OT: NCAA expands Ole Miss probe

Submitted by cletus318 on

The NCAA’s protracted investigation of Mississippi has taken a new twist within the last month – investigators have interviewed players at two or more rival Southeastern Conference schools about their recruitment by the Rebels, multiple sources told Yahoo Sports.

NCAA Enforcement representatives have visited Auburn and Mississippi State, and perhaps at least one more SEC Western Division school, this summer to speak with players who were recruited by Ole Miss. The players were granted immunity from potential NCAA sanctions in exchange for truthful accounts of their recruitment, sources said.

Those interviews indicate that the NCAA investigation has expanded beyond the spring focus on former All-American offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil.

OIe Miss officials declined comment other than to say the school is continuing to cooperate with the NCAA during the investigation. The NCAA, citing longstanding policy, declined comment as well.

Mississippi has been under investigation for years, and in late January was charged with 28 violations in three sports – 13 of them football, with the rest coming in women’s basketball and track and field. Nine of those alleged violations occurred during the tenure of current coach Hugh Freeze, who has a 34-18 record in four seasons in Oxford.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources-ncaas-ole-miss-investigation-expan…

mGrowOld

August 25th, 2016 at 9:46 AM ^

And then what?

My guess is that even if everyone they interview says "yup, Mississippi gave me cash, hookers and blow" they wont do a fucking thing about it.  The NCAA has zero interest in doing anything to hurt their cash cow SEC and North Carolina just showed that the "go fuck yourself" defense can work which I'll Mississippi deploys if things startt to get hot.

They didnt give two shits about this.  Why will they care if somebody's rent got paid?

Image result for laquon treadwell twitter pic cash

Tater

August 25th, 2016 at 10:45 AM ^

I think they will hammer Ole Miss.  Ole Miss isn't "ole money."  They aren't a national cash cow like Bama.  Ole Miss will get hammered so the NCAA can puff out their chests and brag about how "tough" they are on cheaters.  

Most of all, whenever anyone asks about Bama or OSU, the NCAA can say "Ole Miss" and continue to look the other way.

mGrowOld

August 25th, 2016 at 10:56 AM ^

But North Carolina is anything but "old money" when it comes to football, isnt in the SEC and certainly isnt a cash cow.  And they ran basically a diploma mill for athletes which, IMO, is worse than giving out cash.

But when the NCAA start closing in they simply said "go fuck yourself.  We dont recognize your jurisdiction here so you can show yourself out" and guess what?  The NCAA did.

NC has absolutely shown the path to cheaters everywhere how to get away with whatever you want.  They exposed the NCAA as the neighborhood bully who, once somebody stood up to him, runs away and hides.

trueblueintexas

August 25th, 2016 at 12:49 PM ^

The one difference with UNC is that the basketball team was also involved and that is as "old money" as you can get in the NCAA. 

Other than that, until proven otherwise, I agree with your assesment of the situation.

MI Expat NY

August 25th, 2016 at 11:07 AM ^

This is my feeling as well.  Ole Miss is low enough down the SEC ladder that they can get hit hard by the NCAA.  Even the Alabama's of the world will think Ole Miss had it coming and say something along the lines of "you have to be more subtle about it.  You're Ole Miss.  You can't suddenly land a bunch of 5-star out of state/region recruits and draw attention to yourself like that."  

It's a "teachable moment" for the NCAA and it helps the powers that be that matter in the SEC maintain the status quo.  It's a win-win.  

I Love Lamp

August 25th, 2016 at 9:47 AM ^

But they are in the SEC, nothing will happen to them. Unless it's Vanderbilt, in that case, bring the hammer, because they contribute nothing to college football

CorkyCole

August 25th, 2016 at 10:03 AM ^

Ole Miss has contributed very little to college football since the 1960's, especially by SEC standards, until this Hugh Freeze character entered their football program. I really don't think the NCAA cares as much about Ole Miss as they would about an LSU or Alabama. I actually think something will come of this.

MGo Joker

August 25th, 2016 at 10:12 AM ^

I hope you are right. I am sick and tired of the $EC montra of "if ya ain't cheatin', ya ain't tryin." But like someone else pointed out, it works bc no one talks. If something comes out of this Ole Miss situation and the NCAA offers current Ole Miss players immunity for their recruiting tales about other schools it could be glorious. 

