North Carolina's Roy Williams addresses NCAA investigation

North Carolina coach Roy Williams said Thursday he was both "sad and mad" about the NCAA investigation into the school's academic scandal, saying that it casts a dark cloud over the men's basketball program and its current players as well as his own reputation as a coach.

"Our guys are trying to stay focused because there's quite a bit of junk going on," Williams told USA TODAY Sports. "They're doing a tremendous job of focusing on what they can control on the basketball court."

An investigation led by former U.S. Justice Department official Kenneth Wainstein found that more than 3,100 students took classes that didn't require attendance and only required handing in a research paper, for which students received As or Bs. Wainstein said 48% of the students enrolled in the "shadow curriculum" running from 1993 to 2011 within the African and Afro-American Studies department were UNC athletes.

Wainstein exonerated Williams in the report by saying the 64-year-old coach's actions were "inconsistent with being complicit with or really trying to promote the scheme."

"I know we didn't do anything wrong. I never, ever knowingly cheated," Williams said. "You know I'll hear, 'Roy Williams was not involved.' Yet I'm still associated with it or it's something like 'he should have known what was going on.' I can't dwell on all that. I'm just trying to immerse myself in our team."

NCAA investigators have begun conducting interviews, but Williams said he has not been contacted.

"I think the old saying goes, 'if you can't change the wind, adjust the sails.' I'm trying to do that as hard as I can right now because this stuff hurts," Williams said.