As the hot Chapel Hill summer creeps along, we move ever closer to what will be one of the most anticipated seasons in the 99 years of Carolina men's basketball.

In just three months - which Tar Heel fans inevitably will pass by trying to get excited about football, only to admit in early October that they're counting the days until Late Night with Roy -- the 2008-2009 season will officially get underway.

So, during these dog days of summer, plenty of time remains for encouraging reports on Bobby Frasor's health, the trio of McDonald's All-Americans arriving on campus and Coach Williams' relentless recruiting success. Unfortunately, there have been two Tar Heels making the news for the wrong reasons.

Ty Lawson's well-publicized incident in June was the bigger of the two. According to police, Lawson foolishly got behind the wheel and turned up his music too loud after sipping a drink - he says he tipped the blood-alcohol scales at 0.03 - and he was hit with a driving-after-drinking charge; he is still only 20. But he also got booked on a suspended-license charge, since he previously had been stopped twice for speeding.

Then, last week, Marcus Ginyard showed up at the Chapel Hill police station after he, too, was charged with violating the town's noise ordinance (twice), driving with an expired inspection sticker and failing to show up for court.

To be sure, these players have to realize they are in the spotlight more than common citizens, and they therefore must recognize the importance of being responsible. This is especially true for players like Lawson, who will go on to be an NBA hero to thousands of American kids.

The example he sets will be followed closely by the next generation and, while this is a heavy burden, it's certainly one which Carolina players must expect.

But before they get up in arms about the new "Bad Boys" of Tar Heel athletics, fans should step back and realize how lucky Carolina is, with these misdemeanors being about as bad as it gets when it comes to off-court problems.

For a real story this summer of college hoops cut-ups, look to Utah, where former University of Florida sharpshooter Teddy Dupay was arrested and charged with raping his girlfriend of two years. Dupay, who was on the Gator team that beat the Tar Heels in the 2000 Final Four, denied the charge, and most newspapers left it at that.

But Dupay didn't deny inflicting injuries on his victim, who had scratches, bruises and two broken ribs, and who says he hit and kicked her 150 times in addition to forcing her under the desk, telling her that if she tried to leave he would kill her and her family.

Dupay said he felt this behavior was acceptable. Denying the most serious charge, he asked, "How can you rape someone you love?"

Many North Carolina counties refuse to prosecute any domestic rape cases. Some legal figures will say it's because marital rape is impossible to prove, since sex is assumed in marriage, and others will admit they simply don't believe it possible for a man to rape his wife.

In this case, there appears to be more than enough physical evidence to corroborate the victim's story, and sheer logic demands this act -- no matter what relationship the couple had prior -- be prosecuted as rape.

Dupay already tarnished Billy Donovan's Florida program when he left the team under suspicions of gambling on Gator games. But that pales in comparison to a guy reckoning that two broken ribs, 150 body shots, death threats and rape are no big deal.

It's not just a Gainesville disease, either. Google "Memphis basketball arrest" and you will find an impressive array of stories from John Calipari's tenure. Players from other major schools are regularly arrested on charges far more serious than Lawson's and Ginyard's, and recruiting scandals abound at top schools around the country.

But, through it all, Tar Heel fans continue to point to the class of their program just as emphatically as they point to the 17 Final Four banners. Can you imagine the UNC basketball team having to deal with anything remotely close to the Duke lacrosse scandal?

The reason it wouldn't happen can be directly attributed to three individuals: William Friday, Dean Smith and Roy Williams. In today's age of do-anything-to-win (from steroids to Spygate to Southern California's recruitment of O.J. Mayo and Reggie Bush), it has taken a firm foundation laid by President Friday and Coach Smith to ensure Carolina keeps its priorities in order.

Smith and Williams always have pointed to character being a huge factor in recruiting. The current Carolina coach mentioned it again last week, stating his NBA hopefuls need to focus on the team's success before their own in the coming year: "I am confident they'll do that because our kids have such good character that they will take care of it," he said.

A high standard means that Carolina must pass on a talented, committed recruit who fail to meet the school's SAT requirement (Jason Parker, 2000) or who gets caught selling drugs (JamesOn Curry, 2004).

But, at the end of the day, Carolina basketball fans should be both proud and unrelenting in their expectation of success with class.