Absent from the NCAA's statement was any definitive word on fellow Tar Heels guard P.J. Hairston, who also has been and continues to be under investigation. The NCAA said that, "McDonald’s reinstatement request is the only one the NCAA has received from North Carolina."

UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham said Wednesday night that a Hairston resolution was just days away.

“The University of North Carolina is working with P.J. Hairston and his family to settle a few unresolved issues that remain. We expect to have this matter resolved at the end of this week,” Cunningham said.

A Yahoo Sports report said that Hairston may leave school and declare for the NBA Draft, something he considered doing before returning for his junior year this season.

McDonald, who missed the first nine games of the 2013-14 season, must repay $1,783 to a charity of his choosing by the end of the regular season for the "use of luxury cars, payment of parking tickets, a cell phone and lodging."

"I was very disappointed by Leslie's actions and he knows this," Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said in a statement. "He has suffered the consequences of his actions and I hope he has learned a lesson that I also hope his teammates recognize."

Authorities twice cited Hairston during the offseason while driving a rental vehicle linked to a felon and party promoter, raising the possibility of an improper benefits violation.

Hairston's continued absence would seem to indicate that his case is filled with larger or more egregious mistakes, but not big enough for the school to not continue fighting to get Hairston back on the court.

Hairston and McDonald have been practicing with the team all season, but have not played in any games to this point.

UNC never specified McDonald's issue, and it was long believed that his absence dealt with him endorsing a designer mouthguard in a social media post.

Entering Wednesday's game vs. Texas, the Tar Heels were 7-2 with wins against Kentucky, Michigan State and Louisville, but losses to Belmont and UAB.


AN EPIC PRESSER'S AFTERMATH


Southern Illinois coach Barry Hinson delivered the press conference of the year after his Salukis lost to Murray State 73-65 Tuesday night, tearing into his team and his point guard.

Hinson went on the Dan Patrick Show on Wednesday morning to explain himself. The short version: He never should have called out Marcus Fillyaw, but he stands by everything else he said.

From Hinson’s presser Tuesday night.

“Marcus was absolutely awful, that's about as PG-rated as I can say it,” Hinson said. “He was awful. Our guards are awful. Our three starting guards had one assist and and seven turnovers. They must think it's a tax credit. It's unbelievable how our starting guards played."

And then on the Dan Patrick Show:

“I’ve bet I’ve done 400 press conferences over my career and I bet I’ve (called out a player by name) probably only two or three times. But Marcus Fillyaw is probably one of the nicest young men that you want to meet. Certainly I was frustrated that my starting point guard got zero points, zero assists and the other point guard got 22 points on us. I was frustrated, but for me to call out a kid personally is not the right thing. I take full responsibility for that.”

One of Hinson's starters, senior center Davante Drinkard, took to Twitter in the aftermath, making critical comments about the coach. The tweet has since been deleted, but said: "I can't believe the little man had the nerve to call us mama's boys. Smh. I guess this is where Our team learns to point the finger."

Meanwhile, Hinson told Patrick that any one of his players has the right to criticize if he can be critical of the team in the media.

Among Hinson’s other memorable quotes from the press conference,  with the full video here  :

"I got a bunch of mama's boys right now."

"I've been telling my wife this for years, size doesn't matter." (Hinson was referring to his team's problems with rebounding.)

"My wife — my wife! — can score more than two buckets on 11 shots, because I know my wife will at least shot fake one time." (Hinson talking about his big men.)

"There was a sniper in the gym. Didn't you see that? We had guys falling down. I would have thought Navy SEAL Team 6 was out there."

Hinson also talked with Patrick about how the press conference unfolded.

“We live in an age and an era of society now that we can hardly confront people face to face,” Hinson said. “Everything I said in the presser was said in the locker room to our guys in a very calm manner. … I was pretty much a keg of gunpowder when I got to the press conference, and it got lit by a local media guy.”

The other best lines from Hinson's radio appearance came when Patrick asked Hinson if he really believed his wife, Angie, could have scored Tuesday night.

“I don’t know if she would have scored two, but I think she could have gotten to the free throw line," Hinson said. "There’s no doubt in my mind."

And it just happened that Hinson's wife was available to respond to that remark. To which she replied: “I feel pretty good that he has the confidence that I can (score), but I never played basketball.”

All's well that ends well.


FIRE!


Welcome to the University of Maryland at College Park, where setting things on fire is practically a course of study.

Following almost every major sporting accomplishment, whether it be the men's basketball national championship victory in 2001, the women's basketball national title win in 2006, or any big win over Duke, students in College Park find the nearest object and set it on fire.

During finals week, students on campus adorn the famous bronze statue of the university's official mascot Testudo with numerous "offerings" (See: McDonald's wrappers, empty cases of beer, Solo cups, etc.) 

But on Tuesday night, around midnight, the  1,000-pound statue was set ablaze  .

By the time the campus police were called to the scene around 1 a.m., the fire had been put out.

Perhaps it wasn't the act of a drunken co-ed but rather, a student working towards a major in pyromania. The University of Maryland is one of the nation's top schools when it comes to that.


OH, THE DISPARITY


The No. 13 Oregon Ducks picked up a nonconference win on Tuesday night, defeating the Anteaters of UC-Irvine 91-63.

The Ducks trailed only twice, 3-0 and 6-2, and outclassed the Anteaters with their bevy of talent. But heading into the game, one of the points of emphasis was how would Oregon defend UC-Irvine's 7-6 center Mamadou Ndiaye.

While using 5-8 guard Johnathan Loyd to cover the big man wasn't part of Dana Altman's game plan,  viewers got a brief look at what it would be like  to cover somebody with a 22-inch height advantage.

Luckily for the Ducks, Loyd's brief stint covering the mammouth center was short-lived, as center Waverly Austin spent much of the game covering Ndiaye.

Contributors: Roger Kuznia, Troy Machir and The Associated Press