Ole Miss responds to notice of allegations, reduces football scholarships

Ole Miss has self-imposed a double-digit scholarship reduction to the football team as part of its response to the notice of allegations submitted by the NCAA on Friday.

The notice of allegations contained 13 infractions levied against the football team, including eight Level I infractions, which are considered a severe breach of conduct.

The track and field, cross country, and women's basketball teams were also hit with self-imposed penalties, as there were 28 total allegations against Ole Miss across all sports.

The university has accepted responsibility for the violations that occurred and self-imposed meaningful penalties... The termination of four coaches, including the only two involved head coaches still employed when the violations were discovered; the disassociation of every involved booster; a post‐season ban in women's basketball; a double‐digit reduction of scholarships in the football program; a significant reduction in off‐campus evaluation days and official and unofficial visits in football and track and field; violation‐specific rules education across all involved sports; and a $159,325.00 financial penalty.

The loss of scholarships will total 11 over four years, beginning with the most recent recruiting class.

The alleged infractions against the football team included:

• School representatives allowing players the free use of vehicles, while providing free repairs, and an impermissible loan.
• A representative of athletic interests provided $800 in cash to a player.
• On 12 occasions between June 7, 2013 and May 27, 2014 free lodging was provided to players in Oxford, Miss.
• Defensive line coach Chris Kiffin allowed for a player to stay two nights in his house, arranged for family members that were not parents or legal guardians to receive recruiting inducements, and engaged in impermissible off-campus recruiting.
• In the 2012-13 academic year a booster engaged in recruiting activities which included paying for lodging, cell phone bills, and transportation. Assistant coach Maurice Harris was aware and at times facilitated these activities. The booster also brought the recruits to a catered breakfast at the home of head coach Hugh Freeze.
• Former administrative operations coordinator for football David Saunders and former assistant coach Chris Vaughn engaged in academic fraud with regards to ACT test scores. The two arranged for tests to be altered to ensure the recruits would be academically eligible. The pair also lied to the NCAA enforcement investigation about engaging in the ACT fraud despite evidence proving otherwise.

Of the 28 allegations in the report, 20 were self-reported by Ole Miss. While 16 of the infractions were of Level I, the school believes that the steps already taken should be enough to satisfy punishment requirements from the NCAA because the vast majority of those involved are no longer with the university.

"All but one of the 16 Level I violations arose from intentional misconduct committed by rogue former employees or boosters outside the university's direct control acting in contravention of rules education provided to them by the university," the report said. "Although a post-season ban may be imposed in a Level I - Mitigated case, the university believes a ban is unnecessary here based upon applicable precedent and because the most serious allegations occurred years ago, involving staff and student-athletes long-since separated from the university."

Ole Miss also requested that that its case be delayed after information about former offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil came to light on the first day of the 2016 NFL Draft. Tunsil admitted that he received money from an Ole Miss coach while playing at the school.

Athletic director Ross Bjork and chancellor Jeffrey Vitter asked that the school not be forced to meet with the infractions committee until the summer so that it could properly investigate Tunsil's claims.