Rashad McCants continued his whirlwind media tour making a second appearance on Mark Packer's SiriusXM radio show. As has been the case, McCants wasn't challenged much by the question and ones that did hit on something relevant led to some interesting answers. Via the Charlotte Observer:
McCants also suggested he was seeking compensation from UNC for what he says was a subpar educational experience, and seeking money from the NCAA as part of an effort to help young athletes navigate their way through college.
Packer asked him: "Are you willing to have a conversation with the folks at North Carolina?"
McCants responded: "The question is what are we talking about, honestly. 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. The NCAA has a check for me for over $300 million to help me facilitate these sports education programs across the country. These are things that’s in the works."
So McCants gets asked if he would be willing to talk to UNC and his response includes a very strange assertion that the school is going to write him a $10 million check and the NCAA is going to drop $300 million in his lap to "help me facilitate these sports education programs across the country." Apparently these things are "in the works." Oh and yes, he dodges the question entirely.
For the record, UNC responded to McCants claim that he has a payday from the school coming by saying:
We have no idea what Rashad McCants is referring to with regard to monetary compensation," a UNC athletic spokesperson told ABC11 on Tuesday. "We again encourage him to speak directly to Kenneth Wainstein regarding his academic experience at UNC."
Join the crowd.
Once McCants got past the first interview with ESPN's Outside the Lines there was a prevailing notion among Tar Heel partisans than the more he talked, the better it would be for the school. In fact, any time McCants has wandered off the established Mary Williingham approved talking points, his statements have raised an eyebrow or two. This one, however, takes the proverbial cake. There is no way UNC is cutting McCants a check for that kind of money nor is the NCAA going to simply hand him over a quarter billion dollars, not without a court order anyway. So is that where this is headed?
Doc suggested that McCants may have tipped his backer's hand and a lawsuit against both entities could be on the horizon. McCants is claiming he was exploited and not given a real education which is an interesting position. Seeing that McCants ended up as a lottery pick after positive exposure from winning a national title, the exploitation argument could be tough to make. As for him not receiving an education, barring evidence McCants was simply incapable of doing the work, his failure in this regard belongs to him and no one else. While there are cases where unprepared athletes are put into the system and floated along the eligibility river, McCants does not appear to be one of those cases. If he chose not to pursue his degree with the requisite diligence and personal responsibility, UNC doesn't own him one red penny.
At this point, McCants' credibility, which was shaky to begin with, is almost non-existent. As long as he persists in talking to just the media and not UNC, the NCAA or Kenneth Wainstein, McCants will continue to be a sideshow. And those people who are propping him up may be guilty of a more repugnant exploitation than McCants is claiming UNC engaged in nine years ago.
