the BigAmateurism monologues

On February 14, 2020, Carol Cartwright referred the NC State infractions and enforcement case from the old Committee on Infractions to the new Independent Accountability Resolution Process (IARP). The IARP was the product of the Commission on College Basketball’s (CCB) recommendation that “high stakes” cases such as NC State should be removed from the old “broken” system and adjudicated by truly independent decision-makers. The referral occurred after the entire case was adjudicated through the old process. The IARP was excluded from the process up to the time of referral. As Cartwright herself repeatedly emphasizes in her referral letter, the NCAA formed the IARP to investigate and adjudicate this very type of case. Cartwright’s justification for the timing of the referral doesn’t pass the blush test. She accused NC State of “adversarial posturing” when it disagreed with the NCAA’s interpretation and application of a newly acquired, powerful adjudicatory tool (“Importation of Facts”) used for the first time in an NCAA infractions case. The circumstances of the referral resulted in NC State losing substantial due process rights. Ironically, Cartwright’s combative tone and prejudgment of the case are textbook examples of “adversarial posturing.”