NCAA separates Ole Miss football case from basketball, track

OXFORD - The NCAA’s investigation into Ole Miss’ football program is ongoing.

But on Friday the NCAA and the university closed the book on cases involving Ole Miss’ women’s basketball and track and field programs, which included academic fraud, misleading investigators, and failure to monitor.

Among the penalties handed down by the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions were a three-year probation period, which lasts from Friday to Oct. 6, 2019, and six separate show-cause orders for some principles involved, ranging from one to six years.

“We regret the violations of NCAA bylaws in both programs and have taken several steps to prevent future violations,” said Jeffrey Vitter, Ole Miss’ chancellor, in a statement. “One of my first acts as chancellor was to seek a comprehensive external review of our athletics compliance function.  The review was recently completed and has confirmed to me that our compliance systems are robust while offering recommendations for areas where we can and will improve.  We are pursuing the implementation of the recommendations, and we believe in our strong athletics leadership team, which shares the values of the NCAA and Ole Miss.”

Athletic director Ross Bjork declined further comment, referring to Vitter's statement.

The Committee on Infractions panel separated this case from the one involving Ole Miss’ football program earlier this year.

RELATED: A timeline of the NCAA's four-year investigation into Ole Miss

The panel didn’t and won’t review any information regarding the football program until the NCAA enforcement staff and Ole Miss conclude their investigation, which began again after Laremy Tunsil's NFL draft night admission that he received money from coaches.

“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 on Infractions panel's chief hearing officer and also Xavier's athletic director. “No football-related materials were part of our record, and we will only take up the football allegations once the investigation has concluded.”

The university received a notice of allegations in January, which included 13 violations tied to the football program. Four were tied to former coach Houston Nutt, while the rest occurred during Hugh Freeze’s tenure.

Four of the violations under Freeze were considered Level I, which are considered most severe. All four violations under Nutt were Level I.

The other violations dealt with women’s basketball and track and field.

Former Rebels assistant basketball coach Kenya Landers was found to have enrolled and paid for online summer courses for a student-athlete.

Over the next few weeks, Landers and then-director of operations for women’s basketball Michael Landers, completed online coursework for a pair of student-athletes, which was necessary for them to obtain their associate’s degrees.

The two staff members, along with the student-athletes, also provided misinformation during interviews for the investigation. That includes apparently deleting emails at the same time Ole Miss' compliance staff was reviewing them.

Kenya and Michael were both given six-year show-cause orders, lasting until Oct. 6, 2022.

Adrian Wiggins, who was Ole Miss’ women’s basketball coach at the time, was placed on administrative leave in October 2012. He was given a two-year show-cause from the NCAA, which ends on Oct. 6, 2018.

The report stated Wiggins “failed to monitor the actions of two of his staff members over a five-week period. His lack of monitoring allowed these staff members to commit academic fraud on behalf of two student-athletes who needed additional summer coursework in order to earn their associate's degrees.”

Ole Miss previously self imposed penalties for the women’s basketball program, which included a postseason ban, a reduction of two scholarships for the 2013-14 academic year and prohibited the program from signing two-year college transfer students during the 2012-13 and 13-14 academic years.

Ernie Dawson and Lena Bettis, two former assistant track coaches, were handed one-year show-cause orders, which both end on Oct. 6, 2017.

Both engaged in impermissible recruiting activities, which included making impermissible recruiting contact with a student-athlete at another school.

Dawson also observed prospective student-athletes participate in workouts with enrolled student-athletes, which wasn’t allowed, during official visits.

There were also some violations with track and field with impermissible recruiting inducements, which included complimentary hotel lodging during unofficial visits.

Brian O’Neal, who was Ole Miss track coach until last year, was given a one-year show-cause order, which like his former assistants’, concludes on Oct. 6, 2017.

O’Neal “did not report impermissible recruiting activities of two of his assistant coaches to the institution, nor did he require them to cease the activities,” the report stated.

Ole Miss’ self-imposed penalties with the women’s track and field program were: a reduction of recruiting-person days by 14.5, from 63.5 to 49, during the 2014-15 academic year; and the number of official visits was cut from 60 to 30 during the same year.

Contact Antonio Morales at amorales2@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @AntonioCMorales on Twitter.