COVER STORY
UNC FORMER BASKETBALL PLAYER
RASHAD McCANTS:
“UNC CHEATED ME OUT OF AN EDUCATION”
A SPECTACULAR MAGAZINE EXCLUSIVE
By Jaymes Powell Jr.
It might look like they're about to make the big
score, but most high-level athletes are being
robbed of even more valuable life-enriching
educational opportunities, according to some
former top college athletes. Former University
of North Carolina and NBA star Rashad
McCants is protesting the loudest and is now
saying it's not just about the Tar Heels stealing
education and physical talent, but most major
NCAA athletic programs.
To McCants, the millions he's made can't
replace the golden educational opportunity
taken from him by big time sports and he
wants young athletes and college programs
to learn from his stance. The McCants Mind
Revolution is an uprising he hopes pushes UNC
to return its 2005 championship for the sake
of educating all students at all institutions of
learning.
"I thought we should have come forward as
a team and returned it. To make a point, a
change. This is an opportunity to change the
system," McCants recently told Spectacular
Magazine, after saying he
and his teammates didn't
really score with the
handed-out grades they
received.
“I thought we
should have come
forward as a team
and returned
it [2005 NCAA
Championship
trophy]. To
make a point, a
change. This is
an opportunity to
change the system.”
- Rashad McCants
McCants said he had
discussed coming
forward and returning the
championship with his old
teammates, which he didn't
name. "I’m a revolutionary
and no revolution ever goes
without sacrifice. If I have
to sacrifice some fans and
a trophy, that's just a small
sacrifice to
change things
for everybody.
[The 20042005 team]
could have
sacrificed the
championship
banner. We
would have won
it back in spirit
because we
would have done it for the greater
good of athletes. We were going
to do it just because we wanted
to change the NCAA...[teammates
deciding not to come forward]
will regret not doing the right
thing one day.”
into unfavorable
classes to stay
academically
eligible. He
then said on
Mark Parkard's
SiriusXM talk
show that UNC
officials tried to
pay him off to
shut-up about
his Chapel Hill
experience.
Former UNC
learning specialist
Mary Willingham
also appeared on
the show, backingup McCants'
claims of Chapel
Hill pushing
athletes to the
back of the class.
“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
McCants' UNC experience was
so educationally distasteful, it
helped him decide to leave school
early following the 2005 season. "It's not
about going to class or getting job experience.
It's about them getting paid," said McCants,
who reportedly made almost $2.8 million
during his final NBA season. "Going to work
made more sense…instead of them lying and
saying 'you’re going to get a great education'."
McCants, who played most of his five-year
NBA career with the Minnesota Timberwolves,
told ESPN last month Tar Heels head coach
Roy Williams pushed him and teammates
www.spectacularmag.com | July 2014 | SPECTACULAR MAGAZINE
over $10 million due to the exploitation of
me a ́