NCAA Not Punishing Coach For Watching UNC, Obama Pick-Up Game

Watch Barack Obama Scrimmage With UNC Basketball Team

U.S. Sen. and presidential candidate Barack Obama (D-IL) yesterday played a pick-up basketball game with the Univ. of North Carolina (UNC) men's basketball team, and while NCAA rules "appear to have been broken," the NCAA is "apparently going to ignore it," according to Robbi Pickeral of the Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER. UNC coach Roy Williams watched the scrimmage despite NCAA bylaws prohibiting coaches from watching pick-up games during the offseason. But NCAA Dir of Public & Media Relations Eric Christianson said, "This was a unique situation and not an NCAA issue. It certainly was a great opportunity for the student-athletes to interact with a presidential candidate" (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 4/30). UNC Associate AD for Communications Steve Kirschner said that Williams "knew he wasn't supposed to be at the gym under the letter of the NCAA rules, but with the number of Secret Service personnel onsite, [he] wanted to be there to make sure that everything went OK" (AP, 4/29). Williams also took Obama on a tour of UNC's basketball facility. Obama, who played for several minutes, did not score while reporters were watching, but his campaign aides later reported that "he sunk a 3-point-shot" after reporters left the gym. Obama: "These guys are a lot better than me" (N.Y. TIMES, 4/30).