Perhaps UNC should look at its academic standards more closely. Or perhaps they just need to better educate the college kids on poultry farming.

North Carolina receiver Erik Highsmith has just been accused of plagiarizing from four 11-year-old kids to complete his class requirements.

J. Nikol Beckham, a prior communications professor at UNC, reported an incident of possible plagiarism to the UNC academic affairs office. The football player was asked to complete a blog that accounted for 30% of his class grade, and Beckham noticed a possible discrepancy.

USA Today was able to dig up the entries in question:

From Highsmith: “Poultry farming is raising of turkeys, ducks, chicken and other fowl for meat or eggs. Poultry farms can be breeding farms where they raise poultry for meat, or layer farms where they produce eggs. The ‘best’ breeds depend on what you want from them. Good egg layers are Rhode Island Reds [brown eggs] and Leghorns [white eggs].”

From the 11-year-olds: “Poultry farming is raising chickens, turkeys, ducks and other fowl for meat or eggs. Poultry farms can be: 1. Breeding farms where they raise poultry for meat, or 2. Layer farms where they produce eggs. The ‘best’ breeds depend on what you want from them. Good egg layers are Rhode Island Reds [brown eggs] and Leghorns [white eggs].”

Despite the obvious copying, minus a few punctuation and formatting differences, Highsmith vehemently denies the claims and accuses the media of lying. “A 11 year old ? Lol really..? C’mon you can lie better than that,” he tweeted.

At this point, we’re not sure if he’s referring to the media or himself.