Ole Miss takes bowl ban, charged with serious violations
OXFORD - The NCAA enforcement staff’s years-long investigation into Ole Miss’ football program is finally over.
The ramifications, both potential and real, are about to be fully felt. The university, which received a notice of allegations from the NCAA Wednesday morning, announced it has self-imposed a one-year bowl ban for the 2017 season, coach Hugh Freeze has been charged with violating his responsibility legislation and that the university was charged with lack of institutional control.
“This charge replaces the more limited failure to monitor charge in the January 2016 Notice of Allegations,” Ross Bjork, Ole Miss’ athletic director, said of the lack of institutional control allegation. “This is charged as a Level I violation that we will contest.”
Bjork stated, in a 20-minute video, that the university disagrees with the charge on Freeze.
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In the January 2016 notice of allegations, the Rebels’ football program was charged with 13 violations, four of which were tied to former coach Houston Nutt.
Now there are 21 football allegations, eight are new and one previous allegation has been expanded. None of the new allegations stem from the NFL draft night fiasco with former offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil, who last April admitted to taking money from Ole Miss coaches.
One of the eight new allegations states that a former staff member facilitated for two boosters to provide a prospective student athlete, who went on to enroll at another program, with $13,000 to $15,000. Also alleged was the same staff member knowingly provided false or misleading information to the institution and enforcement staff last year.
The same staff member, “Former Staff Member A” as referred to by Bjork, also impermissibly facilitated recruiting inducements in form of lodging and transportation.
Six of the new violations are of the Level I variety, which the NCAA views as the most serious. Ole Miss has 90 days to send its response to the notice of allegations.
Chancellor Jeff Vitter said the school would likely release the full notice and its response in late May. The university released its response to the 2016 notice of allegations on May 27 last year.
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Bjork said: “We will release the notice and our response once all involved parties and their counsel have had a full and fair opportunity to review its contents, conduct any additional work and provide their responses.”
The NCAA enforcement staff will have 60 days to write a case summary, which would be followed with a hearing before the Committee on Infractions.
It was Vitter and Bjork who ultimately made the decision to self-impose a one-year postseason ban for the 2017 season. Under SEC rule, Ole Miss must forfeit its annual portion of the SEC postseason football revenue for next year, which is $7.8 million, Bjork said.
Vitter, Bjork and Freeze met with the team and staff Wednesday to inform them of their decision.
“I feel terrible for our players and staff who have to handle the consequences of a very few,” Freeze said. “Unfortunately, these penalties are necessary for our program to be responsible and to move forward.”
Freeze also said he agreed with the decision to self-impose a bowl ban. Ole Miss reached a bowl game in the first four seasons under Freeze’s leadership.
It missed the postseason last year after it finished 5-7.
In October, the NCAA handed down its penalties to Ole Miss’ women’s basketball and track and field programs. In announcing those penalties, the NCAA announced it had separated those cases from the investigation into the university’s football program.
Even though penalties hadn’t been handed down at the time, Freeze said the uncertainty of the investigation caused Ole Miss to suffer penalties during the recruiting cycle.
“There’s a lot of issues around college football right now and we certainly are having our share. It’s gone on for a long time. We’ve suffered penalties,” Freeze said. “This recruiting class, it was a penalty to be under the cloud that we’re under.”
And the penalties likely aren’t going to stop there.
Contact Antonio Morales at 601-961-7117 or amorales2@gannett.com . Follow him on Twitter .