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An athletic tutor at UNC resigns over way Roy Williams handled P.J. Hairston situation

PJ Hairston

After a summer plagued with arrests and scandal, P.J. Hairston had done enough to get back into Roy Williams’ good graces that he was allowed to rejoin the team for their initial preseason practices.

“P.J. has done more conditioning this preseason than any player I’ve ever had,” Williams said last week. “He’s done more than three times more than any player I’ve ever had. He has not asked me the question yet, but I know it’s in his mind – he’s wondering if he’s on a track scholarship.”

Ole Roy declined to describe exactly what Hairston’s punishment was or what the requirements were to end his indefinite suspension, but it’s not difficult to read between the lines and figure out that Hairston, at the very least, has done quite a bit of running, kept himself out of trouble (and from speeding), and, at some point, will have to miss some games.

If all goes according to plan, North Carolina will play Louisville in their fifth game of the season, the final of the Hall of Fame Classic. I’m sure I’m not the only one expecting a four-game suspension for the Tar Heel’s leading returning scorer.

But for one athletic tutor, that wasn’t enough. Here is the letter that Jack Halperin wrote the editor of The Daily Tar Heel in full this morning:

Roy, after 23 years as an academic tutor, and after going through the devastating football scandal, I am resigning in protest of your disgraceful decision to allow P.J. Hairston to remain on the team.

If I were arrested driving with no license, illegal drugs and a gun in a felon’s car, my employment at this University would end immediately.

Hairston’s DTH headline quote was, “I will play this season.” Since when does the criminal decide his fate?

Jack Halperin
Athletic academic tutor


An email sent to Halperin by NBCSports.com on Saturday morning was not immediately returned.

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