Ty Lawson Enjoys Perfectly Legal Gambling

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↵So here’s the big story in Carolina today: Ty Lawson did something completely legal, within the NCAA’s rules and seemingly perfectly fine by his coach Roy Williams. Specifically: He went to a casino in Detroit last night, played some craps and won some loot. The shocking specifics:↵↵⇥Hours after arriving in Detroit, the North Carolina point guard hit a downtown casino and left with a little extra cash. ↵⇥↵⇥“We got in last night, and Coach (Roy Williams) gave us a curfew of 1:30,” Lawson said when asked if he had visited any casinos. “I went over to Greektown and won about $250. So I already had my time there. It’s probably the last time I go there before the games start.” ↵⇥

↵⇥↵⇥Lawson said he played only craps and earned his winnings in about an hour. ↵⇥

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This story was all over sports talk this morning in Charlotte, and has popped up in front page headlines of some major, national sports sites, so I guess it’s a story. I don’t know. It really doesn’t seem like a big deal. Williams set-up an abnormally generous curfew, so Lawson decided to use those few precious hours of free time to have some fun. I’d assume that’s why Roy gave his players a 1:30 AM lights out in the first place. If anything, Lawson’s good luck should be welcoming news to Tar Heels fans.
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↵What’s more noteworthy than Lawson slangin’ some dice was the quote from NCAA President Myles Brand about the point guard visiting a casino:↵↵⇥“Well, I warn against that slippery slope. It’s a fair question. What a student does, play bingo in his church for example, while we discourage that, we prefer not to try and regulate that particular kind of activity. But it’s highly discouraged.” ↵↵Playing church bingo is on the NCAA’s highly discouraged activities list, right below “helping old people cross the road” and just above “feeding homeless in a soup kitchen.” Basically, anything that isn’t going to directly benefit the NCAA is frowned upon.↵