North Carolina football fans were celebratory in January of 2009 when the UNC coaching staff remained in tact after Carolina associate coach John Blake either turned down or was passed over for a coaching job with the New York Jets.

After recent woes regarding Blake’s involvement in an NCAA infractions probe that is seemingly escalating in seriousness, Carolina fans might have been better off if Blake had gone to the pros.

Media reports made it sound as if Blake turned down Jets’ coach Rex Ryan’s offer to become defensive line coach 19 months ago. In fact, one report flat out said that Ryan was “looking to hire” Blake after firing Kerry Locklin.

Perhaps Blake thought his situation at Carolina, along with his nearly quarter of a million buck yearly salary, was too good to risk. Or maybe he thought Carolina had a chance of winning an ACC or NCAA title. Ironically, this investigaton is threatening to sidetrack Carolina’s chances of an ACC or NCAA title. In fact, the Vegas odds are tilting against the Heels, who are underdogs to win the opener against LSU.

But, regardless, Mark Carrier, former defensive back with the Bears, Lions and Redskins over 11 seasons, was hired by the Jets. And Blake returned to the Heels, making UNC coach Butch Davis a very happy man.

“There’s been all this speculation about John Blake — is he going to be here, or is he going to leave?” Davis said at the time. “He’s going to be here.”

Well, Coach Davis, I don’t want to convict anyone before all the facts are in but, so far, how is that workin’ out for ya?

From the Family of Dean E. Smith:

Our dad is almost eighty years old, so it’s expected that he might show signs of aging. After spending an entire lifetime without a visit to the hospital except to see players and friends, he had to undergo two procedures in the past three years: a knee replacement surgery and a repair of an abdominal aortic aneurysm. But what other people may have noticed – and what has been speculated about recently in the media – is that our dad may not remember quite like he used to. It’s a stark contrast, because he is widely known for remembering a name, a place, a game, a story – it’s what made other people feel like they were special, because our dad remembered everything.

Coach Smith wanted to keep his professional and personal life separate. But as we all know, the personal and professional life can sometimes overlap, and we understand that many fans, former players, and friends are concerned about his well-being. In trying to balance our dad’s wishes and the genuine concern so many people have for Coach Smith, we want to update you about his health, but ask that you respect his privacy. Our dad has a progressive neurocognitive disorder that affects his memory. So now, he may not immediately recall the name of every former player from his many years in coaching, but that does not diminish what those players meant to him or how much he cares about them. He still remembers the words of a hymn or a jazz standard, but may not feel up to going to a concert. He still plays golf, though usually only for nine holes instead of eighteen. He still attends some sporting events –you might see him in the stands at his grandson’s baseball game. He has difficulty traveling long distances to see the Heels on the road, but he insists on watching all Carolina basketball games on television and cheers as hard as he can for Coach Williams and the team.

Although some of the ways he experiences daily life have changed, he still cherishes his many relationships with Carolina basketball, his family and his friends.

Throughout his career, he has always preferred the spotlight be on the Carolina basketball program and the University, rather than himself. We hope that you will understand and respect his wishes. Thank you for your consideration and well wishes for our dad.

North Carolina football finds itself under investigation by the NCAA for possible violations.

While the school acknowledges an investigation, no details have been provided. ESPN.com’s Joe Schad reports that UNC football players, including defensive tackle Marvin Austin, were interviewed by the NCAA this week. They were asked questions about agents and whether anyone had received gifts or extra benefits, his source says.

In announcing the investigation, a youngish “sportswriter” for SBnation.com named Holly Anderson wrote, “UNC, hardly the highest-profile program even in the slow-zombie ACC, suddenly finds itself under some adorably nebulous investigation by the NCAA for possible violations within the football program.”

The 28-year-old Anderson, an Aquarius by the way, describes herself as “Tennessee-born, Atlanta-based by way of Los Angeles.” She also takes a dig at the highly respected and award-winning reporter Joe Schad, who broke the details of the story. She says Schad’s “sources range from ‘somebody’s cousin’ to ‘the internet.'”

At least Anderson is a Red Sox fan … and attractive.

To read the ESPN story, which is being updated regularly, please click here.

Last week, Capital Sports’ Dane Huffman talked about former UNC coach Dean Smith’s fading memory and the poignant story about it that appeared in the Fayetteville Observer.

After the story broke, author John Feinstein wrote a column about how he didn’t want to break that story but now he gives his insight into Coach Smith’s health issues.

Feinstein was working on a book with and about Coach Smith. “The agreement Dean and I had was to work together on the book,” Feinstein wrote. “It was what I had always wanted to do. Going forward with him only being peripherally involved felt wrong. So, regretfully, I decided not to go forward.”

Because Coach Smith had not been very visible during the Centennial Celebration of UNC basketball, I suspected something was up. During last season, I heard the rumors. It wasn’t until an April conversation I had with Woody Durham, the voice of the Tar Heels, that the fears were confirmed and I found out about the extent of Coach Smith’s health problems.

Because I was interviewing Woody Durham about something else and I considered that part of the conversation personal, I didn’t really think about trying to “break” the story. Plus, while my nature was always to break stories, this is one story I hoped that Dean Smith’s family and the basketball family would break when they felt it was time.

