Mississippi’s problems not going away soon
The University of Mississippi can’t wait to tell its story, just as soon as it’s finished being written.
Mississippi requested that its hearing with the NCAA’s committee on infractions be removed from the docket after screen shots of text messages between Laremy Tunsil, a former star left tackle, and John Miller, the school’s assistant athletics 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 April 28 at the NFL draft that he accepted money from coaches.
Mississippi self-imposed a loss of 11 scholarships, but the NCAA could choose to increase that number.
Under the 28 violations cited in the NCAA’s notice of allegations, former staffers David Saunders and Chris Vaughn committed by far the most serious ones, directing three recruits through fraud involving the ACT test. They both lied to the NCAA about their involvement, a serious no-no. That happened years ago, under former coach Houston Nutt and athletics director Pete Boone.
More recent is Tunsil and safety C.J. Hampton receiving loaner cars from Cannon Motors. Tunsil also had an interest-free loan on a down payment. A booster gave $800 to Lindsey Miller, Tunsil’s stepfather, and another let the Tunsil family stay in his hotel for 12 nights. There also was a series of small, impermissible benefits to Memphis-area recruits (including defensive tackle Herbert Moore) that added up to yet another Level I violation.
Mississippi had tried to paint this as something that happened way before current coach Hugh Freeze. He’s not explicitly implicated within the notice of allegations (three current assistants are named for minor violations), but a 2013 rule change puts more pressure on the head coach to make sure his program is following NCAA rules. At the very least his reputation has taken a huge hit.
As gifted and productive as Tunsil was on the field, he could end up being more destructive off it for the number of benefits he and his family took over the years.
It’s not unrealistic to suggest that it will be 2017 before Mississippi gets to the hearing portion of the investigative process. That’s when it will find out its true penalties.
Athletics director Ross Bjork has said for the last few months that he can’t wait to tell Mississippi’s story, and the response the university delivered to the NCAA during the weekend paints the school as one that went above and beyond to root out violations.
But the truth is many of these penalties, including those in women’s basketball and the track and field programs, did occur under his watch, and there very well might be more to come. It’s just not over at Mississippi, as much as it wants it to be.
Kellenberger writes for The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger, part of the USA TODAY NETWORK.