Ole Miss releases allegations notice, requests NCAA delay
Ole Miss finally released the notice of allegations and its response to it Friday morning, but the school isn’t ready to move forward with the next step of the NCAA process.
The NCAA levied 28 violations against Ole Miss in a notice of allegations received Jan. 22, 16 of which are Level I violations, the most serious. They include ACT fraud and a series of impermissible benefits to football recruits and players, including cash and hotel rooms from boosters to Laremy Tunsil's family.
Nine of the 13 allegations levied against the football program occurred under coach Hugh Freeze. Four were Level I violations, two Level II and three Level III.
RELATED: Complete look at the NCAA allegations and Ole Miss response
Ole Miss has self-imposed a reduction of 11 total football scholarships, starting with one last season and extending into 2018.
The school submitted its response April 21, which put it in line to go before the committee on infractions sometime this summer.
But Ole Miss requested that its hearing be removed from the docket after screenshots of text messages between Tunsil, a former All-SEC left tackle, and John Miller, Ole Miss' assistant athletic director of football operations, were posted on Tunsil’s Instagram account.
Tunsil asked Miller for money to pay rent and his mother’s electric and water bills in those messages and told reporters on April 28 at the NFL draft that he accepted money from coaches. He has declined multiple opportunities since then to clarify his comments.
RELATED: Tunsil admitted to taking money from coaches.
Ole Miss announced last month that it would “aggressively investigate” the matter but hasn’t revealed anything publicly. ESPN reported Ole Miss believes the text messages are real.
The timing of Ole Miss’ case is now uncertain.
The NCAA’s investigation was close to complete last summer, but new information regarding Tunsil pushed it to January. North Carolina also received an amended notice of allegations 10 months after getting a notice of allegations in a recent case.
Still, Friday’s release reveals what the NCAA has found regarding Ole Miss following an investigation that started in September 2012 into the women’s basketball team. It then expanded to include the football and men’s and women’s track and field teams.
“We agree that a violation of NCAA rules occurred,” Chancellor Jeffrey Vitter and athletic director Ross Bjork co-wrote in a letter released on Ole Miss’ website. “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 (as a lower-level violation).”
The Level I violations include two for academic misconduct, two for unethical conduct charges directed at individuals no longer employed by the university when the violations occurred, seven for other misconduct or unethical conduct charges, four for improper benefits from boosters, and one for head coach control against former women’s basketball coach Adrian Wiggins.
The Level I violations revolved around Tunsil receiving the use of loaner cars and a $3,000 loan and a booster giving Tunsil’s stepfather, Lindsey Miller, $800 and 12 nights’ worth of lodging valued at $2,253 between June 7, 2013, and May 27, 2014, in Oxford.
Current running backs coach Derrick Nix allegedly also arranged for a prospect to receive housing, meals and/or transportation while enrolled at another school, a Level I violation. Ole Miss argued in its response that Nix wasn’t involved in doing so.
Tight ends coach Maurice Harris allegedly arranged for two recruits to receive inducements valued at $485 from Jan. 18, 2013, to Feb. 3, 2013.
Defensive line coach Chris Kiffin allegedly arranged for three family members who weren’t parents or legal guardians of a recruit to receive inducements, a Level II violation, and provided two nights’ lodging valued at $33, a Level III violation. He also made impermissible off-campus contact during a conversation with a recruit, the so-called “bump rule,” a Level III violation.
Former assistant coaches David Saunders and Chris Vaughn were also named in helping recruits allegedly receive fraudulent ACT scores, a Level I violation. Saunders and Vaughn also allegedly lied to or provided false information in the NCAA’s investigation, and Vaughn communicated with witness involved in the investigation after being told not to.
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The self-imposed penalties for football included a disassociation of an organization and four individuals for at least three years; additional rules education for the staff; recruiting suspension for two assistant coaches; a reduction of scholarships and initial grants-in-aid; reductions of recruiting evaluation opportunities, initial and unofficial visits; and a fine of $159,325.
Women’s basketball self-imposed penalties included termination of staff members and head coach; postseason ban for 2012-13 academic year; reduction of scholarships; reduction of official visits, recruiting-person days and calls; and prohibition on signing of two-year college transfers.
The track and field self-imposed penalties include a “mutually agreed upon resignation of head coach” Bryan O’Neal, additional rules educations for staff members and reduction of official visits and off-campus recruiting days.
There was also a “general” three-year probation.
Ole Miss said in its response that it has “demonstrated an extraordinary level of initiative and cooperation throughout this process,” arguing that it’s an example of exemplary cooperation.
Exemplary cooperation “may include identifying individuals, documents and other information pertinent to the investigation; expending institutional resources to expedite a thorough and fair collection and disclosure of information; or bringing additional violations to the attention of the enforcement staff,” according to the NCAA. The organization adds that such cooperation “may be a mitigating factor when determining any penalties” for schools or individuals.
Twenty allegations were discovered through institutional action, and eight came from joint or enforcement staff action, according to Ole Miss’ response.
The response also said more than 265 interviews were conducted as part of the investigation, that $1.5 million in legal fees was spent and that staffers worked thousands of hours on the case.
Contact Daniel Paulling at dpaulling@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @DanielPaulling on Twitter and Daniel Paulling on Facebook.