To read more of my thoughts on the topic, please go to the comments section of this entry.

An article in today’s USA Today discusses how hard it’s been for John Henson to bulk up. He’ll need to put on some weight if he intends to bang inside in the ACC. The 6-foot-10 sophomore weighed in at only 180 pounds last year.

“He’s been the one guy I’ve probably sat up the most at night, pulling my hair out and probably giving me more gray hair, going, ‘OK, What do I have to do with him?'” Tar Heels trainer Jonas Sahratian said. “Because, he is, he’s kind of like a wet noodle. … He’s got the most minuscule joints you’ve ever seen. His waist is like a wasp’s waist. Most girls would kill for it. It’s getting better. It’s been a rough road. He’s been probably the most difficult guy I’ve ever had to train.”

To read the article, click here.

Marquise Williams, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound quarterback from Charlotte, announced Saturday afternoon that he has decided to attend the University of North Carolina.

It came down between Carolina, Virginia Tech and Michigan. He also received scholarship offers from Boston College, East Carolina, Florida, Kansas, Kansas State, LSU, Louisville, NC State, Notre Dame, South Florida, Syracuse, UCLA and Wake Forest.

“I feel good about choosing UNC-Chapel Hill because it’s a good fit for me,” Williams said. “The coaches are great and I love the atmosphere on campus. Also, staying in North Carolina is important to me.”

Inside Carolina ranks Williams as the No. 4 overall prospect in the state while Rivals.com ranks him as the No. 14 quarterback prospect nationally.

Oddly, a member of an LSU recruiting Web site titled tigerdroppings.com boldly proclaimed last Tuesday that Williams would announce for Carolina Saturday afternoon.

Let’s be frank – some UNC alums felt Roy Williams had betrayed Carolina by not accepting the Tar Heel coaching job the first time it came open in 2000. Even after accepting the head coaching job in 2003, Coach Williams said he wasn’t sure he could ever repair the damage from turning down the job in 2000.

The 2005 and 2009 national championships certainly helped repair any damage. After the Heels lack of success last season, however, you’d think many Carolina fans would be grumbling about Coach Williams’ performance. By all accounts, the players listened to him less than any compilation of players he’s ever had.

Former Williams’ teammate and MVP of the 1971 NIT Bill Chamberlain seems to lay the blame more on the players than the coach. “I hate to say but Roy didn’t get full support from all the players all year long,” he told me. He pointed to selfishness and lack of hustle. “I think Roy aged more than a year this year.”

Of course it’s up to Williams to get them to play unselfishly and with hustle. After initially complaining about the players, for much of the season, he took the blame. But perhaps he recruited guys that are immature and haven’t bought into the Carolina way yet.

Chamberlain said, “Roy is insistent upon class performance, being a good person off the court, being a part of the community, taking part in all kinds of service functions for various groups around town, keeping them active and learning about campus life and other things not related to basketball.”

Maybe two or three of the key players don’t care about those things unrelated to basketball. Not sure. But from the off-season water-cooler talk from Carolina fans, I think the players, and not so much the coach, are taking the majority of the heat.

Recently, Roy Williams even received the ultimate alumni honor – the Distinguished Service Medal. So while bygones may be bygones as far as alumni attitude toward Coach Williams, the jury is still out on the players.

UNC basketball recruit James McAdoo, 17, could finish high school a year early with summer classes and thus join the Tar Heels a year early. Would you forego your senior year in high school?

I guess everyone might have a different answer to that question. For me, my senior year in high school and my senior year in college were probably my favorite years from my youth. I’m not sure there could be a money value worth taking those away from me.

Plus, I come from a traditionalist and philosophical viewpoint. From a philosophical stance, I figure that you stay in school for your natural senior seasons and whatever happens as a result was supposed to happen. From a traditionalist stance, I would prefer that freshman play on a jayvee team before joining the varsity as sophomores. That extra year matures a player as a player, as a student and as a person, and would put an end to non-student athletes coming for one rent-a-player season.

Frankly, I was never a big fan of Bob McAdoo, James’ uncle, because he came in as a Tar Heel for one junior college transfer season. I thought the Tar Heels would win the NCAA the next year with McAdoo having a second season under Dean Smith so that ticked me off. And for some reason, and I still don’t remember why, I blamed McAdoo for the loss to Florida State in the NCAA semi-finals in ’72 despite his scoring 24 points.

That all being said, Brad Daugherty skipped a grade and entered Carolina early and he became one of my favorite Tar Heels. Mike Gminski breezed through high school early and he became one of my favorite Dukies.

Who knows if McAdoo has the maturity that Daugherty and Gminski had, but if he does, and he wants to give up high school to start his basketball dreams early, it sure could help the Heels after the transfer of the Wear twins.

McAdoo is physically mature at 6-foot-8 and 215 or so pounds. Plus, because of his birth date, he wouldn’t be eligible to go to the NBA any earlier so he would be at Carolina at least two years.

In short, I probably wouldn’t do it but I watch Carolina basketball a little more than I watch Norfolk Christian High School basketball so if he wants to go to Chapel Hill early and he can handle it, it wouldn’t hurt my feelings if he did so.