Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

UNC: Twitter, Facebook no place to mess around

Following North Carolina players like John Henson, Dexter Strickland or Harrison Barnes on Twitter? You’re not the only one.

Coaches and school administrators will be monitoring players’ tweets this season in accordance with a new policy in the student athlete handbook, the Raleigh News & Observer reports. For that, you can thank Tar Heels defensive end Marvin Austin (he posted more than 2,400 updates before his account was closed down), though pretty much every school plays Big Brother when it comes to what their athletes put online.

From the handbook: “each team must identify at least one coach or administrator who is responsible for having access to and regularly monitor the content of team members’ social networking sites and postings.”

If anything seems out of line, it’ll be gone and the athlete could be too. That includes “disrespectful comments” and derogatory language; comments that constitute a credible emotional or physical threat; and photos that depict unlawful abuse, hazing, harassment, discrimination, drug possession or use, and any other illegal conduct, according to the paper.

Um, whoa. Have they seen what’s on Twitter and Facebook? School officials and coaches could be pretty busy this year.

Mike Miller’s also on Twitter @BeyndArcMMiller, usually talkin’ hoops. Click here for more.