to collude with UNC's investigator Kenneth Wainstein in April 2014 to leverage his interviews/investigation without UNC's knowledge.

Update: "Walter" doesn't "leak" the document. It can be found as Exhibit JUR-5 in the exhibits of UNC's Response to the Amended Notice of Allegation. I'd never seen it before and thought "Walter" was providing new information. It was new to me.

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Here is a copy of the March 8th, 2013 email: