Next step in Ole Miss' NCAA process delayed
OXFORD - Ole Miss' wait for a resolution following an NCAA investigation has been pushed back another month.
The school had until Friday to respond to the NCAA's notice of allegations, but a party other than Ole Miss has requested and received a 30-day delay, athletic director Ross Bjork said. This is the first and only extension allowed by the process.
“This extension is an often-used tool available to all parties and the Notice of Allegations itself has not changed in any way,” Bjork said in a statement. “Upon completion of the 30-day extension period, the University will release our full Response to the Notice of Allegations.”
The delay likely means the entire process won’t be complete until mid-to-late October.
Once Ole Miss submits its response, it and the notice of allegations are combined into one document presented to the committee on infractions, a process that takes 60 days. A hearing would then likely take several weeks to be scheduled with a ruling coming out about six weeks later.
The 30-day delay continues what’s been a nearly four-year-long process that began when the NCAA started an investigation into the Ole Miss women’s basketball program in 2012. The investigation expanded to include the football and men’s and women’s track and field teams.
The Associated Press has reported that 13 of the 28 alleged violations relate to football. Five of those are tied to former left tackle Laremy Tunsil, while ESPN reported four date back to former coach Houston Nutt’s staff and four involve coach Hugh Freeze’s staff.
Former assistant coach David Saunders, who worked under Nutt, received an eight-year show cause in January after the committee on infractions found that he helped five Louisiana-Lafayette recruits receive fraudulent ACT scores and lied to the NCAA, among other things.
Texas reportedly fired former Ole Miss assistant coach Chris Vaughn, who worked under Nutt, because of alleged rule violations, suggesting he could have also received a notice of allegations.
Ole Miss fired women’s basketball head coach Adrian Wiggins, assistant coach Kenya Landers and director of operations Michael Landers in 2012 after they had only been working for a matter of months after an investigation into impermissible recruiting contacts and academic misconduct.
Junior college transfer Kay Caples and Brandy Broome were deemed ineligible because they didn't meet transfer eligibility standards
Bjork said previously that “a couple” of the track and field allegations revolve around recruiting, though what facet of recruiting remains uncertain. He added that the violations weren’t academic in nature and occurred in 2012-13.
Bjork: NCAA says investigation into Ole Miss is over
Contact Daniel Paulling at dpaulling@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @DanielPaulling on Twitter.
Bjork: NCAA says investigation into Ole Miss is over