The NCAA has finally announced significant violations occurred in the Ole Miss athletic department but with one very significant catch when it comes to the Rebels’ football program.
The Committee on Infractions announced their findings in the long-running case on Friday afternoon and found academic fraud violations involving two former Ole Miss women’s basketball staffers and a pair of ex-players on the team. Two former women’s track coaches at the school were also found to have acted unethically by providing false information to NCAA investigators.
The school’s time in front of the Committee on Infractions is only just beginning however. The association and Ole Miss both agreed earlier this year to split the overarching case involving the athletic department into football and non-revenue sports earlier this year when new allegations surfaced at the NFL Draft involving former lineman Laremy Tunsil. The NCAA did review any information related to the football program and provided no further update into the case beyond a generic statement.
“When both the university and enforcement staff informed the panel that they needed more time to further investigate the potential allegations in the football program after the enforcement staff delivered its notice of allegations, the panel separated this case to be fair to the university, and the involved individuals in the women’s basketball and track programs,” said Greg Christopher, the committee’s chief hearing officer and athletics director at Xavier University. “The panel maintains its commitment to fairness and processing infractions matters efficiently. Our panel’s review was limited to only women’s basketball and track. No football-related materials were part of our record, and we will only take up the football allegations once the investigation has concluded.”
Ole Miss’ football program faced 13 allegations of NCAA violations prior to the Tunsil story blowing up on the night of the draft. The school has already self-imposed the loss of 11 scholarships over four years as a result and has also limited unofficial visits and off-campus evaluation days for Hugh Freeze’s coaching staff.
Eventually the football team will get their day in the NCAA’s version of a court room but Friday provided no clarification as to when that would be exactly.