UNC investigates possible recruiting violation

The Charlotte Observer reports this morning that the University of North Carolina is investigating possible NCAA recruiting violations during Iman Shumpert's visit to campus last weekend.

Earlier this week Shumpert indicated he played basketball against three current NBA players during his visit -- Marvin Williams, Sean May and Raymond Felton. In NCAA terminology these guys are 'athletics representatives' which limits the type of involvement they can have with prospective recruits.

Still, this may be much ado about nothing because May and Williams are currently enrolled as students on Chapel Hill, which means they can talk to recruits. Felton is not currently enrolled.

Can anybody imagine this one getting legs? I can't see this going anywhere (one can hope) but UNC can't be pleased with any such distraction during a recruit's decision-making process.

Even if the investigation reveals an issue, recent NCAA precedent favors the violator. Mizzou head coach Quin Snyder famously (and repeatedly) violated NCAA rules in recruiting Jason Conley as a transfer student from VMI -- yet the player was allowed to play in Columbia despite the illegal contact. The UNC situation appears to be far less severe than the Missouri case, which is all the more reason to think this will quietly go away soon. But hey, stranger things have happened.

Still, recruiting against Tom Crean must be really tough for a program like UNC, eh? :-)

Shumpert is scheduled to visit Georgia Tech later this month, and complete his final official visit at MU for Marquette Madness in October.