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Ole Miss announces self-imposed penalties in NCAA response
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Ole Miss released a statement Friday in response to the NCAA’s Notice of Allegations and announced a series of self-imposed punishments.
The “Letter to the Ole Miss Family,” which addresses the allegations and provides documents of both the original notice and the school’s response, can be viewed on Ole Miss’ official site.
The big news for the football program comes in loss of scholarships:
#OleMiss’ self-imposed recruiting sanctions. pic.twitter.com/kIOGhbJPDB
— Chase Parham (@ChaseParham) May 27, 2016
Among #OleMiss self-imposed penalties in FB: recruiting suspensions for 2 coaches; a monetary fine of $159,326 & scholarship reductions
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) May 27, 2016
The NCAA investigated a total of 28 violations across multiple sports, 13 dealing directly with the football program. It has previously been rumored that the majority of the violations were committed before the hiring of coach Hugh Freeze, but the official report suggests otherwise.
https://twitter.com/McMurphyESPN/status/736211758474534913
In total, eight of the 13 alleged violations for Ole Miss football are deemed Level I (most serious).
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) May 27, 2016
Maurice Harris, Chris Kiffin and Derrick Nix are all current assistants named for some level of violation.
— Hugh Kellenberger (@KellenbergerGLF) May 27, 2016
The Clarion-Ledger provided a breakdown of all 28 violations spanning all sports:
There were 28 allegations levied against the school, and athletic director Ross Bjork and chancellor Jeffrey Vitter wrote that “we agree that a violation of NCAA rules occurred; however, for several of those allegations we do not agree on all of the facts. For five of those 27 violations, we believe the violation should be classified different,” meaning as a lower level of violation.
There were two Level I violations for academic misconduct, two Level I violations for unethical conduct directed at individuals who were no longer university employees when the violation occurred, seven Level I violations for other misconduct or unethical conduct charges, four Level I violations of improper benefits from boosters and one Level I violation of head coach control in women’s basketball.
There were also eight Level II violations and four Level III violations. Level I violations are the most serious, followed by Level II and then Level III.
One of the most talked-about allegations, involving falsified test scores, predates the Freeze era, but could have impacted the 2012 and 2013 seasons:
Academic fraud at Ole Miss included football staffer David Saunders falsifying ACT scores https://t.co/cpUxlTo519 pic.twitter.com/DJDQbl8Mxa
— Jake New (@jakenew) May 27, 2016
NCAA: Because of the fake ACT scores, the 3 Ole Miss players should have been ineligible from 2010-13 seasons.
— Jon Solomon (@JonSolomon35) May 27, 2016
Regarding the Laremy Tunsil leaks from the night of the NFL draft, the school has requested the Committee on Infractions (COI) hold off on any hearings until the school and the NCAA complete a joint review:
On the first day of the 2016 NFL Draft, new information came to light involving a former football student-athlete. That very night, the University and NCAA began a joint review to determine whether bylaws have been violated, and we hope this review will be concluded soon. To ensure fairness to all parties and pursuant to COI procedure, we have asked the COI to remove the hearing from this summer’s docket until this review can be completed and closed.
There is, however, a noticeable reference to Tunsil’s stepfather:
In Ole Miss' response, details of an $800 payment from booster to Family Member I (which is clearly Lindsey Miller). pic.twitter.com/lfxRBHVMZM
— Hugh Kellenberger (@KellenbergerGLF) May 27, 2016
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
