The state of North Carolina has the power to prosecute rogue agents for athletes, but has not done so yet, according to a spokesperson for the Secretary of State’s office.

Under the current statute, passed in 2003, sports agents can be convicted of a felony for furnishing “anything of value” to an athlete in North Carolina. There were laws regulating sports agents before the current law was passed, according to Liz Proctor of the Secretary of State’s office.

However, Proctor said no agents have been prosecuted yet. “There have been inquiries but nothing that was found actionable,” she said Wednesday afternoon.

While the NCAA has met with some players at UNC, Proctor said that no formal complaint has been filed with the Secretary of State’s office. She said the Secretary of State’s office can initiate an inquiry if it wishes.

Later Wednesday, after questions from the media, the Secretary of State’s office reported it would be looking into the issue. Both The News and Observer and WRAL reported that, quoting a different Secretary of State officer, George Jeter.

Proctor said the local district attorneys are the ones who prosecute if the state finds evidence that an agent broke the law. The statute allows for an agent to be convicted of a Class I felony, which is a lower-level felony but one that does have the potential for jail time.

The fact that no agent has been convicted might sound surprising, but Proctor made an important point – when the law was passed, the department received no funding, so it has no staff specifically dedicated to the issue.

The area football coaches are speaking Thursday in Durham at a luncheon at the Washington Duke Inn, and you can bet many questions will be directed at North Carolina coach Butch Davis.

But don’t expect Davis to say much about the NCAA probe into his program. UNC officials said Tuesday that athletics director Dick Baddour will speak for the school. The issue of agents will be a hot topic Thursday but there are more compelling stories out there.

One is the appearance at the event of new East Carolina coach Ruffin McNeill. And the other is the health of N.C. State assistant Dana Bible, who was struck with cancer last season.

Capital Sports’ Steve Wiseman and Dane Huffman will be at the event and will update the site Thursday afternoon.

Reporters are always asking people to fess up, so shouldn’t they do that themselves? Just look at The News & Observer Tuesday morning.

The paper’s Ken Tysiac ran a strong story about problems colleges have regulating agents (and the paper, to its credit, avoided Monday’s flimsy report in the National Football Post). But one player under fire is South Carolina tight end Weslye Saunders, who played at Durham Riverside and is the son of N&O Metro columnist Barry Saunders.

Barry Saunders is refusing to comment on the case, which has to make for awkward moments in the newsroom. The Columbia (S.C.) State is a McClatchy paper, like The N&O, and reporters from Raleigh, Charlotte and Columbia often work together.

Saunders wrote his usual column news Tuesday, so it’s not like he’s off on vacation. His column Tuesday was about how much he gained from reading “To Kill a Mockingbird” as a youth. Harper Lee’s Atticus Finch had a passion to reveal the truth, regardless of the consequences, and that’s a trait that makes for great lawyers – and journalists.

If the press is going to demand answers from others, it should be forthcoming itself.

Cary 67 has qualified for the eight-team American Legion Baseball State Tournament which starts Saturday in Asheboro at McCrary Park.

Post 67, now 18-6, defeated Garner Post 232 and Johnston County Post 71 to earn the berth.

In a best-of-three series for seeding purposes against Rocky Mount Post 58, Cary trails 1-0 with Game 2 being played tonight at 7 p.m. at Cary High School. If you can’t be there and want to check out the action, you can hear the game by clicking here.

Post 58, which defeated Cary 9-6 Monday night in Rocky Mount to move to 23-5, is undefeated in playoff action and is a victory away from the No. 1 seed at the state tourney.

Rocky Mount’s Matthew Berry had six RBI including two on a tie-breaking homer in the eighth inning off Post 67’s James Todd.

Should Cary win tonight, Game 3 will be Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Cary High School. Win or lose, both teams will advance to the state tournament but seeding can be crucial.

Other teams that have qualified so far for the eight-team tournament are Wilmington Post 10, Whiteville Post 137, Rutherford County Post 423, Cherryville Post 100 and Randolph County Post 45.

Cary Post 67 has never won the state tournament while Rocky Mount Post 58 won in 1973. The tournament started in 1928 with Raleigh Post 1 winning that one. The only other Raleigh-area team to ever win the state championship is Garner Post 232 which won in 1999.

The fact that the NCAA is asking questions of the North Carolina football program is news because such situations are rare. The NCAA’s Division I Committee on Infractions publicizes its final reports, and a Google search showed the only time UNC popped up in recent memory came in field hockey.

The infraction? It was “failure to adhere to bench area policies at the championship event of the 2009 NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship,” according to a Feb. 23 NCAA release.

In fact, the NCAA was so irate it said it was “disappointed” in the UNC team and fined the school a whopping … $300.

The football situation could be much more serious. If UNC prospects like Marvin Austin were accepting gifts from agents, that’s a clear NCAA violation and could result in suspension. That would hurt Carolina on the field, of course, but it would also be a dent in the image the Heels look to convey.

The National Football Post is reporting Austin may be suspended for the year, but keep in mind this is a website that is not crediting any sources. Where all this lands remains to be seen.