 

Having said that, I think nothing will happen- I hope I am wrong though.

gwkrlghl

August 25th, 2016 at 10:18 AM ^

Ole Miss actually might be the perfect program to make an example of for the NCAA. Reasonably big name so people will notice, not a blue blood, not a program that has really been good much at all but still noteworthy enough to give a warning to other schools and boost the NCAAs enforcement perception nationally

hunterjoe

August 25th, 2016 at 11:18 AM ^

And to show that they're not afraid to hammer on the SEC.  It's a win win for them.  "Hey, we don't have anything against punishing an SEC school.  And we're serious about recruiting violations."  But they will tell Bama and others to carry on as usual while outlawing satellite camps.  

Mr Miggle

August 25th, 2016 at 3:03 PM ^

It's the traditional SEC powers like UF, UGA, Bama and LSU who most want the NCAA to come down hard on Ole Miss. For the most part, that's who they're taking recruits from and they're making the whole conference look bad, not just to cynics and people that follow recruiting closely. The Tunsil hacks during the draft made them a national story.

Just imagine if Rutgers starts reeling in 5* recruits from, PA, OH and beyond. They're obviously using shady recruiting tactics. Then they beat OSU twice in a row. What schools would be most up in arms about that? It won't be Oregon and Texas.

Brown Bear

August 25th, 2016 at 9:55 AM ^

I can see the NCAA coming down hard and hammering Ole Miss and using them as a "See! We do come down hard on the SEC!"
Ole Miss will be the scapegoat and the others will slide by and keep doing their dirty deeds.




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drzoidburg

August 25th, 2016 at 5:16 PM ^

Yeah except you're about the 7th post out of 40 in this thread to say so, and I also had the same thought, so how many people are really going to be fooled by this?

Unless they hammer Alabama some day, this hardly applies to the SEC as a whole. Ole Miss is in the have-nots and THAT is why they'll get hammered

Hail-Storm

August 25th, 2016 at 10:00 AM ^

If Ole Miss gets hammered, what will keep them or their players from bringing up accounts of other SEC team bagmen. The only reason it works is because they all stay quiet about it. Once one teams dam breaks, and htey have nothing to lose, I don't see why they wouldn't try to take some others down with them. 

Rabbit21

August 25th, 2016 at 11:23 AM ^

Wishful thinking. SMU didn't end up bringing down the SWC and Bama's serial violations didn't bring down the rest of the SEC. There comes a point where one school comes down and the rest close ranks. You can only go so far down the rabbit hole before people worry that the whole system is at risk.




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Mr Miggle

August 25th, 2016 at 3:26 PM ^

Supply evidence that other schools are paying players or offer vague accusations? I can't imagine how they could do this without admitting their own guilt and i don't see what they stand to gain from it. Same with their players. what do they stand to gain?

I get that it would be fun for us to see, but Ole Miss would be digging its own grave with the SEC.

CorkyCole

August 25th, 2016 at 10:07 AM ^

Someone please tell them to inteview Rashan Gary and/or Jim Hackett STAT! I really want to hear what kind of offer was made to Rashan Gary to where it pissed off Hackett enough to make a public complaint. 

MichiganTeacher

August 25th, 2016 at 10:36 AM ^

IIRC Sam Webb said he heard $300k to one top recruit by an SEC team, and people seemed to think it was Gary he was talking about. He didn't say that, though, he just left it out there.

I wouldn't be surprised if it were more than that. The college football world is broken thanks to the NCAA. It's getting to the point now where the system is corrupt enough that the powerful schools are using the NCAA to preserve their monetary advantage by punishing less powerful schools but allowing powerful schools to go free. It's a familiar story. It will be interesting to see if Ole Miss is powerful enough to be included in the elites or not.

CorkyCole

August 25th, 2016 at 11:27 AM ^

$300K???? If true, that is absolutely ridiculous. Way more than I expected even.

I seriously hope it's true and other similar offers were made to other prospects that blow up from this "expansion" to the investigation. If significant $$ offers get placed into evidence and become public, there's no way the NCAA would exist much longer if they didn't roast Ole Miss. That's worse than what USC was hammered for by a long shot. Media wouldn't let them get away with it.