A member of the UNC board of governors said today that he was disappointed and embarrassed by the news that at least 12 North Carolina football players will be withheld from Saturday's season-opener against Louisiana State, calling it a "sad, sad day in the life of a great university."

"It's humiliating by any measure," said Brent Barringer, a Cary attorney and UNC graduate. "It's not what we're about.

"Just six years ago I was at a seminar in Chapel Hill and heard (the late) Myles Brand, then the president of the NCAA, hold up UNC-Chapel Hill as a paragon of the student-athlete model. Here we are, less than seven years later. having to disqualify 20 percent of the team not just because of NCAA agent allegations but more importantly academic allegations.

"It shows how fast things can change. It's very, very disappointing and frankly embarrassing to the point of being humiliating."