University of North Carolina swingman PJ Hairston has the perfect combination of size, strength, and deep perimeter shooting to one day be a prototypical shooting guard at the next level.
Despite having a breakout ’12-’13 campaign, where he averaged 14.2 ppg, 4.2 rebounds, and shot nearly 40% from behind the arc for the Tarheels, the 6’6 and 22olb future NBA prospect decided to return to Chapel Hill for his junior season.
While teammate Reggie Bullock decided to leave early and is now tearing it up this Summer as a member of the LA Clippers, Hairston has the potential to be one of the nation’s best collegiate players this season, but his unfortunate actions off the court now threaten to derail what looks to be a promising season.
In case you missed it, Hairston was pulled over and charged in early June for driving without a license and possession of marijuana. If that wasn’t bad enough, police also found a handgun. To make matters even worse, authorities then discovered that Hairston was driving around in a vehicle registered to convicted felon Haydn “Fats” Thomas.
Thomas is undoubtedly a shady character who has been linked to the UNC program, including renting 2 different vehicles for Hairston and an additional 9 unpaid parking tickets on the UNC campus. Hairston has also had ties to agent Rodney Blackstock, who got into some trouble with recently drafted Ben McLemore of Kansas.
Although Hairston has recently been cleared of all criminal charges, he still may face the wrath of the NCAA and his head coach Roy Williams. If the NCAA deems that Thomas and/or Blackstone rented the vehicles for Hairston, it would be deemed “impermissible benefits” and he therefore would face a lengthy suspension based on the dollar amount.
Based on the 2 different vehicles and how long they were rented, the NCAA could say that Hairston received more than $700 in benefits, leading to a minimum 3-5 game suspension, if that’s the extent of what he received. Maybe PJ should have declared early like his friend Reggie, now teaming up with cP3 and Blake Griffin……….
PJ Hairston UNC Dunk Mix 2013:
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen has also provided content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, Cleveland.com, CSN Philly.com, Buckets Magazine, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
