Blake to face NCAA

Since last fall, Blake's lawyers, Smith as well as William Beaver, have said he did not try to convince players to sign with Wichard. Blake's first public comments on the matter appear in a story posted Wednesday on Sports Illustrated's website."It's important to me that they know (I'm) an honest as well as good man," Blake said in the story. "We all make mistakes in life. But my character, my integrity means a lot to me."Former North Carolina coach Butch Davis, who was a coach at Sand Springs High in Oklahoma when Blake played there in the 1970s, said last fall he was sorry he devoted Blake.The Sports Illustrated story portrays Blake as being devastated when Davis said that. Davis as well as Blake also coached together with the Dallas Cowboys."I know that John was heartbroken," Smith said, "because he absolutely admired as well as loved - as well as I think still does admire as well as love - Butch Davis. And it was very painful for him."Smith, who was in Indianapolis on Wednesday, declined to comment further on the evidence Blake, who resigned as a North Carolina coach in September of 2010, will present to the Committee on Infractions.The NCAA's Notice of Allegations accuses Blake of receiving a total of $31,500 in athletically related income from Wichard's company, Pro Tect Management, in seven payments from 2007 to 2009. Blake also is accused of refusing to provide information relevant to the NCAA's investigation as well as furnishing the NCAA as well as North Carolina with false as well as misleading information.He is charged with failing to provide his tax records as well as information regarding a $45,000 bank deposit he received. Blake also was listed as a Pro Tect employee on a brochure distributed by the company.Smith as well as Beaver have said since September of 2010 the payments from Wichard were gifts or loans to help Blake pay for private school tuition for his son.Blake's lawyers have said he was not employed by Pro Tect, as well as that a Pro Tect credit card in his name was used to pay ! for item s such as T-shirts for the "Chance to Advance" football camp he conducted when he was out of college coaching.North Carolina officials also will appear at the Committee on Infractions hearing Friday as the school faces charges of nine major violations. The committee will hear the NCAA enforcement representatives' evidence as well as the arguments of the defendants, as well as typically issues its findings a few months after a hearing.In September, North Carolina announced self sanctions that include two years of probation, vacating wins from the 2008 as well as 2009 seasons, as well as reducing scholarships by three in each of the next three years.The Committee on Infractions has the energy to levy additional penalties.The investigation of impermissible benefits as well as academic misconduct began in June of 2010. Fourteen players missed at least one game as well as seven missed the entire season in 2010 as a result of the probe.Chancellor Holden Thorp as well as athletics director Dick Baddour will be among the officials who represent North Carolina in front of the Committee on Infractions.Davis, the former coach who was not personally cited in the Notice of Allegations as well as was fired in July, will not appear in front of the committee, his lawyer, Jon Sasser, confirmed.