The University of Mississippi received a Notice of Violations from the NCAA outlining approximately 30 rules infractions in three sports, Yahoo Sports reported Friday.
The violations occurred in football, women’s basketball and track and field, according to the report. The NCAA does not comment on active investigations.
The university is pushing for a resolution to the investigation, which has gone on for three or more years. Most of the allegations involve women’s basketball and track and field. The school will have 90 days to respond to the allegations.
At least a portion of the allegations go back to 2012 when women’s basketball coach Adrian Wiggins and two assistants were fired for academic and recruiting misconduct. In response, Ole Miss self-imposed a one-year postseason ban and two players were ruled ineligible.
“As has been the case for the past three years, we are bound by confidentiality and cannot comment publicly on the matter,” Ole Miss athletic director Ross Bjork said. “However, I can say that I’m confident in how our coaches and staff operate our program, and we take compliance, NCAA and SEC rules very seriously. We are working hard to seek a resolution to this matter.”
Football coach Hugh Freeze’s recruiting success since he took the job in 2011 has raised suspicions, but the investigation of the program apparently began before his arrival and mostly occurred from 2008 to 2011 when Houston Nutt was the head coach.
Last season, highly recruited offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil sat out seven games for accepting impermissible benefits when it was determined that he used “three loaner vehicles over a sixth-month period without payment, a four-month interest-free promissory note on a $3,000 down payment for purchasing a used vehicle, two nights of lodging at a local home, an airline ticket purchased by a friend of a teammate, and one day use of a rental vehicle.
“In addition, it was determined that Tunsil was not completely forthcoming when initially questioned by NCAA investigators regarding the loaner vehicles.”
After the season, Tunsil decided to enter the 2016 NFL draft as an early entry. He is projected as one of the top picks in the first round.
