Quinn is the flipside of scandal

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Armed only with a large Sprite, Robert Quinn was surrounded Sunday during ACC Football Kickoff interviews. Most of the assembled media at the Grandover Resort wanted the exceptionally talented defensive end from Ladson to speak for the entire, befuddled, rattled North Carolina football program.

Two Tar Heels, defensive tackle Marvin Austin and wide receiver Greg Little, are among college players involved in an NCAA probe into alleged improper benefits from an agent.

Questions for Mr. Quinn, please.

But first a school publicist stood behind Quinn and told reporters the NCAA has asked players to refrain from comment on the investigation.

So, of course, most of the questions were not about Quinn's status as one of the top prospects for the 2011 NFL draft but about the agent thing.

The 6-5, 270-pound Quinn made his way through queries as easily as he dealt with blockers last season while compiling 11 sacks as a sophomore good enough to make

the All-ACC first team.

"We're just really looking forward to starting training camp and getting back into that football mindset," said Quinn, a Fort Dorchester High School graduate. "Just grinding together as one brotherhood and just really looking forward to the season."

Quinn insisted all the agent news hasn't been a distraction.

"I just focus on what I can really handle," he said. "I just try to make myself better as a player."

'Small world'

Austin is considered a probable first-round draft pick and Little is North Carolina's top receiver. Thus, the interest from agents and/or their aggressive associates.

Quinn can relate.

"They try to contact me on Facebook," he said, "but I really don't pay attention to it."

Georgia wide receiver A.J. Green also attracts agent attention. What are the odds? Arch rivals in high school, Quinn and Green, a Summerville High School grad, might go 1-2 (or 2-1) in the 2011 NFL draft.

One on-line mock draft (sportsillustrated.com) projected Quinn as the first overall pick, another (walterfootball.com) has Green as No. 1 overall.

"It's a small world," Quinn said. "We went to middle school together. I've always known he was a good athlete. When he started as a freshman on the (Summerville) varsity I said, 'I guess this guy is going to be alright.' "

Green also is a subject of the NCAA agent investigation but says he was home in Summerville during a Memorial Day weekend party in Miami that apparently is a primary focus of the scandal.

Not brain surgery

North Carolina has an ACC-high 21 starters returning from an 8-5 team. The Tar Heels are expected to contend with Miami, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech for ACC Coastal Division title.

But Austin and Little would be major losses going into a season that begins Sept. 4 against LSU in a nationally televised Saturday night game at Atlanta's Georgia Dome.

Quinn, Austin, linebackers Bruce Carter and Quan Sturdivant, safety Deunta Williams and cornerback Kendric Burney are the best players on perhaps the best defense in the country.

"We were No. 6 (in the nation in total defense) last year," Quinn said. "Let's shoot for No. 1 this year. That's what we want, No. 1 in a lot of things and No. 1 as a unit."

This is a player whose well-publicized recovery from brain surgery was worthy of the 2008 Brian Piccolo Award, named for the former Wake Forest and Chicago Bears running back that died of cancer in 1970.

The man asking Quinn if he was worried about North Carolina having to face LSU without two players was asking the wrong guy.

"I could walk out of here and, knock on wood, tear my ACL," Quinn said. "You wake up every day and you never know who's going to be on the field during training camp or going into the season. We're just looking at it thinking everyone is going to be there."

The agent mess isn't pretty. But Sunday afternoon, a school caught in the middle couldn't have picked a better spokesperson or a player more capable of picking up slack.

Reach Gene Sapakoff at gsapakoff@postandcourier.com or (843) 937-5593.