After a major setback for former University of North Carolina football player Michael McAdoo on Wednesday in a Durham courtroom, Marvin Austin took his frustrations to Twitter to defend his friend and former teammate.

Austin, whose tweets last spring sparked the original NCAA investigation into the UNC football program, which has been accused of nine major violations by the NCAA, threatened to "spill the beans" about the yearlong saga that cost UNC seven players for the entire 2010 season, including Austin and McAdoo.

"Im so heated right now..justice will provail..even if I have to spill the beans," Austin wrote on his Twitter account, @anchormanaustin, at 6:31 p.m. on Wednesday night.

Austin, who was a second-round pick of the New York Giants in April, could not be reached for comment on Thursday. A spokesman for North Carolina said the university would have no comment on the Twitter postings.

McAdoo, a defensive end who played two seasons as a reserve at UNC, was ruled permanently ineligible by the NCAA in December as the result of an investigation into academic fraud and improper benefits among Tar Heels players. Durham Superior Court judge Orlando Hudson denied McAdoo's request for an injunction against the NCAA and UNC that would have restored McAdoo's eligibility on Wednesday.

After his initial tweet on McAdoo, Austin followed with nine more posts over a four-hour period. Austin wrote that McAdoo was "mislead, misused and ostracized from the program" and described the UNC administration as "cowardly."

In other posts, Austin wrote:

"Twitter I'm not bitter I just don't like the way my friend, teammate, brother was mislead, misused, and ostracized from the program for the ... Same reasons that others got suspended and are able to play for because I know exactly the details in each case and its noway that this young ... Man should have his dram snatched from him like the #ncaa has done. I can tell you so many stories that would be mind boggling in comparison."

Austin then turned his attention to UNC's leadership:

"... I just wish the administration stood ... And stop the cowardly acts when the are in front of the ncaa and just tell them what you told us...don't turn and twist your story to look ... Appealing to the Ncaa and pressure the 21 year old athlete to say and do things that aren't in there best interest."

Austin returned to the Twitter account on Thursday morning to post:

"Up and off to work....great day to be a tarheeel." Austin, an All-ACC defensive tackle, was suspended last August in connection with the investigation, which included multiple trips to California in 2009 and to Miami in 2010 on which he received more than $13,000 in impermissible benefits. In October, UNC kicked Austin off the team for the monetary benefits and for lying to NCAA investigators.

The NCAA cited Austin in two of the major violations in the Notice of Allegations it sent to UNC on June 21.

In two separate interviews since January, Austin has apologized for "messing up a great situation" but has declined to detail his role in the investigation.

UNC still awaits a decision from the NCAA about possible punishment for the nine major alleged violations and will meet with the NCAA in Indianapolis on Oct. 28 to respond to the allegations. Fourteen players missed at least one game in 2010 as a result of the investigation into improper agent benefits and academic fraud.

McAdoo, who would have been a first-time starter in 2010, was initially withheld from the first three games of last season after it was determined that he had received $110 in impermissible benefits. McAdoo, with the counsel of former North Carolina Supreme Court judge Robert Orr and Durham attorney Noah H. Huffstetler III, filed a suit against the NCAA and UNC on July 1 for gross negligence. That lawsuit will continue, Huffstetler said, despite Wednesday's ruling.

Under the NCAA's ban, McAdoo - who would be a senior - cannot play at any NCAA level.

An affidavit filed Wednesday by UNC associate athletic director for compliance Amy Herman indicated that the university was willing to keep McAdoo on scholarship and offer him a position as a student coach for the 2011 season.

In a statement released Wednesday after the hearing, North Carolina athletic director Dick Baddour said that the school would encourage McAdoo to "finish his education at the University of North Carolina."

McAdoo left the courtroom on Wednesday without talking to the media and could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

jp.giglio@newsobserver.com or 919-829-8938