North Carolina has suspended four players—starting cornerbacks Desmond Lawrence and Brian Walker and backups M.J. Stewart and Donnie Miles—after it was revealed the school is investigating an alleged hazing incident that left walk-on freshman wideout Jackson Boyer with a concussion.
The suspensions are for a violation of team rules and neither the school nor head coach Larry Fedora would connect it directly to the incident with Boyer. Fedora only said the violation occurred earlier in the month. Hoyer was allegedly concussed—earlier this month—at a hotel where the team was holding training camp. Sources told Yahoo it was a hazing incident that "escalated into assault."
The school has remained quiet on details and would only confirm the investigation was ongoing.
"We are aware of an incident involving members of the UNC football team that took place earlier this month," Kevin Best, North Carolina's assistant athletic director for communications, said in a statement to Yahoo Sports on Tuesday. "We take this allegation seriously and the University is conducting a thorough review."
All four will be suspended for UNC's first game of the season against Liberty. In a statement announcing the suspensions Fedora said "[t]hese players did not meet the high expectations we have for them as members of our program and have been disciplined accordingly."
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UNC suspends four players amid investigation into alleged hazing incident [Yahoo]